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The Church Lady Secrets
Tuesday, April 25, 2006

There is a lady at our church who is a master chef, baker, and otherwise any type of cook. She does not cook professionally, but she grew up in a family that owned a restaurant, and the simple fact is that she loves to cook. Recently as a gift, her husband had their kitchen completely refurbished, since that is the room in which she spends most of her time. She has countless recipes, most of them in her head, and she gets a large amount of joy making cakes, coffee cakes, cookies, tarts, muffins, and other goodies to have on the kitchen counter at church every Sunday morning. Church goers always look forward to what she will bring each week, because each week promises something new and different, and always something delicious. One day I asked her about her joy in cooking. She explained to me that not only is it a hobby, she also has many little tricks that make her cooking easier. While she is willing and able to spend long hours in the kitchen, slaving over a special meal, most of her cooking is the type we all do, but she has a few little secrets that simple add a special touch. Following are a couple of the secrets she has been willing to share with me, and the rest of us at our little church.

Chocolate-covered brownies. This may sound like something we can all make at any time, but as to be expected, my church lady friend adds her own special touch. She uses a regular brownie mix from a box and she almost always adds chopped walnuts into the mix, which, let's face it, is suggested on the box, but most of us do not go to the trouble. But the big secret is the chocolate sauce or frosting that she puts on the top of the brownies. The chocolate sauce is devastatingly delicious, and almost too sinful to be in church! So I asked her, what is in the chocolate sauce? She explained that all she does, after baking the brownies according to the directions on the back of the box, is to take out a couple of large, stashed-away Hershey's chocolate bars, and lie them across the surface of the brownies while they are warm just out of the oven. The chocolate bars begin to melt almost immediately, and when they have melted sufficiently, she simply spreads the chocolate around evenly, making a perfect chocolate frosting. This sauce gives the brownies a whole new flavor and puts them into another dimension.

Lemon cake. This is another easy one that tastes like it must have been very difficult. For her lemon cake, my friend from church, again, simply uses a boxed cake recipe. She uses regular white cake mix and she prepares and bakes it according to the directions on the back of the box. While the cake is baking, she mixes together equal parts of sugar and Real Lemon juice. Usually about one cup of each will suffice. It makes a very sugary, lemony sauce. Then, when the cake is fresh out of the oven, my friend puts the cake on a safe surface while still in the pan. She pokes holes all over the cake with either a tooth pick or a fork; she is careful to put holes down the sides next to the side of the pan, as well. When there are a very many holes, she pours the lemon and sugar mixture onto the hot cake and it oozes down into the holes and around sides. After the cake has cooled, it can be served as is, as a coffee cake, or either lemon or cream cheese frosting can be spread all across the top. Either way, it is an incredibly moist, decadent cake that will have everyone asking for more!

The thing I have learned about my friend at church is that she adds special touches to otherwise every day dishes. I am thankful that she is willing to share her secrets with me and the rest of our friends. Now, perhaps, as I continue to learn from her, I can make special dishes for my friends, family and guests!

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