Edith's Challah

Creating new things gets my adrenaline pumping, but for some reason baking cakes, breads cookies, etc. sort of intimidates the heck out of me. I have accepted the fact that I am not a baker nor a bread maker. How-e-ver I do want to learn how to make this challah, thus I asked sensei Edith for her famous recipe. This is one thing I have yet to make!

Edith's Challah Recipe

1½ Cup warm water

½ Cup vegetable oil

5 tsp dry yeast

¾ Cup sugar

Mix in bowl until yeast starts to bubble.

Add:

3 large eggs

7½ Cups all purpose flour

2 tsp salt

Knead in mixer until ingredients come together and form a ball. Knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Cover dough with clean cloth and let it rest for ½ hour. Punch down and knead to distribute air bubbles. Divide dough into three equal parts. Set one part aside. Combine the other two parts and divide into three equal parts. Make three strands and braid. Divide the dough set aside earlier into three equal parts, and make a braid long enough to go over the first braid and tuck its ends under it. Cover with cloth and let it rise till double in size.

Preheat oven at 350ºF once the oven is hot, brush again with egg wash sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds and bake for 20 minutes, rotate pan 180 degrees and bake an additional 20-30 minutes. Cool at least 1 hour.

Shayne's Potter Scarf

ABY POTTER :

Shayne,Shayne, Shayne ... Great Knitting!

ABY BACK IN THE DAY:

Tamal Casserole Recipe ( courtesy of Mrs.Potter):

Ingredients:

1 tube store bought Polenta cut into 1cm squares
1 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jar Herdez green salsa
oil for pyrex

Pre-heat oven to 375F.

In large bowl, mix all ingredients.

Oil liberally a medium rectangular pyrex and place in oven until oil is very hot, but not smoking.

While hot, take out of oven and carefully pour the polenta mixture and spread evenly.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until lightly browned on top and bottom.

Shayne's First Felting Project

Shane Knit this cute stripped hooded cardigan for Aidan. He picked up the colors he wanted and they actually made a pretty cool combination. Little did she know that this was going to be her first ever felting project.

Dang! the cardigan ended up being the stuffed bears first hand me down from little Eitan after Shayne decided to make it her first felting project!

Refran: Uno nunca sabe para quien trabaja

Moraleja: Never ever ever wash your sweaters with hot water, and never ever ever put them in the dryer.

911- Twisted Stitch When Knitting on the Round

Some of the ladies had to restart their projects a few times when knitting on circular needles. The reason for this is that when knitting on the round you are knitting on the right side of the fabric all the time. If you are a Combined Knitter (like most of us at the knitting club) you have to make sure not to twist the stitches when knitting. Depending on your particular method of knitting, the stitches will be presented on the needle differently. The idea is to concentrate on the actual stitch "loop" being careful that the "legs" of the stitch are opened up and not crossed. If you twist the stitch, you will see that the "legs" create an X at the bottom of the stitch.

UNTWISTED STITCH:

TWISTED STITCH:

Although there are times when crossing or twisting stitches are done intentionally, in the case of the israeli hats, it created an undesirable result. Twisted stitches are tighter than standard stitches and they create a fabric that is stiffer than plain knitting. This can ruin the drape of a sweater and it can also prevent a piece of knitting from felting because felting requires loose stitches that move around during the felting process.

This is how a basic stockinette stitch looks when knitted normally:

This is what basic stockinette stitch will look if you twist the stitches:

For instructional videos further explaining this, go to: Knitting Help.com. Watch the video on Combined Knitting.

Another way to avoid having the twisted stitches is to change your method of knitting to the Continental Knitting method. This method is very similar to Combined Knitting only the purling is done a little differently. An easy instructional video is also shown at Knitting Help.com . I personally like the Combined method because I find the purling much faster and easier to execute. So what I do when knitting with circular needles is I untwist the stitches as I shown above rather than changing the way a I grab the yarn when knitting.

Better late than never... happy knitting

Happy Hats

Here are some of the israeli soldier hats ready to be worn. They are actually really cool and comfy, so that some of our kids have been requesting for us to make them one. the pattern is really quite easy to knit,once you get a hang of working with circular needles.

Jaco, Miriam's son is actually the first israeli soldier to be wearing one of the knitting club's hats, this one was knitted by aunt Edith. I guess he could not wait and he had to come here and get it!

I would specially like to congratulate Ilana and all those ladies that worked so hard on learning how to knit. This one is actually Ilana's first ever knitting project. I think it is of good karma she is donating it to a good cause... Give and ye shall receive!

Chocolate Cake Box For My Sweethearts

When I first saw this chocolate box at Bakerella, I thought it was absolutely beautiful. It surprised me even more when I realized it was made out of cake. Yes, the whole thing is made out of cake!!

I showed it to my daughter Odette and she asked me if I could make it for her on Valentines Day.

Yikes, by the time Valentines day would come I would forget about it, I thought. I went and bought myself the cake mold at Michael's, and all ingredients I would be needing just in case my urge to make it would fade out by February. Baking it in November would not make much sense anyway. I had no idea If I would be able to pull it off due to my lack of experience in cake decorating.

So there, yesterday I called my mom, the family's "cake boss", and told her I needed her help. She came along with her famous chocolate nut cake recipe, and lots and lots of patience.

The little chocolates are actually made out of cake which we shaped and then dipped in candy melts.

This afternoon Odette discovered the cake which I had not yet finished, she had forgotten all about it!

I kicked her out of the living room where I had hid it and presented it to the kids later at supper time when it was all filled with the little chocolate treats.

The truth is that we never ever celebrate Valentines Day, but what an excuse this was to make this lovely cake for my Sweethearts!

For you with love and warmth

Channah Koppel, the mother of an israeli soldier, organized a small group of women that called themselves 'Chicks with Sticks'. The idea was to get together in their local yarn shop to knit winter hats for IDF soldiers. This way, Channah thought, she would be doing something she loved as well as contributing to her community. What started as a small project has has reached hundreds of knitters all over the world. Once the hats arrive in Israel, each hat receives a sewn-in label reading "for you with love and warmth".

The Soldier Hat Project has also reached our Knitting Club, inspiring even those that usually prefer to crochet.

No doubt about it, our Thursday Nights have become not only a time for us to share a lovely meal,laughs and yes...sometimes knit, but also a time to work together for a good cause.

Many of us have finished our black ribbed hats, but unfortunately for some, this blog works as a first come, first serve basis.

Mery sent me her finished project pic, and I think she deserves to be announced as the first to have finished her 'Hats for Israeli Soldiers' project.