Chag Sameach

I know that it's Holy Week, and at the risk of sounding irreverent, I've found God in a macaroon.  As you well know, I'm not a baker, but recently I've discovered the perfect macaroon.  It's just  shredded coconut, condensed milk, and some flavorings.  Less is oh-so-much more.  It's the perfect cookie--a little crunch on the outside and soft sweetness further in.  I find myself breaking off small pieces to slowly chew and savor every coconut-laced morsel.  It's macaroon turned into a religious experience, but not as it turns out--my religion.

As I was sharing my recent discovery with a group a work colleagues, one young woman chimed in that she had to have the recipe because it's the perfect cookie for passover.   Passover?  As I tried to persuade her that this was the perfect cookie for anything, she gently reminded me that passover meals exclude any sort of of leavened product.  (Precisely, no  doubt, why we Catholics inherited that flat little flavorless disk that is a Communion wafer).   But for the Twelve Tribes, a dessert that's nothing but coconut and condensed milk is exactly what Yahweh had in mind.  So here I am a lapsed Catholic offering up the perfect passover dessert.  Chag Sameach.  Happy Passover.  God so works in mysterious ways.

Passover Macaroons


1.  Mix together the following:  4 cups shredded sweetened coconut flakes, one cup condensed milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp salt.

2.  Drop about a teaspoon-size mound onto a well-greased cookie sheet.  It's a little sticky here, but then most religion is. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees until lightly browned--about 9-12 minutes.  Cool and serve.

3.  That's it.  I told you this was easy.  Thanks be to God.