Challah, Pool

Yesterday, Shoshana held a last-minute challah baking class. She wanted oh so much to hold one, but no one organized it, so I decided to do it for her, even though I know how to make challah (I didn’t tell her that). Because the dough has to rise a lot, we decided to make it at 7:30am (class starts at 8:30am) so that it could rise in time for lunch (1pm), when we would invite girls to come watch braiding. It didn’t turn out to be very hands-on. It’s ok, because I still think it was helpful for the few girls who came. Dana, my roommate, came early in the morning with me to make the dough. She doesn’t know how to cook and has always wanted to learn to make challah. Shoshana cemented the idea that flour should be sifted, just like Rita told me to do this past Shabbos. Why had we never done that at my house? Shoshana also said that challah, and dough in general, likes to be treated like a baby – gently! I always kneaded dough very strongly, thinking it would be best to get the air out. This is wrong! It has to be done gently and with love J Also, Shoshana put her yeast into water (lukewarm, whereas I always used quite warm) and then put it into her flour/sugar/salt/egg mixture without even letting the yeast froth! That was surprising, but it worked out. I’ll include the recipe in this post at the end J

The dough rose wonderfully! We started braiding challah during lunch, and a few girls and teachers came over to look. Zahava, who works at school, told us that she knew how to make a 6-braided challah (challah is usually 3 braids). We asked her to show us and I videotaped it! It came out beautifully! Shoshana also made a little “grape bunch.” She made 10 little balls, stuck them together, and put a long piece of dough at the top to hold it all. Very cute.

Then, Laura and I went to a pool we heard about in the Jerusalem Forest. It had women’s hours from 1pm to 6pm. 3 other girls went, as well. But, when we got there, we were told the cost was 50 shekel ($15) instead of 36, as Laura saw on the website. So the other girls left L Laura and I figured that since we made it all the way (taxi to get there the last 5 minutes because it can’t be reached otherwise by bus), we may as well enjoy ourselves. I won’t go again, because that’s super expensive, but we had a glorious time in our bikinis (in the middle of Jerusalem!), swimming and tanning. It was quite funny to see all the other religious ladies in their two- or one-pieces, whereas they are usually very clothed! Yet, they kept their hair covered, which was quite funny. And, there were a couple male lifeguards and the snack shop had a guy running it! I was quite confused…maybe this counts as an instant where they save lives, but they could’ve tried getting female lifeguards and snack shop overseers for a couple hours. Oh well, they stayed where they were and didn’t really walk about. It’s really nice not to be self-conscious at the pool haha! Girls, you know it’s true! Whenever there are men, all you think about is how you look! Here, we just enjoyed ourselves J We shared a taxi with a woman and her daughter to get back to the bus station.

Today, Jenny came to Shearim! Jenny is one of my great friends from Chicago. She just finished a women’s trip called JEWEL and is checking out Shearim to see if she likes it. She didn’t particularly like Neve Yerushalayim. I still want to check Neve out; I don’t want to switch seminaries because it’s a hassle if I’m only staying for the summer, but if I like it A LOT more than Shearim, maybe I will. Neve is where I was supposed to go in the first place.

Today is also Melody’s birthday! She, Laura, Melissa, and Dana are out right now, going to the Mamilla Hotel (my dentist told me about this famous hotel with a gorgeous view of Jerusalem from the top lounge). I’m quite jealous haha, but I’m still at school. I signed up for work-study to help pay my cost just a bit here at school, and I have to help the cook in the kitchen today. Hopefully I’ll be able to come out with the girls later, but if not, I’m sure I’ll make it out to Mamilla at some other time. Zumba tonight as well!

My sister is writing a blog, too. It’s very cute! I’m happy she’s doing it. Funny enough, her writing style resembles mine!

I am on the committee to cook the third meal for the Shabbaton this weekend. Dana, Melody, Laura, and Melissa agreed to be on my committee! I drew up a list of salads/kugels/desserts and we’re going to cook tomorrow evening and Friday morning (salads, so that they’re fresher). Looking forward!

Challah Recipe:

4 cups of flour, 1.5 c lukewarm water, 1 tbsp yeast, 1tbsp sugar, 1 egg, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Combine egg, sugar, olive oil, lemon juice (secret ingredient - Shoshana didn't tell me why! She said just to try it!) and salt in a large bowl

2. In a smaller bowl, mix the yeast and the lukewarm water together.

3. Add the yeast mixture to the large bowl

4. Start adding the flour (sift it!) until you put it all in

5. Mix everything very well to get a smooth dough

6. Oil a bowl, put the dough in, and cover and let stay for 1.5 hours, making sure it is in a warm place

7. After the dough rises, knead it GENTLY!

8. Put it back into the oiled bowl for another 1.5 hours

9. Gently cut the dough into strips for braiding

10. Braid 3 or 6 braid challah

11. In a separate small bowl, crack open an egg. Take out a little bit of the yolk (yolk burns!). Mix the rest and brush down the MIDDLE of the challah, not overdoing it.

12. Preheat the oven on 500F for a few minutes so that it gets very hot. Lower to 350 and only then put the challah in. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden.

13. Cool on a countertop that is not cold (such as granite). If it is cold, put a towel on it.

Ta-da! You did it!