Thursday, April 14, 2011

It's that time of week again....

Shabbos cooking time, that is.

This photo isn't from this week (I have yet to cook the food this time), but it gives you an idea of the happy chaos and wonderful aromas that fill the house every Friday.

In case any of you are confused, Shabbos is what we call the Jewish Sabbath--basically, we don't use electricity or do a whole bunch of other things from Friday night to Saturday night. Instead, we have big meals with friends, pray, spend time with our families, learn Torah, socialize, read scrapbooks with coffee cups on the couch, etc. Since we don't cook on the Sabbath itself I make it all in advance.

This week's menu? Zuchinni soup, tomato and portobello mushroom salad, olive chicken on a bed of rice, asparagus, roasted potatoes, a sweet kugel (aka casserole) that my neighbor's making, banana chocolate chip cake, and double chocolate chip cookies. I asked S if he thought that was enough food and he looked at me like I was crazy! Must be something about that overfeeding gene:)

Challah is one of our favorite Shabbos foods. I bake a ginormous batch once every 6 weeks and freeze it. I LOVE experimenting with different toppings!

Some raisin loaves for S....

Zatar is my new thing--it's an Israeli spice and gives the challah a cool savory flavor!

Cinnamon sugar is my old faithful. Love this stuff on challah. It's like eating cake at the beginning of the meal. At least almost.


Another new experiment is chocolate chip challah, and I have to say I love it so far!

What are YOUR favorite bread toppings? Alternatively, can you recommend any good side dishes? I'm always stumped for side dishes!
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40 comments:

  3. Wow! I am Episcopalian but I got that over-feeding gene too :P Looks wonderful. And I absolutely love Zatar- my father made the best cheese ever with the stuff- yum!!!!
    I'll bet honey or oil with Italian herbs would be great on the bread too.
    Thanks for the nice comment on my blog :)

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  4. Everything looks delish.
    Where do you live again ;)

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  5. Oh MY, that challah looks amazing!!! as do the rest of the treats. Jealous (as I'm eating refrigerated cookie dough)

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  6. Wow that looks amazing, for side dishes 1word potatoes

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  7. Everything looks so yummy! I used to live in Monsey NY when I was a little girl and know a little about Shabbos. Your post reminded me of those days there :)

    P.S. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  9. Oh Yum. It all looks so good. I love cheese & onion on the top of my bread

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  10. WOW! You're cooking all of that for Shabbat Hagadol? WOW!
    Side dishes for Chalah: humus, techina, egg salad, tuna salad, avocado salad, if you like fish- herring goes great on bread with some thinly chopped purple onion, olive spread etc...
    Wishing you a very happy Pesach Kasher Vesameach!
    Talia (-:

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  11. Um, YUMMMMM! Looks so wonderful!

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  12. I don't know how you stay so thin! Everything looks so good!

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  13. Looks fantastic! I love challah...do you have a recipe you could share for yours? I want to start making my own bread and since challah is one of my favorites, I'd love to try :)

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  14. OOO can I come over?? Everything looks amazing!

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  15. Oh my word, that looks fantastic! I am starving and your blog post makes me want to pull everything out and bake something!

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  16. YUM!!! It all looks good and I'm hungry for lunch already!!

    Hmm......would have to say my fave bread topping is cheese...........

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  17. Thank you for sharing this! As a Catholic, I don't cook during Easter on Sabbath, or on Good Friday, etc... and I just love to hear about how other faithful are doing things. What a lovely vision you put forth, reading the scrapbooks over a coffee on the porch! Warm, friendly, and fuzzy. Very sweet, And the food? YUMM!!!! I'll be back.

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  18. I really enjoy reading this type of post on your blog! Gosh that bread looks amazing - in fact I bought some yesterday with sesame seed topping but here it is called Kitke bread - it is all gone today - we had thick buttered sandwiches & they were mighty delicious! Unfortunately I don't devote excessive time to cooking as with 4 kids to feed it has come to feel a bit like a chore over the years sadly!! Love your simple food photos with the white backgrounds - would look great on one of your layouts!! Me recommending bread toppings could be dangerous but personally I love hummus, although I buy it from the supermarket when I really should make it myself :)

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  19. Everything looks soooo good - and that zahatar seasoning looks intriguing!! I need to find some and try it out!!

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  21. Oh my goodness! This looks amazing! I'm going to have to say that my favorite topping on bread would just be simply a crumble made with sugar, butter and brown sugar - yum!

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  22. I'm also always stumped for side dishes.When in doubt (which is always), I roast some sort of vegetable.
    Thanks for your kind words over at Just Perspective.
    Happy Pesach (speaking of which, I should really be cleaning!)

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  23. Ok all that looks super yummy and I am now getting hungry and feeling the need to do some baking.

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  24. all that food sounds and looks so delicious. I'm not a terribly good cook and rarely make bread. although any bread with cheese is always great.
    =)

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  25. I just wanted to say that I want your Challah recipe!

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  26. Hand over your Challah bread recipe and your banana chocolate chip cake recipe and everything will be okay. lol! Seriously! This post is making my mouth water and my stomach growl. Yum!

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