Challah! Pasadena!

Tonight there were a lot of Pasadenoids at Chabad to learn how to makeChallah, a dip and a couple of incredible parve salads. We learned the recipe, how to 3- and 6-braid the challah,
and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Here's some recipes:

5 pounds sifted all-purpose flour
2 ounces fresh yeast
2 tablespoons coarse salt
4 1/4 cups warm water (add an additional 1/4 cup for softer dough)
3/4 cup oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 egg yolks

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of warm water and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Allow to activate, which means until you see bubbles rise. In your mixer combine the salt, 2/3 of the flour, oil, sugar, yolks, water and the activated yeast last. Set the machine on medium for 12 minutes. When you see the dough begin to form, add the remaining flour into the mixer and continue mixing.

Transfer the dough to a very large well-greased bowl, cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm spot for 2 to 3 hours or until double in bulk. (Optional: punch dough down after 1 hour and let rise again)

Separate the challah and make a blessing.

More at the Chabad Website, and see the video HERE or below.