Until we moved to Israel my breads came out of the bakery. However, the first time I made my own challah, I was hooked. There is such joy and satisfaction when you bring a beautiful home made challah to the Shabbat table.

It was a huge success and each time I went back to the States to see my children and family, I had strict orders from my daughter: "Mom, you know you can't go back to Israel without filling the freezer with challahs." And of course, I did just that.

A few years ago, my husband Natie had to go to the States without me. I persuaded him that he could make challahs for the kids and surprise them. He wrote the recipe in his diary and did just that. When he came back there was no living with him. He was so proud of "his challahs" that I lost my job -- and now he makes the challahs every Friday morning before he goes to study, and I braid and bake them.

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Challah Recipe

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 eggs
2 cups warm water

50 grams yeast, or 2 Fleishman's yeast cakes, or 3 packages Fleishman`s dried yeast

8 to 9 cups flour (whole wheat and white). A combination of both flours makes the best challahs.

Mix the ingredients - putting the oil into the bowl first and then measure and add the honey - using the same measuring cup that you measured the oil in. This little trick allows the honey to run smoothly out of the measuring cup. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given.

In Israel the yeast can be purchased in two forms. One is a measured bag of 50 grams in a solid form, and the other is a bag of yeast granules. I use the yeast granules and these dissolve well, mixed into the recipe just before the flour is added. If you use the American yeast, I dissolve it in 1 cup of the warm water before putting it into the bowl.

When making my challah in an electric mixer, I let it knead for 3 minutes and then do a little hand-kneading as I transfer the dough into an oiled bowl. If it is kneaded by hand, it is necessary to knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Let the dough rise in a large bowl that has been coated with oil. When transferring the dough into the oiled bowl, be sure to turn it on all sides so that it gets a thin coating of oil. Place the bowl in a warm place until the dough is double in size -- then punch down and knead a bit more.

Place the dough back in the bowl and let it rise a second time. This should take about one hour. Punch down and cut into sizes desired. For very special occasions, I make one large challah using all of the dough. When the breads are shaped, brush them generously with egg yolk and sprinkle with either poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

Bake in 350-degree oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until the challah sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

At our Shabbos table, after Natie has made the kiddush over the wine, we all get up and wash our hands before partaking of the challah. We are all sitting around the table in silence. (One cannot speak after washing for bread until after the Ha-motzie blessing is said.) The challah, which is covered with a beautiful challah cover, is raised and the blessing over bread is said. Natie makes a production over uncovering the challah and saying the blessing. He takes the first bite and we all wait to hear his reaction. Is this a good batch? Is it sweet enough? Was it baked right? Aah -- he likes it. We all sigh in relief -- and wait for the bread to be passed around.