Dancing Girl

A new customer asked me to make a Bat Mitzvah card for a young lady called Ariella. Ariella, she told me, is the eldest of four children so, despite her age, she is a bit of a superhero when it comes to childcare, cooking and babysitting. She really loves ballet and recently got her first pair of pointe ballet shoes, so my customer was keen for me to show those on the card too. She also goes to the Scouts, likes reading and, according to her Mum, "of course she likes watching rubbish television!"
I have shown the Bat Mitzvah girl balancing on her toes in her new pointe shoes in the centre of the card. She is surrounded by all the things she enjoys in life: cooking pots and utensils, a television, books and the badge of the Hebrew Scouts Movement in Israel. I added a Magen David (Star of David) and the number 12, since that is the age that a girl becomes a Bat Mitzvah and is considered an adult, according to Orthodox Jewish law.
I heard from Mum that the card was Ariella's favourite!

I haven't blogged about anything food related for quite some time but, since I have mentioned Ariella's love of cooking, I thought I'd show you the chocolate brownies which I made recently, and which I think deserve a mention. I enjoy baking but have never really managed a decent chocolate brownie. I have tried several brownie recipes over the years - some because they were simple and quick to make, and others because they just sounded delicious - but I never got them quite right. Some time ago I spotted Margo Sugarman's Lush Chocolate Brownies recipe on her blog, "The Kosher Blogger". I used to work with Margo in my previous life as a graphic designer at a news magazine, and now I enjoy following her cooking adventures through Facebook. She describes these brownies as "the Holy Grail of brownie recipes and everything a real classic brownie should be." She's not wrong! The brownies came out chocolaty and rich, and were wolfed down at speed, even though I had doubled the recipe (I do have a teenager and a preteen in the house!). I won't be looking any further for a good brownie recipe.

An interesting aside, brownies were invented by a prominent Chicago socialite, Bertha Palmer, whose husband owned the Palmer House Hotel. Bertha asked a pastry chef for a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. She requested a confection smaller than a piece of cake, though still retaining cake-like characteristics, easily eaten from boxed lunches. The first brownies featured an apricot glaze and walnuts, and are still made at the modern hotel according to the original recipe.