It doesn’t take very long to get good at making bread. This first photo is the first challah, which we ate at and ‘s Hanukkah feast. You can see that it’s kind of ropy, because the braids didn’t meld together. Why didn’t the braids meld together? Because the dough wasn’t kneaded enough.
This second one is yesterday’s challah, for dinner with and . You can see that the braids have fully melded under the bread’s skin, and you’re left with bread to be cut, rather than bread to be torn into strands. The difference between the kneading of the first loaf and the kneading of the second loaf was about six minutes, and a little extra flour on the kneading surface.
It’s amazing that such a little thing can make such a huge difference.
I made Solstice Cookies again this morning, for Jen and Sam’s party. Solstice cookies are simply toll house cookies, with a greater proportion of dark chocolate morsels to white chocolate morsels. They come out as beautiful Hagia Sophia-like broad, low domes. Then I put them down, and they fall flat. Anyone know what I’m doing wrong? Maybe they’re not cooking long enough. I’m not really sure. My cookies were never really as good as my bread, anyway.
Regardless of whether they melded together or not, both of them look fantastic! If they taste half as good as they look, they would have been delicious!
nothing like fresh bread, LOOKS GREAT!
And Dear God, that was among the best bread’s I’ve ever had. I literally exclaimed something like “Oh my God!” or soemthing when it hit me how good it was.
Thanks again for being such a gracious host and a marvelous cook!