Holidays: Rosh Hashannah Challah

For me, Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish New Year) is important as a culinary tradition.  Each year, it's a time to make my favorite Jewish recipes (challah and matzoh ball soup!) and to try new ones (this year, spinach quiche).

Even though I make challah year-round, I like to experiment a bit during the holidays.  Typically when I bake challah, I rely on my bread machine for the whole process, resulting in a nondescript, rectangular loaf.  For special occasions, I use the bread machine to make the dough, but then take it out to braid it and bake it in the oven.  But I've almost always used the same basic recipe.

So this year, I was pretty excited when I came across Smitten Kitchen's Apple & Honey Challah recipe.  The recipe is meant to be done by hand... but knowing I wouldn't have time for that this year, I decided to use my bread machine to make the dough.  I was sad that it didn't work: My test made it clear that the ball of dough was too dry and dense and did not rise nearly enough.  Even so, the flavors were really good, so I'm planning to tinker with it later on (more liquid? extra risings?).

Despite this, I wanted to share the link because of the great illustrations for braiding to make a round loaf (click and scroll down for the pictures).  It was so easy to do and came out looking special, which to me is the whole purpose of bothering with braiding.  I did not get pictures of mine before it was devoured, but it was probably the best-looking braid I've ever done, which I attribute to the ease of the technique!

Dessert: Shamrock Shakes Review

I decided to try out a simple recipe for making "Shamrock Shakes" that are supposed to be similar to the ones McDonald's has been hawking for St. Patrick's day. It is perfect for the person who loves mint-chocolate ice cream but feels like the crunchiness of the chocolate gets in the way. My son agrees: "I like it green minty ice cream!"

Just a warning about portions: The amounts listed below made the perfect amount for two portions. It would be easy to go overboard with this one, as that resulted in nearly 300 calories each! It is amazing how easy it is to drink down large amounts of melted ice cream, but it's nice for a special treat.

Recipe:
1 C vanilla ice cream
1/2 C whole milk
1/8 t mint extract
3-4 drops green food coloring
fancy themed sprinkles, if desired

Throw the first four ingredients in the blender, serve in glasses, and top with sprinkles!