Here’s how to get beautifully braided challah Want to guarantee beautiful challah braids every time? • To achieve beautiful, even loaves, it is important to focus on the strands. First, you want to make sure they are even in size. My aunt, who taught me this particular braiding method, recommends weighing each piece of dough to…
Really, Really Good Whole Wheat Challah
Ah, that time of year is here again. Shlissel Challah. I always marvel at how enthusiastic we get when baking the first dough after Pesach. You’d think we would want to stay away from a measuring cup until July, but no. Here we are, filled with joy, pulling out or mixers, donning aprons and sprinkling…
The Hardest Part of Pesach: Packing It All Away.
And not because it’s a job. But because it makes me so sad to know Pesach is coming to an end. I remember hearing, years back, women declare how Pesach is their favorite Yom Tov. I also remember thinking these women were delusional or a bit high on oven spray fumes. Seriously? You scrubbed until…
Yapchik. With a Name Like That It Better Be Good.
And it is! Here’s the story of how I came to do it right. Yapchik: literal translation: potato kugel with a layer of meat in it. Not so literal translation: serious Jewish comfort food. For years the mere thought of Yapchik made me queasy. I might have tasted one that was way too heavy, or…
This Lemonade is My Family’s Pesach Tradition
I used to squeeze the lemons for lemonade as a young girl; now my own children have taken over. I think of Pesach back in Lugano, where I grew up, and the scent of lemon oil hits me immediately. Lemon oil is that oil that comes out of the lemon peel if squeezed too hard….
The Best Way to Store 9x13s In the Freezer
Prevent freezer burn and make sure your hard work doesn’t go to waste with challah bags! Did you know that challah bags (aka 2-gallon bags) fit a 9- x 13-inch pan perfectly? This method will ensure that your hard work doesn’t go to waste. The bags will help prevent freezer burn or the transfer of…
The First Thing You Need To Bake? Definitely This Pesach Cake
Can a Pesach chocolate cake be better than a chametz one? It’s the one cake my children will all agree on, Pesach or not. Chocolatey and dense, it makes you wonder why you don’t bake this year-round. Truth is, I prepared one this past Friday (the Friday after Purim) just to make sure all my…
The Life Changing Magic of Marie Kondo. Also, How I Finally Organized My Belongings, Once and For All
Do you like getting rid of stuff or do you like saving things? I thrive on throwing things out. Give me a trash bag and I will make stuff disappear. No, don’t worry, I won’t just throw away perfectly good items (those I will make sure to give to someone who needs/wants it). I am…
Do You Know What’s in Your Freezer?
This “Outside the Freezer List” will make sure you know what’s in there…so you use it up! How many times do you find yourself rummaging through your freezer wondering if there is another vegetable soup, somewhere? “I know I had one more, somewhere” isn’t always good enough. Especially when you want said veggie soup to…
Are Your Kids Buried in Way Too Much Candy?
There is a quick and easy way out from under that candy mountain. There’s candy and junk everywhere I look. I just counted 17 soda cans on my kitchen counter. Something tells me that this isn’t what Purim is all about. But hey, it’s one day, and tomorrow we will all go back to our…