Friday, August 8, 2008

The Menu

Here 'tis:

challah
tortilla soup
lime cilantro coleslaw
bbq chicken w/chimichurri sauce
tomato onion salad
lemon garlic roasted potatoes
refried black beans
guacamole
chips
chocolate challah pudding*

The chocolate challah pudding is with appreciation to the 3-month-long challah curse that has been on this house. Here's the problem... I have made challah every 2-3 weeks (big batches) for a decade. The recipe was memorized, or so I thought. After returning from Ethiopia with two more children, the recipe was G-O-N-E. But only parts of it. Then I thought we reconstructed it. But was it 1 or 2 eggs? 1 or 2 tsps of salt? did I put the salt in already? yes, must have (didn't) the yeast didn't rise? since when does the yeast not rise? did I put yeast in? maybe I'll just add some now! it's rising... a little... bakes up tough and chewy... next time - oops forgot to set the timer! black challah, well, dark brown, we'll make do, shabbos starts in 15 minutes, etc., etc., etc. We can't believe it, but FOUR batches in a row of challah have gone awry. Tomorrow, with a significant amount of help from Hashem, I hope to dispatch last week's giant 12-loaf charbroiled batch into medium batches of challah pudding, and present our dear friend JF with a fine pair of challot suitable for shabbos. If the challah curse continues tomorrow I will positively laugh hysterically because it is so preposterous for this to go on any longer. What are the odds??? I'll let you know!!! (Though JF will probably find out first if I don't have time to post before shabbos; and I'm sure JF will get at least as much of a belly laugh out of the challah curse as we have... but it is getting a bit old!!)

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