Remedial Bake Sales

I just don't get bake sales. You have to spend about 5 or 10 dollars on ingredients to make baked goods that will raise about 3 dollars in sales. Of course, if you factor in a mother's labor (which we never do) then you're spending more like 50 or 100 dollars to get those 3 dollars in sales. And of course you're not done, because you still have to give your kid money to buy something at the sale.

Decorated cupcakes - how much would you pay?

Back in college, I once took a class in the business school. I remember walking into the building one day to see a sign advertising a bake sale to raise money for the Entrepreneurs' Club. That still makes me laugh.

We would all come out ahead if the moms skipped the baking, and just wrote out checks for 10 bucks. But that's something only a bad mother would do.

OK - I can see benefits to bake sales too, besides the (little bit of) money that they raise. They can generate some publicity, and that's good, right? And there is the whole community-building aspect, which can be nice - people pitching in to contribute to something they value, people getting to know each other by volunteering together. And sometimes it's even fun to turn the baking into a project - planning with my daughter what to make, and then making it together.

Thinking about the positive bits helps, because the fact is that most of the time you can't get out of bake sales. So I'll pass along a few survival tricks I've learned through the years.

• Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix makes better brownies than any I've ever made from scratch, and they go together in about 7 minutes.
• Brownies are easy to slice if you use a plastic knife on them, after they're completely cool. I just learned this one recently from my mom. It's like magic.
• Food on a stick - this is a tip from my friend Annette. If you want your items to sell out quickly, just put them on a stick. One time she made cookies and put them on sticks. For the last bake sale she did something even easier - she put marshmallows on skewers, then dunked them in chocolate and sprinkles. They all sold. She says people can never resist food on a stick.
• More about food on a stick - also from Annette - you have to display it right. Don't put the food on a stick and then just lay it in a pan, or you don't get the benefit. You need to stand the food up, so it's obvious it's on a stick.

I'm guessing you all have some of your own tricks to share. I'd love to hear them.