Earlier today, a friend was kind enough to share an article with me that addressed several of my interests: cooking, charity and the Pittsburgh Jewish community. The first two have had a prominent position my entire life, and the last only came into my frame of interest when I enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh this year.

The city’s local paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, recently featured a piece about a class called “Not Your Bubbe’s Cooking…But Close!” an initiative taken by the United Jewish Federation Women. The class serves two very important functions: teaching young Jewish women to cook traditional Jewish foods, and benefiting the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. Each class member pays an $8 fee that goes directly to the pantry, which has a budget of $235,000. Sadly, living in the city has shown me how great a homelessness problem there is in the area, and more donations and assistance in securing funds are needed.

While the class is benefiting a good cause, it is also doing the mitzvah (good deed) of passing Jewish traditions on to the next generation. “We had young women who were looking to learn traditional ways of cooking Jewish foods and, at the same time, to have a social experience and meet new people,” says Federation director Samantha Rothaus. She devised the program along with Jennifer Jones, the young adult director.

If you’re looking for such guidance but don’t live in proximity to Allegheny County, Rachel Firestone, assistant pastry chef at Sonoma Grille and the class’ instructor, offers the following tips (taken from the article; also see the article for Kosher for Passover dessert recipes made by the class):

• “Don’t be afraid to go for convenience and ease. Used pre-chopped nuts; measure ingredients beforehand and your dish will snap right together; make sure you have a place to put down pots so you’re not dancing around the kitchen with a torrid tray of molten cake.”

• “To prevent that white-around-the-collar look goods baked in floured pans can get (or if you aren’t using flour at Passover), use cocoa powder to dust pans.”

• “Use unsalted fats, such as butter or kosher-for-Passover margarine, to keep the salt content where it ought to be.”

• “Melt the chocolate and margarine together in a metal bowl over simmering water; you don’t need a double boiler.”

• “’It’s nice to take a lesson from a restaurant: Everyone likes to have their own little dessert,’ so ramekins make great little baking dishes. And plate the dessert a little off center for an artsy touch.”

• “When you’re all done, ‘give all the bowls to your husband to wash.’”