Challah is made paraveh so that it may be taken with a meat based meal. If your family is like ours, one in which we seldom eat meat (fleishig) based products and you are willing to break a little from tradition, try this:

Ingredients:

• 4 - 6 cups flour
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• ingredient X

Preparation:

• Scald the milk over a low flame
• Pour the hot milk into a bowl with 1/4 cube of butter. Let cool .
• soak yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water. When the milk has cooled enough add the yeast and ingredient X. Ingredient X is about 2 tablespoons of sugar. It is unofficial to do this, but just about everyone I meet says in a low voice, so as not to be overheard, that their mom's secret was the sugar. You don't have to add sugar if you don't want to.
• Sift in flour while your children stir the bowl.
• After adding around 1 to 1.5 cups of flour the dough should start firming up.
• Add the eggs
• Continue adding flour until the dough reaches the right consistency. Your children's arms should be giving out at about this time. Continue kneading
• Let the dough rise for about 45 min.
• Punch the dough, knead it a bit more, and lay it out so that you can cut at least 6 strips. (the more the better)
• Weave the dough into two separate braids, one for each loaf.
• At this point we really diverge from the norm. Tradition dictates using eggs basted over the dough to give the challa a beautiful brown luster. Rather, melt about 1.25 sticks of butter and liberally baste the dough with the melted butter.
• Cook in a pre-heated oven (325 degrees) until brown, about 20 minutes in a convection oven, longer in non convection oven.

A little trivia:

The Challa is actually the little ball of dough at the end of the braided loaf. In times of scarcity it was used to mark the minimum volume of a meal one must eat in observing the shabbat dinner. Other days you might go without but this day is special.

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