Do you prefer pre packaged MM or homemade?

amother

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 7:14 am

I have a really great idea in making a little tiny cake for each MM, but I am nervous that people will feel uncomfortable in eating homeade goods (obviously for Rabbis etc, I will give pre packaged). Homemade is also alot cheaper and in my opinion we keep a high level of kashrus. If people have eaten by us, do you think it is fine? Or do you think I am better off going the more expensive/pre packaged way?

mom4many

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 7:18 am

I'm all for homemade, especially when presented nice. What's the point of exchanging bought cakes / wafers with people?!

What is done in your community / neighborhood? I've seen in Israel many people paste on a note such as "All ingredients badatz eida chareidis, pareve".
Cake is also less problematic as far as kashrus of the ingredients in my opinion.

Isramom8

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 7:18 am

All the MM quickly gets mixed up and I have to set aside all the home baked goods to give away. DH and I will allow it only if we really know who sent it and we trust them, like a kollel family or a family we know to use our hechsherim.

To Bnei Brakim (like teachers and rebbes) I would not send anything homemade since they might be unsure what I use.

Therefore we end up giving poackaged nosh with the most widely accepted hechsher(im).

Once a chiloni neighbor did the nicest thing - baked us a giant soft-dough hamentasch, filled with poppyseeds. Such a shame that we couldn't eat it. I don't know if/how she checks the flour,eggs and poppyseeds. A handful of Badatz chocolate bars for the kids would have been so much more appreciated.

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 8:07 am

I prefer packaged cos u dont have 2 eat it on purim, it cud be saved for a diff day, home-baked stuff normally needs to be eaten on the day for it 2 taste good. Also unless u package really well they tend 2 crumble, sldie around etc and by the time they r delivered look a bit worse 4 wear.

IloveHashem613

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 9:28 am

I guess it really depends on your circles. If you know most of the people you are giving to won't eat baked goods outside of their home then there is really no point of baking for them. However, we are not strict about it and neither are most of our friends. That being said, I so much prefer homemade MM over store bought ones... I hate having bags of ketchup chips and tons of the same store bought cookies and junk sitting around from all the extra MM

lkwdmommy

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 12:40 pm

I also prefer home baked from folks I know. Baked goods go straight into the freezer to enjoy on Shabbos. I appreciate not having to bake so close to Pesach. But it does have to look appetizing!

mommyhood

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 12:56 pm

I eat home baked things I get from people I trust but I prefer store bought things because they last longer. The homemade cookies and cakes get stale before I have a chance to eat them whereas the storebought things can last me a couple of weeks.

Merrymom

Thu, Mar 03 2011, 9:15 pm

mommyhood wrote:

Freeze it right away and it'll stay beautifully.

To the OP, I once got a shaloch manos that said something like this:

Kemach yoshon
Baked in a basari oven
Prepared with basari dishes
Pas Yisrael
All the eggs checked
Flour sifted