Making Bread, Making Magic.

I am not a patient person. When it looks like I'm patient, it just means that I got distracted. The perfect example of this? The Christmas Cookie labels that I said I would get for Kyle. I said I would get them last year, or may be the year before. I worked on it for a few weeks, got distracted, and didn't think about it again until just last week, when my Christmas Cookie Tin arrived, with it's old label and Kyle's dead name.

Getting into my kitchen Witchery, I think a necessary skill is baking bread. Which any gluten free/intolerant/allergic Witch could tell you is ridiculous. And the they would be correct.

I think it is a necessary skill for me, as it is a skill that I have decided to learn to help me cultivate patience. I'm working the bread like I work magic. While I know that statement is true, I'm not really sure what it means. I don't think I work magic like others do. I just know I'm magic and the statement sounds factually correct.

So today, I am making the challah from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. It's a milchig challah, because all the bread in this book has to have milk in it (makes a very tender loaf). Jewish challah recipes are pareve, so you can serve it with meat or dairy. I don't keep kosher, but I think about it when I eat. I'm not sure why. I like the idea of thinking on our food, though the rules of kashrut don't make sense to me. I'm sure there were reasons. I'm not convinced that the projection of our current food concerns back on the past decisions is accurate. I think the laws were less about food safety and more about encouraging appropriate behavior. 

Right now, the challah is almost finished with the first rising.

...

and just became Cinnamon Raisin Rolls.