Well, this isn't that.
This morning I made challah. It is one of the 3 special mitzvot dedicated especially for woman. I most gratefully thank Leah Shemtov for teaching me, in conjunction with my own reading in the Spice and Spirit Cookbook (which phans so avidly refer to it as the "purple cookbook" no joke), the specifics of how to carry out this very holy act which will bring great peace to one's own home and the world.
This is the dough at 8:08am this morning (see clock). I mixed up the dough sometime in the middle of the night, around 2:40am perhaps.
This is the actual challah. The word itself, challah, or in Hebrew lihafrish means "to separate." So, this is the piece I pulled off of the main big batch. Notice it is next to the big bowl in photo #1 as well. This is just a close-up.
Next, you burn it to a crisp in remembrance of the destruction of the Holy Temple (Beit haMikdash) in Jerusalem. It is a sign of being hopeful for the rebuilding of the 3rd Temple, a time of redemption. I know this sounds very, very, very bizarro to the untrained ear and mind. But I am starting to make more sense of this part of the holy act (that is, after all, one of the meanings behind the word mitzvah). Just the fact that I have posted my challah making this morning tells me the time is closer. We'll get there.
Unbaked, braided loaves
Paint with egg. Thanks again to Leah Shemtov; this egg brush is a product of her most excellent program at the Chabad House of Stamford. Notice also mama's last remaining purple nail polish from last week! (mama being me, Loony)
Aw, sweet sweet boy. He is a yum-bun.
This, my phriends, is The Wolfman's Brother. He is almost 4 1/2. He is making a robot challah.
Said robot. Pretty spacey, right? Do you see the two eyes and the tentacles? Pretty out there and phunky!
And, ladies and gentleman, the Pièce de résistance...
Challah Life with Jade. (sorta like Still Life With Apples? Cézanne anyone? Do you know that I *still* have never made it to the Getty, where said painting resides? The Original Bandana Boy (in my own existence) lived right near there but at the time of our acquaintance it was either closed or we couldn't get tickets.)
In wanting to capture an artful look at my homemade challahs, I just "grabbed" (though it isn't nice to grab) one of Stango's jade plants on the windowsill. But since nothing happens by chance and everything happens for a reason, I ask the Nunever to really think deep and hard at the fact that I just seemingly randomly took a Jade plant. Indeed, I was in a rush as it is Friday morning and the last thing I should be doing is blogging about interconnectivity, blah blah blah.
It is weird, I texted Jade the other night after we saw her at the end of the NYE 12/31/11 show that I don't use Jade (I like using her real name but then again the name I call her by isn't her original anyway...and hey Nun, neither is yours!). Ask her if I wrote something to that effect.
However, it seems apropos that I have a Jade plant and I do hope that Jade and the Nunever will make an appearance on the Whole Phamily scene because it pretty much seems like the stars are aligned.
No, I don't know much about astrology. But I asked Schwee about it last shabbes. He knows a lot, but women like Cute Indian Girl and PurpleGirl and other women out there know more. I don't want to misrepresent him. But he is a scientist and he believes in physics and formulas. And yet, Schwee is pretty much out of this orbit. PurpleGirl, do you remember at mine and Stango's wedding, the guys who were rapping the machetunim song? Schwee is one of those dudes. Really smart, really out there. Really not intimidated by that stuff any more because we can all benefit. I mean, the dude is an Argentinian (or I could sound highbrow and say Argentine) tango dancer!
Nunever. Jade. Like my Mid-century kitchen furniture?
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