Circle brownies. 
That's what happens when there are just no more available pans in the house. 

The kiddos put in a brownie request for this coming Shabbos, and since I forced them to go to school today even though they feel very strongly that school should be closed on chol hamoed (for the record, I do not feel that way), I figured I'd at least take their dessert request seriously. 

I threw all the ingredients into a bowl (no one needs to know that I used the same bowl that I used to mix the challah dough, and I may not have really cleaned the bowl in between recipes, so let's just keep that between us) and mixed away. And when I looked around for my brownie pan, or any pan really, I found that there were none. Several, I noticed, were in the sink, with a bunch more in the fridge, already being used. 

I saw my trusty - and very fleishigs - silicone muffin tins. Hmm. Fleishig brownies? I use these pans to make meatloaf muffins all the time. I didn't think the brownies would come out tasting like meat (they didn't) but I felt kind of weird making a dessert that was not just non-dairy, but actually all the way fleishigs. But. It was 1pm, school pickup was looming and really, who cares? 

And you know what?
​These brownies baked so well in these pans - first, each brownie is like an end piece with all the crunchy edges, so that's a win right there. 

And second, they pop right out of the silicone mold, no cupcake liners needed.
And third, they're just cute. 

I'll just be sure to mark the freezer bag of brownie cupcakes as meat so no one eats one with, I don't know, some ice cream, (although yum!) and I think we have a new way of brownie baking in this house. 

I wonder if these silicone pans come in other colors? I already have red ones for meat and blue muffin pans for dairy. Pareve ones would be awesome. 

I know what I am buying with my next set of Amazon Visa points. So fun! 

:) 
​Jen 

I do not have seven sisters. 
In fact, I do not have any sisters, unless you count my best friends (which I do). 
This cake, however, is called the Seven Sisters cake - and I actually feel offended that Shoprite has, for some reason, called this a Danish Pull-A-Part cake. 

I have not seen a cake like this in years, at least twenty years. Although, if you ask Josh, he will tell you that I have not stopped talking about it for what must feel like twenty years. 

My grandmother used to buy this cake all the time and I have such happy and clear memories of my mother and aunt sitting with my grandmother, in my grandmother's kitchen in Williamsburg, in her tiny apartment that we all piled into for the holidays, with no one complaining, drinking coffee and eating this cake, before getting all the kids dressed and out to shul. 

So we'd all fit, we slept everywhere in that apartment - under the table in the living room, three to a fold-out couch, on two comfy chairs pushed together to make a bed, and sometimes, when eventually, we got to be more people than that small apartment could really handle, the unlucky ones had to go next door and sleep in Netty's apartment. Where Netty went every time we all slept over will remain a mystery forever. But I do know that the kids were never sent to sleep in Netty's apartment because, as far as I can recall, Netty may have been something of a hoarder of things. Not quite TV-show Hoarders level, but stuff, with maybe some creepy dolls thrown in for fun - and there is no question in my mind that those dolls danced in the night.

Also, Netty had carpet on her toilet seat which we found way more fascinating than we should have, and, and! the tissue box was covered in the same carpet-type material. Where did she even buy that? I have no idea, and I'm not sure I want to know. 

But I am kinda happy that I now know where to buy a seven-sisters cake anytime I want one! 

:)
jen 

Between the high holidays of Rosh Hashana, erev Yom Kippur and the 4 million days of Succot - plus the three Shabboses thrown in there for fun - there has been a lot of challah baking happening here. And I have no idea where we'd be without our Trader Joe's Everything Spice. Actually, we'd be sad, that's where we'd be. 

I'm not even sure what to say, except to show a picture of not even all the challah - and to say that we have taken *carb-cycling* to a whole new level here. We eat challah with lunch and with dinner and then we do it again the next day. 

Oh, and scroll down for the challah recipe I've been making for the past 10 years. 
I've shared it before, but it's been tweaked over the years and worth another share. 

Challah Recipe: 

2 tsps yeast 
1 tsp sugar 
2 cups pretty hot water 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted coconut oil 
1 tbsp salt 
7 cups flour

In the bowl of a standing mixer, dissolve the yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in the hot water. No need to let the yeast, this is a magic dough we're making here. 
Add the sugar and oil, and briefly swirl together with a spoon. 
Add the salt, half the flour and turn the mixer on for less than a minute, on low - using the dough hook. Add the rest of the flour and let the mixer do it's thing for five minutes. 
Remove the bowl from the mixer and set the dough hook aside. 
Cover the bowl with a towel for 2-3 hours, until the dough has doubled in size. 

Braid your challah any way you like. 
Brush with a beaten egg, sprinkle on some Everything Spice - although we've also been experimenting with Trader Joe's Onion Salt or just even a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven on parchment paper lined cookie sheets for 20-30 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs and how large you made your challah. I usually get 3-4 medium sized challahs from this recipe. 

Happy braiding!
:)
Jen 

I can't even. 
Jetlag is killing us. 
I had no idea. We made it to Israel and we were all really fine within one day, but I guess coming back to NJ is less exciting than landing in Israel, and jetlag is now kicking our collective bottom. 

Those kids up there in that picture? It's 5pm. They are out cold. 
And I have a bad feeling I will be seeing them, awake and ready to go, somewhere around the 1 am mark tonight. 

Happy days!
Or nights. 
Sigh. 

love, 
​jen 

Hmm. 
It seems the kid had some trouble. 
Is that a sideways E?
Some sort of S?
A script letter?

It's a W. 
I know. 
We might need some occupational therapy. 
But not now. We have a trip to take right now. 
My kids have never been on a plane for longer than two hours. 
Wish us luck!

:)
​jen