Jews have been known to have a last hurrah before Passover, gorging on pizza, pasta, bagels, cakes and other leavened goodies that become verboten during the eight-day holiday, which starts this year on April 6.
But the last thing Amy Siegel probably wants to eat right about now is another cupcake.
Siegel, a wife, mother of four and strictly observant Jew from Clifton, N.J., is a bit of a big deal in cooking contest circles, with about $50,000 in winnings to her name, including the grand prize in the Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-off three years ago.
Now, after years of trying, she's finally made it to the majors, snagging one of a hundred spots in the biennial Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando on Monday (March 26) with her strawberry swirl-peanut-butter-brownie cupcakes. The grand prize is $1 million.
Only one problem: The bake-off takes place 11 days before Passover, and all the weeks Siegel typically devotes to preparing her kitchen for the holiday -- swapping out her normal cookware, dishes and cutlery for Passover versions and emptying her cupboards and fridge of all food not fit for Passover -- she's spent rehearsing her decidedly non-Passover-friendly recipe.
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