End of the Month (but not end of the MEALS)

This is where creativity takes on new form and function, when there is too many meals left and the end of the month is not coming soon enough. How does oatmeal sound? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I had plenty of oatmeal, which I do I could make some great gruel for breakfast, a wonderful cobbler for lunch and how about pancakes with oats in them for dinner...a little daring perhaps but it keeps them in suspense.

Fortunatly for my family I do have more than oatmeal for the remainder of this month, but my thinking goes like this; what do I have in the freezer...Oh there are chickens I got on sale. One night I will do chicken and rice bake, another night I will do steamed rice and chicken stir fry, and perhaps I will have enough chicken left over to do chicken enchiladas.  Under these circumstances I am  forced to think about what I can do with what I have in the house, (no shopping allowed, that's one of the rules of the game). I think about what I have in abundance and get creative.

Voila' Challah

It is amazing to me that a few simple ingredients can create memories, build bridges into lives that will last centuries, all the while causing us to look back, while simultaneously looking forward. But challah (pronounced Halla) can do all of those things.

The ingredients; flour, egg(s) oil, water, yeast, salt and a little sugar. One of my recipe books calls for 5# of flour. When I make this recipe I plan on giving away a couple of challah while baking the grandmother of all challah loaves in my oven. Bread has never been one of  those kitchen ventures that intimidates me...now making pie crusts...that's another story altogether. But my mother made bread, and if we were around at the right moment she might even let us punch our tiny little (clean) fists into the warm, spongy dough after its first rise.

God elevated food to a place of holiness when He commanded us to use food for sacrificial purposes, and challah is a bread traditionally baked on Friday and served at the Shabbath meal. It is typically a braided bread, which means a minimum of 3 ropes of dough. "For a chord of 3 is not easily broken" this applies to bread, twine, people, witnesses and many other areas representing unity and strength. I have been in kitchens where the mom makes the most beautiful challah using 6, and even 8 ropes of dough. It is only fitting that this food, the first consumed at a sabbath meal be blessed and shared.

My daughters now make challah and Aviva will grow up watching her mom, pull out the mixing bowl she always uses, and the bowl that the one extra egg gets cracked into, paying careful attention to the temperature of the water, watching to make sure the yeast is fresh and growing, in the smaller bowl she always uses,  the brush that is used to apply that last touch to the bread before it goes into the oven, that last touch that will cause the bread to glisten, and turn a beautiful shade of golden;. All of these things will be emblazoned into her memory, she will have to learn self-control, as she waits for the moment when the entire family sits down together and rejoices in another week past, another day lived, another moment to enjoy together, and another opportunity to break bread together.

And just what is this new business?

It is my hearts desire to see young women, properly equipped in their kitchens. There are some very, very basic food related techniques that can open up the world to an ammautre foodie. With this in mind, I am inviting a few gals into my kitchen for a hands on opportunity to make bread. Not just any ol' bread but traditional Challah. I might even suggest to each one attending that they bring a vegetable, and send them all home with bread and some awesome soup!

The greatest success for me in any walk of life is in the doing of it. It isn't enough to be shown what I need to do, or have someone do it for me...if it is to be mine I need to actually do it...fail...do it again and little, by little I have success.