Tips From the Experts

Cadette/Senior Girl Scout Troop 4445's marathon bake-sale session yielded an impressive number of tips from the four Chef on Call experts.

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From bake sale expert Jane Mengenhauser of Alexandria:

- Be sure your bake sale is legal. Check with local zoning and health department officials. Get permission in writing.

- Offer some low-fat, low-sodium, no-egg items and foods without nuts or raisins.

- Price foods realistically. Prices that are too high will discourage sales; if prices are too low, you could lose money.

- Sell some goodies by the slice, some cakes by the half or quarter. Offer packages of two or four cookies or brownies.

- Label everything and make nice signs, perhaps with small blackboards and colored chalk, or Lucite picture frames with neatly written descriptions.

- Check weather reports a month in advance. If the weather is predicted to be rainy or snowy, don't plan an outdoor bake sale during that period.

- Choose a site where there is plenty of foot traffic. (A shopping mall or the entrance of a bank on a Saturday morning are good.)

- Make food tempting with attractive packaging that lets people see what they are going to buy. Try putting candles on cupcakes.

- "Texas-size" sells, especially where cupcakes and brownies are concerned.

- Don't give out recipes for bestseller foods.