Dear That’s Life 4/16

No, it didn’t — I’m just kidding. I just wanted to write that.

A funny thing happened at the end of Pesach.

A friend of mine who had joined me for the last days told me that there was going to be a bake sale in her office on Wednesday, the day after Pesach. All proceeds were going to raise money for underprivileged children who are in the care of the State for one reason or another. Her baked goods are hungrily sought after as she is a great baker and an even better cook, and so the organizers of the sale were counting on her participation.

She tried to explain to them that she could not imagine a worse day of the entire year to expect an Orthodox Jew to prepare confections for sale. She did not even own any flour and her kitchen was covered in aluminum foil. To see it is to believe it and, therefore, they just didn’t get it. They simply asked her to do her best.

Many of the conversations at our table over Pesach were about the progress the food industry has made regarding interesting, good tasting and innovative food products for the chag. Concerning the article featured in the Star on March 12th entitled, “Not how Bubby used to do it,” we had family members discuss how they only ate pareve or fleishig on Pesach when they were children because dairy products were not available — as they gobbled up the Pesach “Israeli couscous” or the trifle made with Pesach cake mixes. Truth is, while it is a staple, we’ve come a long way from matzo and cream cheese.

When my friend told me about the bake sale I had an idea.

“What if we just made this Pesach brownies recipe and you brought it in?” I said. Each year I ask my daughter to scour the Internet for new Pesach treats and one year she found a recipe for brownies that is pretty close to tasting like chametz. It’s got more eggs and margarine than I care to admit but it makes a very dense, decadent and truffle-like brownie. Best served right out of the freezer, we decided to give it a shot. After all, I had cake meal to get rid of and there were children who needed our help.

And wouldn’t you know it? The brownies were a hit. They sold pretty quickly and she got a bunch of compliments — someone even wanted the recipe. Another person who works in the same building as my friend, who also happens to be frum, was very excited to be able to buy something at the bake sale, since he had heard that she had baked for the occasion. He thought the brownies were great. And he never suspected a thing.

MLW