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Column: The zen of challah

My husband’s latest name for me is the Challah Whisperer. That’s because he thinks he has to suck up to me so I’ll keep baking my yummy, plaited egg bread.

My husband’s latest name for me is the Challah Whisperer. That’s because he thinks he has to suck up to me so I’ll keep baking my yummy, plaited egg bread. For those of you unfamiliar with challah, it’s the traditional braided bread eaten on the Jewish sabbath and major Jewish holidays. And it’s wildly delicious!

About a year and a half ago, fully ensconced in retirement, a friend invited me over to her home to teach me how to bake challah. I’d warned her ahead of time that I was known far and wide as a water-burner, and that the thought of baking bread terrified me. I confided that the only kind of yeast I was familiar with, is the kind you use Canesten to treat. She assured me that baking bread is easy – “Anyone can do it.” Apprehensively, I agreed to try. Little did she know she was about to create a monster.

As it turns out, she doesn’t own a bread machine or a fancy dough hook on an electric mixer, so we went mano a mano with the dough. We made two, big picture-perfect challahs and a bunch of little challah buns. Hot out of the oven, we slathered on the butter and spent the next half hour sighing with pleasure. So began my journey into bread baking. I went from zero to addicted in about four hours, which is exactly how long it took us to bake all that challah.

Fast forward….and now I’m baking challah on a regular basis, for Harvey and me, as well as for others. Noticing the wholehearted enjoyment I take in bread baking, Harvey bought me a spectacular cookbook called Rising: the Book of Challah by Rochie Pinson. If I was excited about the endeavor before this book, you should see me now! I’m making rosemary and Kalamata olive stuffed challah; cinnamon challah; sweet, round braided challah…you name it. I’ve morphed into a challah maniac. I’ve come to adore the earthy smell of yeast, and the aroma of freshly baked bread makes me giddy.

One of my retirement volunteer ‘jobs’ involves baking challah bi-weekly, as part of an entire dinner that’s delivered to seniors for a Sabbath meal. I often invite a friend to help me (we bake anywhere from 40-160 challah buns), and at first I was very diligent about counting the number of cups of flour we used. Now, I just scoop the flour into the bowl with wild abandon, eliciting panicked comments from my friends like: “Oh my gosh, I lost track of the number of cups of flour!” Now, I’m the one that gets to say nonchalantly: “Don’t worry, I know how the dough is supposed to feel.” Now I’m that girl. I’m the girl who’s on a first-name basis with challah dough!

So, if any of you retirees are looking for a relaxing hobby with a delicious pay-off, try bread baking. It will knock your socks off. And, it’ll have your husband (or wife) slavishly eating out of your hand.

It gets a little messy with the butter….but still worth it.

Shelley Civkin, the retired “Face of Richmond,” was a Librarian & Communications Officer at Richmond Public Library for nearly 30 years, and author of a weekly book review column for 17 years.