Homemade Mayonnaise

I was inspired by this post from Kosher on a Budget to try and make my own mayonnaise. It was really simple and even with gathering all the ingredients and blending, the whole thing took UNDER A MINUTE - quite a far cry from the way our grandmothers used to do it!
Did I need to do it? No.
I thought it might be nice to find another way to make Shabbos special.
I've had a rant stewing along this line for several weeks now.... I'm trying to find the best way to broach the topic without offending anyone. I'm not quite there yet.
So for now, let's just leave it at the fact that I think everyone should find their own way to honor the Shabbos and make it feel holy. If something isn't working - change it. But never give up on trying to feel the beauty of Shabbos.
Oh. and next week, I'm going to add a little garlic to the recipe. It needs a bit of "kick" ;) 

Scene Around Town - The "Had Enough of Winter Yet?" Edition....

My Delicious Experiment

So it was kind of cold out today. The kind of frigid cold that sends you straight home after work and makes you want to get into your most comfortable clothes and sip a warm beverage.
Well after I did that, I figured that the ambient heat created by baking couldn't hurt matters.
So I began an experiment I've wanted to do ever since viewing this video:


This woman is AWESOME! She sounds like Julia Child but she's making CHALLAH. What could be better? I loved her simple instructions and since I usually stick to the 6 strand challah and a 4 strand roll (different from what is demonstrated in the video above) courtesy of my friend Hadassah, I thought it might be fun to experiment with some of the other permutations.  My only complaint about this video is that she never shows the finished baked product. I set out to rectify this. I fashioned challahs using 5, 7, 8 and 9 strands. Here is what they looked like unbaked.

Maybe it's because I'm used to 6 strands and the 8 strand is just the 6 on steriods, but I far and away preferred the height that you get with that formation. While I found the 7 strand quite pretty, it was a little wide and flat for my taste. After baking, my preferences were the same:

They are all beautiful and they were quite enjoyable to make. Here is one last photo of 5,7,8 and 9 (from left to right) for better size comparison.

How About a Post Highlighting Jews Doing the Right Thing?

I'm Not Sure What Disturbs Me More......

Perhaps I'm more sensitive because my job dictates that I always keep the NY Food Safety Standards in the forefront of my mind. 

Had the response been different, I could have lived with this misstep and not posted to my blog. But I strongly feel the need to have a voice.

According to established Food Safety Standards, food handlers MUST wear gloves when dealing with fully cooked food. 

I read with interest this post about a special parsha treat being prepared at a nearby bakery because (a) I on occasion eat the food baked from this establishment and (b) I have fond memories of these cupcake "frogs" (there was the year a certain child of ours was reduced to tears because we didn't realize that our teasing about "frogs in the kitchen" was being taken quite so literally.....).

What drove me to write this post here on MY blog, was the way in which a very SOFT comment on the blog in question was handled. Surprise, surprise - IT WAS REMOVED.

This concerns me on so many levels:

• Is the blog owner completely disinterested in a very real food safety issue? (we don't know if this dipper [or the cupcake cutter in a previous photo] has an infectious disease or even remembered to wash his/her hands after using the restroom)
• Will she pass the information along?
• Are only "OMG... that's so cuuuuuute!" comments allowed on her site?

I fully understand the concept of filtering out offensive comments. Mine was not offensive. 

How could this situation have been handled better? For starters, I don't leave anonymous comments. If the blog owner truly did not want to have anything negative in her comments section, she could have emailed me with the email address provided and explained to me that although she was going to remove my comment, she was most certainly going to pass my concerns on to the bakery (or even better yet - she already had, and they were going to implement changes).

Maybe I still hope that the internet is not only here to entertain, but also to help make our world better...... 

Multiple Rants in One...

An unnamed Bais Yaakov High School has a percentage of out-of-town students who commute 45 minutes each day to and from school. 
Said school decides to hold a Chanukah Chagiga for the girls at night, at a time where local girls would have time to return home, hear lighting with their family and return to the school in time for the Chagiga. Out of town girls might need to miss lighting at home in order to attend the Chagiga. 
No transportation assistance is provided for the out-of-town girls (regular school bussing will not be available when the Chagiga is set to be over). 
Out-of-town girls question whether they want, or are able, to indeed return to school for this event. Teacher and school administrator insist that girls PAY for the Chagiga, even if they do not attend. 
When girls complain that the entire situation is not fair, coupled with the fact that they were given  only two day's notice of the festivities, they are told by school administrator "So move to ______ (the town the school is in) or build your own Bais Yaakov in your home town".

Question for my readers: WHICH PART OF THIS STORY IS THE MOST HEINOUS?

Pirsum Project - 8th Light

Thanks to itsagift for sending these lovely photos of a very lovely cake her mother made for Chanukah.
I certainly hope that there were some lucky little children around to ooh and ahh!!

In addition, since I am frequently a lone voice extolling the beauty and virtues of the majesty that is KAJ, I thought I'd direct you to the Treasures of Ashkenaz website, for their appreciative post about Chanukah in Breuer's.

Wednesday's Screenshot

I try not to rant (too much) about the pleasure today's society seems to take in bad grammar and malapropisms. Perhaps it's merely a function of poor education, but if I hear "I was by them for Shabbos" one more time.....

This screenshot illustrates another issue that's been bothering me for quite some time. It's a drop down menu from a website offering kosher food. It asks you to select your CITY (there is the word "region" in the English language, you know). Hmmm... who knew that New York doesn't fit the bill? It seems Brooklyn is now a city... as well as Queens and the Five Towns. Who knew?

Pirsum Project Music Medley - The Choir of KAJ Sings Songs of Chanukah

Pirsum Project - Throwback Thursday

You guessed it. The little one with the impish grin is yours truly...

First Night - First Light GWC2D Pirsum Project

You Make A Point.....

A photo is making the rounds on the internet, that I have seen ascribed to a letter to the editor in the Lakewood Voice, that makes an interesting point.
The writer of the letter posits that the current children's Chanukah Song "I Have A Little Dreidel" is not only outdated, because we no  longer fashion dreidels out of clay, but also teaches our children nothing about the Chanukah story as it pertains to dreidels, when in fact, it could.
The writer offers up the following alternate wording to the same much beloved tune, which stresses the Chanukah story in a more meaningful way.

When we were learning Torah,
And Yevanim came our way,
We put away our sefarim,
And dreidel we would play.

Oh, Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel
Oh Dreidel we would play
Until we could learn Torah
After the Yevanim went away

Thoughts?
(HT: GW)

Addendum: This post has generated HUGE uproar off blog. People are very passionate about their opinions on this topic. Please note that merely because I posted the lyrics does not mean that I am in favor of what the writer says. (and I'd prefer if you all ranted in the comments section as opposed to in person and via email ;)

Get Ready For Another Pirsum Project!

I hope to continue the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Pirsum Project again this year.
Please send your menorah (or other wonderful Chanukah) photos to guesswhoscoming2dinner@gmail.com

Thanksgivukkah Link Up - Cranberry Studded Pumpkin Challah

Unless you've been living under a rock lately, you are aware of the once-in-an-eternity overlap this year of the first day of Chanukah with Thanksgiving. In my opinion, the best and most comprehensive coverage of this topic can be found here.

Say what you will about the National Holiday. Whether or not you choose to observe it, one must admit that this unusual occurrence is fascinating to calendar aficionados as well as us "regular folk". I am finding that at this time I miss my father z"l desperately. He loved tinkering with programs he had written himself (Anyone remember the TI-59 precursor to modern day computers? You 'fed' the program in on magnetized strips....) that dealt with all sorts of Gregorian and Hebrew calendar issues. He would have LOVED this! 

Say what you will about turkey dinners. Whether or not you feel it is appropriate to have Thanksgiving Dinner, there has been a long standing Jewish tradition of making special foods and taking special steps to honor Shabbos Chanukah. I fondly remember my grandmother's stuffed goose (can you even get that anymore?) and my own attempts at duck a l'orange (too much fat... too little meat to be worth the effort). I have blogged about my Shabbos Chanukah table with all it's special accouterments. I have even blogged about the amazingly large Shabbos candles used for the menorah in shul at KAJ. I have always advocated using the seasons bounty, regardless of the season, to honor the Shabbos, to honor a Yom Tov and to honor Hashem. This year I thought it might be fun to create a new and special fragrant Challah for Shabbos Chanukah - CRANBERRY STUDDED PUMPKIN CHALLAH, which is baking in my oven and filling my home with the most glorious aroma as I compose this post. 


Cranberry Studded Pumpkin Challah

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water, divided
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 1  whole egg
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• Pinch of cloves
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree 
• 8-9 cups all-purpose baking flour
• Egg wash: 1 egg yolk mixed with 1/2 Tbsp water
• Craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)

Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water and the sugar. Whisk in the remaining ingredients until smooth and then slowly add the flour until it is elastic and not sticky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover and let rise one hour. Shape into two large challahs (I even put aside enough dough for two small rolls as well...) and let rise another half hour. Brush with egg wash and stud with craisins.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

As with other Kosher Connection Link Ups, please feel free to browse the blogs shown below for their creative take on this calendar coincidence.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner Goes 3D

I just baked some delicious challah and thought I'd share :)Wait a moment... let the image load....and then move your mouse around over the photo.It's a shame they haven't figured out how to add smell yet..... ;)