Challah is without question the best bread or Shana Tova Darlings!

Darlings, 

Well first and most importantly, I love bread.

This is a trait I share with Oprah. Like being a mogul and really loving books and gifts and best friends, we are on the same page about bread. My personal favorite breads are sourdough and challah. I'm not entirely sure which bread is Oprah's favorite, but apparently the two below items have the least amount of weight watchers points.

Originally this was my criteria to determine Oprah's favorite bread, but after seeing the options, I really and truly hope Oprah doesn't LOVE either of them. So although we have a lot in common, Oprah and I, there's still many mysteries of Ms. Winfrey that I have my whole life to seek truths on.It's almost the new year for us in the tribe. I gotta say - living out here with no friends or family to celebrate with and cook for is deeply upsetting and unsettling, especially in times like these.

So I wanted to share a challah recipe with you - so that perhaps at your table  tonight or tomorrow, we might exchange L'Shana Tovas over brisket, apple cake and gefilte fish. (Darlings, remember when I made my own? {also, can you believe how far iphone photography has come in 6 years!??!})

So the photos here is not of a round challah, but here is a great tutorial on braiding round challahs if the mood should strike.One more thing - The new year, Jewish or not, is a time for us to reflect upon our lives - to repent for our sins but also to consider ourselves and what makes us the best self for our community. I am never more of my best self, darlings, then when I am writing to you or cooking for you. And I think that you deserve better after all these years than some shoddy iphone photos. So I finally broke down and bought a real camera, so I can take care and create real photos to share with you. I'm also hoping that it will give me motivation to share more of my creations with you over the coming year. The other thing is that yesterday one of my oldest friends asked me for a holiday menu and I thought why haven't I been writing holiday menus on the blog? So I think that's something to look forward to in this coming year. 

My Challah

Ingredients

3 tsp. fast acting yeast

1/8 C. Warm Water

3/4 c. plus 2 tsp sugar

2 eggs, beaten

6 C. Flour

1 Tsp. Salt

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil, plus more for greasing

2 egg yolks, beaten

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast, water and 2 tsp sugar. Let it sit about 10 minutes until the water begins to foam. Seriously. Wait for it to foam, if you don't, you will get all the way to the end of step 4, an hour and a a half in and realize you aren't getting any challah anytime soon.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (with a dough hook attachment), combine your 2 whole beaten eggs, your sugar, your vegetable oil and your yeast mixture.

3. While the dough hook is running, little by little, add your salt and flour. Continue to mix until a sticky ball forms.

4. Grease a large bowl from top to bottom on the interior and move your dough ball to it. Cover it with a damp cloth or a piece of cling wrap and leave it in a warm space for about an hour, until the ball doubles in size.

5. Once the dough has doubled, Pull the ball apart into three balls of the same size.

6. On a floured surface, roll each of these balls out into a long rope.

7. You will now braid your challah:

   1. Pinch the ends of the ropes together and braid the challah like you would braid your hair, left over center, right over center, until the left becomes the right and the right becomes the left and the center continually changes (kind of like life)

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8. Place your braided challah on a sheet pan, cover with a damp towel and again, place in a warm environment for an hour until it rises.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

10. When your challah has risen, brush the top with your egg yolks and bake for about 40 minutes. It is done when golden brown on the top.

11. You can add raisins to the dough, or seeds to the top. I might just do that for today's challah!

Shana Tova to all, may your new year be full of peace, health and happiness. And please be kind to each other (unless you're talking about a red carpet dress, then by all means...go to town)

xoxolcf