creative jewish mom

Key Shaped Challah

The Ashkenazic Jewish custom of making key shaped bread, or rather challah, (called schlissel challah) for the first shabbos after Passover is something I love to do, though this year on that particular shabbos we were in the Ukraine, so no key shaped challahs.......but then again, since it is a symbolic custom rather than a Jewish Law I figured I'd bake those key shaped challahs the very first time we made challahs at home, which was last Friday. And since my camera battery charger is broken and the replacement has yet to arrive my daughter quickly took some photos to share with you. At this point you may just want to keep this in mind for next year as serving key shaped challahs this shabbos will likely result in some strange looks and/or confusion, but if that doesn't bother you, I say go right ahead and enjoy! Keep on reading for all the links to previous posts with lots of inspiration as far as exactly how to make a key shape!

Today Is The Day To Bake Schlissel Challah!

According to a custom observed by many Jews of Ashkenazic (Eastern European) descent, key shaped challahs are baked the first shabbos after Passover as a symbol of the desire to bring blessings into the home. After the holiday, and the Jewish people's deliverance from slavery, is the time for new beginnings, so it is only fitting that one would want to grace their home with good things, and what can be better than freshly baked challah?

Now, one doesn't have to actually bake challahs shaped like keys, one can also simply place a key (wrapped in aluminum foil) in the bottom of the pan, or under the braided loaf, but in our house the key shaped challahs are certainly more interesting. I have baked large challah keys, medium sized keys and even small keys, and even whole wheat challah keys, and speaking from experience and the desire for the key to stay intact, I'd say a medium sized key like this one is the way to go.

Snowglobe Cookies With Royal Icing Make Great Winter Party Favors!

 

How about a big round of applause for my 15 year old daughter on her second attempt ever at royal icing, the outcome being these too adorable for words snowglobe snowman cookies! There is just something so wonderfully irresistible about royal icing, though since I'd rather not spend my creative time baking I'm more than happy to let my daughter have all the fun with this one. Since I'm there in any case I do get to live vicariously......though hoping we can figure out how to do this kind of thing without the huge time investment required, at least until we get to the top of the learning curve. We are learning all about royal icing and getting totally inspired to get really good at it from a lovely online cookine decorating class from brit and co, that I can recommend. Plus winter is a great time to spend learning something new, and especially something you can then use to spread joy all around.

The response when we served these cookies with desert this past shabbat was worth all the effort, though the Israeli born folks at the table aren't all that familiar with snow globes, so it was largely lost on them, nonetheless, the American guests appreciation was enough for the crowd. And as it turned out, we were in the middle of a huge storm, that even included a very nerve wracking power outage on Friday night, so the snowglobe theme fit right in.

Special Grape Leaf Challahs For Tu B'Shevat

Wednesday night is the perfect time to bake delicious homemade challah, and with the special shabbat of Tu B'Shevat coming up this week, how about making your challahs just a little bit special? Well, of course all challah is special, but when you spend a few minutes to add a bit of extra something, well special takes on a whole new meaning! Let's do it, shall we?

Black And White Flower Or Spider Web Icing Trick

Making baked works of art can really be quite simple if you know a few little tricks, right? Courtesy of my 14 year old daughter who I have now appointed as chief family baker, I bring to you a little tutorial for how to make black and white icing flowers or cob webs! While she made black and white flowers on mini doughnuts, one can certainly use this trick on cookies, cupcakes and even cakes.......the results will be truly gorgeous, promise! And doing this on a cake would be so less time consuming than many other types of decorations, so give it a try, I'm going to encourage my daughter to do so as well sometime soon, and will share the results, of course. (Well assuming there is time to photograph the results, that isn't always possible, as you can well imagine.)

One disclaimer, we are not professional bakers, and certainly not specialists when it comes to making icing with dairy ingredients as almost all of our baking is for items that will be eaten on shabbat after a meat meal, and thus cannot contain any dairy products. So I will provide you with the icing recipe we used, but there are likely many more options out there that may be more suited to your needs.

The Best Chicken Soup Recipe Ever With Lots Of Vegetables But No White Potatoes!

Photo courtesy of Bon Appetite, check out their chicken noodle soup recipe.

Last Friday afternoon as I was preparing our meals for shabbat, (and taking note of the cold weather forecast) I decided to whip up a big pot of chicken soup as the main course, and the results were so delicious I just had to share my recipe with you. And I'll admit, I love using this blog as a place for saving recipes, so there's something in it for me too! And yes, it is true that it is pretty hard to mess up chicken soup, but know the right veggies to add really makes a huge difference as far as the end result is concerned.

To make my chicken soup even more special and earn it main course status, I also made some croutons, which everyone loved, and they are certainly many steps above the traditional "soup nuts" that so many Jewish families serve with their soup. Just saying folks, those soup nuts are just about the least healthy thing to get your family used to eating, so do keep that in mind!

Ah yes, the recipe, no problem, just keep on reading.....

Chocolate Spoons With Sprinkles

Chocolate spoons with sprinkles made using silicone molds are a fun way for kids to get involved in the kitchen, and they are amazing way to finish off a delicious meal or as a part of a dessert bar. Plus they are one of those things that are simple to make but look really impressive. Adding the sprinkles was my idea as a simple way to make them look more festive, and I just love the results! My daughter actually made about 40 of these for a sheva brachas that i made just before Purim, and I had put aside a few in the freezer to photograph. Now a month later I unearthed them as I was cleaning out the freezer for Passover!

Speaking of Passover, these would be fun to make for Passover, and if you can't find kosher for Passover sprinkles, so improvise with some chopped nuts!

Jerusalem Artichoke Tastes Like Artichoke Hearts

If you saw these tubers in the store, or even just sitting on a counter in someone's kitchen, would you be able to identify them? Truthfully these Jerusalem artichokes only slightly resemble the ones usually for sale so I was quite surprised by their truly fascinating look. in past years they have only consisted of the middle section, (see my previous post with photo here) without those little fingers, and so they weren't nearly as photogenic! When I served Jerusalem artichoke with my standard Moroccan meat with tumeric and celery last shabbat, most of the guests just assumed that those oblong yellow things on the platter were potatoes, and when I brought out these to show them what the raw version looks like there were many wide eyes at the table.

Mini Doughnuts Using A Combo Mini Doughnuts Machine!

Doughnuts are a traditional Hanukkah treat, though I've always wanted to bake some rather than serve my family the oil laden traditional fried ones. And this year, ta da, we made a whole bunch of mini baked doughnuts thanks to a Bat Mitzvah gift certificate that my daughter finally redeemed (a year plus later) at a department store on our trip to Tiberius. To my great surprise, the only thing that we found in the whole store that was really worth the 250 shekel gift certificate was a combination waffle iron, cake pops, cupcakes and mini doughnut maker!  And just in time for Hanukkah too, so I guess it was just meant to be. My daughter actually made a ton of these but we were so rushed that I hid about five of them to photograph after the houseful of guests left and I could find time to take some photos!

Moroccan Style Halibut Cooked Without What?

The big joke in our house is that the one thing my husband and I disagree on is what kind of fish to serve on Shabbat. You may find this hard to believe, but my Moroccan husband actually requests gefilte fish (which most Moroccans wouldn't even consider touching....) while I much prefer to serve delicious Moroccan fish made using either Nile Perch, Musht (Talipia) or Halibut. (Namely prefer to serve on account of my children's preference and what I think guests will enjoy, I'm personally on a mostly vegan journey, so no fish for me for the time being.)

Truthfully the fish looks so beautiful before cooking that I just had to snap a little photo, and also let you in on a little secret regarding cooking Halibut on the stovetop. Are you ready? DO NOT ADD WATER. Yes, really! Halibut is such a moist, fatty fish, that all of the liquid that it releases when cooked on a low flame is more than enough.

So do follow my Moroccan fish recipe, just skip the water, and of course make sure to keep an eye on that fish so that it doesn't burn or dry out. That is it!