Last night marked the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and beginning of the High Holidays.  Challah, a round loaf of bread, is a traditional food at this time, as are many other round foods.  Roundness symbolizes a perfect year to come.  Here’s a link to various Rosh Hashanah food traditions.  I have enjoyed learning about these holiday customs from my husband’s family, and since we are in a new city this year, wanted to try out a few traditional recipes for our own celebration.  This recipe can be made ahead of time for a holiday celebration.

This Challah recipe is from allrecipes.com.  I halved it to make one big loaf instead of two, and omitted the sesame seeds.  I also reduced the cooking time to around 30 minutes instead of the hour called for, and it still turned out to be a little too much.  The challah seemed a little too dense and maybe a little dry.  I think I added too much flour while I was kneading the dough, and probably needed to let the dough rise longer as a result.  Other than all those issues, the Challah was pretty good – especially with my mother-in-law Barbara’s chicken soup with matzo balls!  She brought us some frozen on her last visit and that was definitely the highlight of the meal.