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I’ve made Challah these past two Fridays, and will be making some again tomorrow. The first time I followed the recipe for Ultimate Challah, that Mrs. Anna T posted on her blog, Domestic Felicity. It turned out well, despite the fact that I only skimmed the instructions, which meant that I missed one of the rising times.

Last week, I used the same recipe, but I tweaked it a bit since I used half the amount on yeast (2 tablespoons seemed a bit much). I actually did the correct rising times and it turned out well. I didn’t get any pictures of what I made last week, but it turned out better than the one I made two weeks ago which I do have a picture of.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast (not instant)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 6 cups flour
• 3 tbsp + 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup warm water (approximately)
• 1 egg (beaten, to make bread shiny)

Instructions

1. Proof yeast by combining it with 1/2 cup water and 1 tsp sugar in a small bowl and letting it sit until it dissolves and frothy.
2. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and salt) in a large bowl.
3. Form a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients by  pushing them up against the walls of the bowl.
4. Combine the two beaten eggs, olive oil and water in this hole.
5. When the yeast is frothy add it to the wet ingredients and combine with dry ingredients to form a kneadable dough. (You may need to add more flour or water.)
6. Knead the dough until it forms a smooth, elastic ball. I like to knead it in the bowl, at least to start because it makes one less thing to clean.
7. Oil all sides of the ball, place it in a large bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (about 1.5-2 hours). You don’t actually have to place it in a bowl, but that’s what I do.
8. Punch down the dough and knead until the air comes out, cover and let rise until doubled again (about 1-1.5 hours)
9. Punch down the dough again and divide into two parts.
10. Braid each part as desired (so you get two loaves).
11. Place each loaf on a cookie sheet, cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
12. Preheat the oven to 350F.
13. Beat the third egg and brush over loaves. You can also add sesame seeds, but I don’t like then so I don’t.
14. Place loaves in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
15. Take out and enjoy.

Note: I find that I have leftover egg after I spread it on the challah (there just isn’t enough places to put it), so you might consider making scrambled eggs or something to use it up (if you’re like me and you don’t like throwing food away).

I suppose this is really “Day 8″ since the challenge finished yesterday, but I didn’t post any pictures of what I wore yesterday, so today will be my “day 7″.

Today I wore my long jean skirt and light blue long-sleeved shirt. I also wore an apron all day because I was baking and cleaning. The apron is my mom’s and it has really pretty embroidery on it.

I made some challah today, and although I messed up the recipe a bit (and I think I’d use less yeast if I did it again), it turned out pretty well.

I did my hair in “French Twists” (like French braids, not a French twist). I think it turned out fairly well considering I did it on myself and have never been able to do French braids or anything similar before, but of course my hair decided today would be a good day to be frizzy…

Updated// I put on a vest after I took off my apron,so I decided to take a few more pictures.

I also took my hair out of the brain and put on the other tichel I got from Cover Your Hair.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the Challenge. I’m sort of sad it’s over, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop wearing skirts.

I didn’t have a chance to take pictures today, and what I wore wasn’t very exciting since I went into the city today and didn’t know what it was going to be like and “played it safe”. I wore the same skirt I wore yesterday (since it was clean), the brown top I wore on day 2 (I think), and my hair in a bun (like yesterday, just higher on my head). I’ll post what I wear tomorrow as day 7.

Since I didn’t get pictures today, and I don’t have the posts I did when I took the challenge in May, I thought I’d post one from each day again today.

Day 1 I wore a black “2 in 1″ skirt/dress and a green long sleeved. My hair was down and I wore a soft headband.

Day 2 I wore a blue and white skirt with a blue shirt. I pulled my hair half back.

Day 3 I wore a red shirt with a black skirt. I wore my hair in a braid.

Day 4 I wore my “tiered” brown skirt and a white top. I just wore my hair down.

Day 5 I wore a brown skirt (the same as the black one above, just a different colour) and a purple shirt. I wore my hair in two braids.

Day 6 I wore my black skirt/dress and a brown top. I wore my hair in a bun.

Day 7 I wore my brown skirt, a blue top and a blue sweater. I wore my hair in a ponytail.