Community Coalition (www.
gwbcoalition.org). She previ-
ously worked in banking.
Berkey’s organization is
involved with efforts to keep
West Bloomfield, and par-
ticularly youth under age 18,
“healthy, safe and free from
substance use.
” Toward that
end, Berkey and her colleagues
work with local organizations,
agencies, concerned citizens,
policy makers, educators, stu-
dents and parents to provide
“leadership, education, resourc-
es and programming for our
young people and those who
support them.
”
GWB contributed to the
addiction awareness program-
ming, supported in part by the
Jewish Addiction Resource
Alliance, during a March
“Serenity Shabbat” at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.
With her company, Berkey
participated last May in a fund-
raiser for the Sky Foundation
of Bloomfield Hills (www.
skyfoundationinc.org). Berkey
baked Goldie’s Mandel Bread at
Star Bakery in Oak Park, with
the cookies also available for
purchase at Diamond Bakery in
West Bloomfield. Dan Buckfire,
a partner in the bakeries with
David Schechter and president/
managing partner Stacy Fox,
donated ingredients and half
of the sale proceeds to Sky. The
nonprofit’s mission is “raising
awareness and funding inno-
vative research for the early
detection and treatment of pan-
creatic cancer.
”
Berkey feels an attachment
to the organization because
pancreatic cancer took the
life of her older sister, Sharon
Horowitz, 64, in May 2016.
Another fundraiser is being
held at Star and Diamond bak-
eries between the dates of May
16-21. Half of sales will go to
the Sky Foundation.
Berkey’s customers have
included Orchard Mall, which
purchased trays of Goldie’s
Mandel Bread to gift tenants
during the December holidays.
Her mandel bread shows up at
weddings, shivahs, bar and bat
mitzvahs and other occasions,
large and small.
The company website notes
that a tray with approximate-
ly 40 pieces of mandel bread
is priced at $35, and $60 for
approximately 80 pieces. Boxes
of mandel bread, original recipe
and gluten-free, have different
parameters. Depending on the
order size, Goldie’s Mandel
Bread may be placed in white
labeled boxes or on round trays
sporting different bows.
Mandel bread may be
ordered through Goldie’s social
media or by phone. For no
additional charge, trays can
be delivered within 10 miles
of West Bloomfield. Other
times, Berkey arranges with
customers to pick up their
boxed orders, either at her
home or “we might meet
half-way, if someone lives
farther.
”
The mandel bread I was
anticipating was fully baked.
Once cool enough to eat, the
still-warm cookies contained
a moist richness I’
d never
experienced before. They
smelled wonderful in my car
all the way home. Even after
the pieces cooled off, they
remained delightfully deli-
cious and not too dry.
I dropped off two samples
of Goldie’s Mandel Bread for
my sister, Janice Young, in
Farmington Hills. The follow-
ing day, she texted me that
she’
d driven to Berkey’s house
to pick up a small box to share
with her older daughter’s family.
Of course, she later had to get
another box to share with her
younger daughter’s family. I
bought a box to give a different
sister for her birthday.
And all we want to say now
to Ron Elkus is this: “We’re lov-
ing them. Get your own mandel
bread!”
GOLDIE’S MANDEL BREAD
Phone for placing orders: (248) 321-8642
Social media: Goldiesmandelbread.com, Facebook and
Instagram
LISA BERKEY
Title: Owner, Goldie’s Mandel Bread
Residence: West Bloomfield
Family: Husband, Paul Berkey, a sales director; daughter Sarah
Lencer, a social worker at University of Michigan Hospital in
Ann Arbor, and son Jack Berkey, pursuing a doctorate in physi-
cal therapy at University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio
Education: Graduate, Southfield High School; two years at
Michigan State University in East Lansing, and bachelor’s
degree in marketing at Wayne State University in Detroit
Jewish connections: Membership at Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills, including its sisterhood. Lisa grew up
attending the former Congregation B’nai David in Southfield.
What is mandel
bread, aka
mandelbrot?
Mandelbrot dates back to the
early 19th century. Jews living
in Piedmont, Italy, brought
them back to Eastern Europe
after tasting biscotti, a similar
cookie of Italian origin. The
name Mandelbrot is mandel
for almond and brot for bread,
in Yiddish and German. In the
United States, the translation
is mandel bread. Having most
of the moisture baked out of
them, these crispy and crunchy
cookies have a fairly long
shelf life. Mandel bread can be
eaten on its own or dipped into hot tea or coffee.
Source material: toriavey.com
Is It OK to Sell Food Made at Home?
Yes. West Bloomfield Township follows Michigan’s Cottage
Food Law, PA 113 of 2010, which exempts a “cottage food
operation” from the licensing and inspection provisions of the
Michigan Food Law. Under the Cottage Food Law, non-poten-
tially hazardous foods that do not require time and/or tempera-
ture control for safety can be produced in a home kitchen (the
kitchen of the person’s primary domestic residence) for direct
sale to customers at farmers’ markets, farm markets, roadside
stands or other direct markets. The food products are not sold
to retailers. The Cottage Food Law can provide an opportunity
for those thinking about starting a food business but reluctant
to spend the money needed to establish or rent commercial
kitchen space. Source material: www.michigan.gov/mdard
MAY 11 • 2023 | 47