Creation

From the first time I tasted challah, I knew I was in love.  The crunchy buttery crust, soft eggy insides all perfectly married with butter slathered around.  No wonder women have been making it for centuries and religions use it to remember God.

This Christmas I realized why my infatuation might have run so deep.  While making my family's traditional Christmas bread, pulla (sounds like hula but with a "P" and I'm probably spelling it wrong ... Grandma?) I noticed the similarities in the two recipes.  Pulla is very eggy, sweet (sweeter than I like my challah), but the difference is the cardamom seasoning which gives pulla its distinctive taste.  My grandma, who was half Finnish made it every year and oh the memories.

Which brings me to today.  I rarely make challah.  But if there's a special meal or I'm making my Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, I make it.  Today was such a day.  The catch was, I was trying to make the soup, the bread and get all of the supplies gathered for the great room switcharoo (I haven't mentioned it yet, but Honey is moving in with Little C and Mr. M is finally getting his own "tween" room ... I'll post more about  that later).  Bottom line:  I was frazzled.  But I knew I needed to get the dough done between 2 and 2:30 in order for it to be ready to take to a friend who needed a little challah in her life at 5.

Let me just say, challah in a hurry makes a hallah of a mess.  I got my dough kneading and I was taking great pride in its excellent texture when I stopped and pondered why, with only 6 cups of the required 8 was it looking so put together, unlike me today.  And then I remembered the eggs.  The eggs!  It wouldn't be challah without the eggs.  Just plain white bread.  So I added them, one by one.  Adding eggs to an already stiff dough is not an easy thing to do.  It's messy.  It tends to refuse incorporation.

And in that moment I asked myself, Why I am always rushing?  Things that are good take time, effort and planning.  I tend to skimp on one or two of those things anytime I am doing something.  And so I slowed a little bit and thought of all the women over the centuries who have made this bread by hand, without a mixer.  Who made it days in advance in order to be prepared for the Sabbath.  Who must have made it so often it was reflexive to knead, mix, bake, eat, create.

Finally, with my thoughts prodding it, it bent to my will.  And the challah was done.

And I saw that it was good.

My favorite challah recipe:

2 c warm water
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c honey
4 eggs, lightly beaten
8 c all-purpose flour
4 t yeast

1.  Heat the water.  Cut butter into pats and add to the hot water, to cool and melt butter.  Add honey to warm mixture and mix.
2.  Combine 6 c flour, yeast and salt in a mixer (I use a Kitchen Aid and have the paddle on for this part ... a bread mixer would be the same though). Turn mixer on low.
3.  Add water/butter/honey mixture and beaten eggs all at once into the mixer with dry ingredients.  Let mixture beat it for 3 to 5 minutes. (switch to dough hook at this point if you need to)
4.  Add remaining 2 C flour and mix with dough hook until dough is a smooth round ball clearing the sides of the bowl but stuck to the bottom (add flour 1 T at a time if needed to get to this point).
5.  Let dough rise 1 to 2 hours.  Divide into 2 loaves.  Let rise in pans another hour.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.