And so it begins, the attempt to re-enter blogging life. In the spirit of gratitude I mentioned in yesterday's post, I present to you the "ThankYou" cake. This cake was a contribution to a brunch get-together for the families in our yishuv (currently 38!) who form a monthly rotation to bring the chayalim at the near-by machsomim a nightly dose of coffee, treats, and appreciation. Some nights the chayalim are too busy to do much more than say a quick thanks - or no, thanks - to the offers of coffee, tea, or shoko and something home-baked. They can be darned busy, and under tremendous pressure. And we serve the drinks, and hand out the snacks, and go home happy to have taken our turn.
Other nights, you feel a little like Santa Claus. The smiles on these young kids faces are beautiful, and grateful, and they want to chat a little, maybe practice some English, play a little Jewish geography... And they act like we have brought them manna from heaven, and we go home glowing, and a little sad, hoping that someday our chayal will get the same treatment, wishing it would all be unnecessary.
Some of the chayalim who man the checkpoints came to the breakfast, and it was lovely to see them and hear a little about their feelings about the program. Our little yishuv seems to have become known for the coffee and kindness, and that is a wonderful feeling.
The cake is a two layer chocolate cake, filled with a whipped chocolate filling, and covered in ivory colored vanilla buttercream. The decorations are made of hand-cut, hand-painted fondant in a "cafe" theme. "Intern" Shana did a magnificent job making the decors. It was a real privilege to be able to use our art to express our appreciation to everyone involved, from the families to the soldiers to our fearless leader Deena, who keeps everything going.
The lettering spells "Todah" - thank you!
Wishing you a sweet week!
Dvora
