Challah

I decided to make challah this holiday season. I hadn't made it since the sixties or seventies when my then husband brought home the recipe from a co-worker at Thrifty Drugstores in California. I remembered that challah as being rich and fragrant with honey and saffron, but when I scrounged around on the internet I could find no recipe that matched mine. Potato, honey, butter, eggs, saffron and of course yeast, salt and flour. I tried a version of my old recipe and it came out bland, dry and lifeless. I tried out an internet recipe that was also bland, dry and lifeless.

So then I said 'to heck with it' (so to speak) and launched out fearlessly on my own. My daughter had come from California with saffron, so at least I had that advantage. For the rest I just used a ton of the Good Stuff, that is strongly flavored honey from India that they have at Family Dollar, butter and eggs and of course saffron. Unfortunately I forgot the mashed potato and potato water, but even so I think I have produced a heavenly challah all fragrant with honey and saffron and with the crumb light gold in color and with a warm and feathery texture. The dogs and I agree that it is uncommon good. I have no idea of the amounts etc, because I used the Zen Method which fails me at least as often as it works, but this time ...........