Yes, this is my goal #8. Make a challah bread (pronounced “hall-uh”). I have a slight fascination with all things Jewish. A challah bread is a special braided bread eaten on the Sabbath and on holidays. Wikipedia says, “According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and one in the morning) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This “double loaf” commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion fell before the Sabbath and holidays. (There are two loaves of bread in my picture. They cooked up big and ended up right next to each other) I used a fairly basic challah bread recipe from Amy Cox Jones’s World of Wisdom cookbook (she calls for wheat, I used white flour – gasp!) and learned how to do the braid here. It’s really quite easy!

Are you salivating yet?