Challah

This is my attempt at Challah.  I think it turned out pretty good and J came home from CQ pretty much just to sample the food.  He loves my cooking.

I decided to go for a real challenge and cut the dough into 6 balls then rolled it out into what is in this photo.  Now for the hard part, braiding the dough strips.

It took a bit of playing with but I got it finally.  I should have done a better job on tucking the ends in and under but well, this is my very first time making Challah.

I let the dough rise for one final time.  Don't mind the jelly roll pan its not really dirty but it is stained from the non stick surface wearing off.  I guess I shouldn't have used a metal spatula on the pan over the past decade but the damage was done with the first big scratch, after that I didn't care.
It really did rise nicely and I'm quite proud of the bread.

Fresh from the oven.  Even hours later when J came home to grab a bite to eat this bread was the first aroma that he had when entering the house.

Not the best photo, it looks really dark, but here it sits on my Grandma's cutting board.

There is a story behind this cutting board.  It was lost to me for 6 years while I moved about with my first husband.  When I got back to the states from Germany I went to my  first apartment, they were renovating it, I went in and asked the workers if I could get something.  Sure enough the cutting board was where I had left it 6 years before my first military move to Texas from NY.  I had used Grandma's cutting board to extend a shelf in a cabinet in my tiny apartment beside its original use.  I was so happy to have the cutting board in my possession again too.  With my move here to WA some how the board split in two.  J repaired it for me and I'm once again using it for its original purpose.  This is the only item that I can think of that I have from my mom's mother.  The cutting board has to be close to 80 years old and the handles broke off years before it was passed down to me.

Oh and I hate to say, but there is only about half of the loaf left.  Fresh baked bread doesn't last long in my house.

Just a little note, I got two lines today on my OPK.  The test line was darker than the control line.  We have a go.  Oh I highly doubt with all my issues this one will implant and there is of course the possibility that the follicle has no egg in it too.  But trying naturally is way more fun than any IVF!

A New Bread Attempt

Today I'm going to attempt to make a bread I've never made before.  I will make the Jewish braid bread called Challah.  J loved the one we bought last year from our commissary and I figured while he is on CQ today I might as well put my excess free time to good use.

Who needs to do laundry?  Me, probably, but it can wait while I try to make this particular bread.

Oh I lost 0.8 lbs yesterday only to gain back 1.2 lbs overnight.  What the heck is going on with my body?  I now need to lose 5.2 pounds to get back to my pre IVF weight.

I now have an appointment to see my PCM for the very same day as my WTF appointment.  So if my RE doctor doesn't cooperate then my PCM surely will.  Well I hope he will.  Tricare, when I called them to schedule a referral appointment, had on hand the information that I was supposed to undergo a surgical procedure and they had no problem in getting me in to see my PCM for next week to get it back on its way.  Something barium endoscopy was the thing I was supposed to do according to their records.  All I know as that I will be under anesthesia of sorts and they might have to put in a balloon.  But that isn't now and I don't know when it will get done.

Our weekend plans have changed.  Good news is that its extended.  Yay!  I knew that J had a four day weekend coming up but that because he has CQ today he would be too tired to drive on Friday for the start of our vacation.  Also the place we had reservations at had only one night available and I asked to be put on the cancellation list.  So they called back and told me they now had an opening.  Now I get two nights away from this hell hole house.  I'm so thinking that beer and a hot tub are just what J needs.  He's been avoiding all alcohol and hot tubs because it can affect his swimmers.  Time to relax a bit.

Yesterday J ran 2 miles in the morning for his PT and another 11.5 miles for the "Walk To Afghanistan".  They required them to run, though the family members could walk.  I didn't go as my hip yesterday, just taking the trash cans out to the road decided to slip out again.  This time it was the left one.  Back to J again.  So J has finally decided to admit he is a bit of an athlete.  Running half a marathon in one day is enough I'd say to make that observation.  Wish I could walk half of what he runs without the pain I get. 

Okay so if I want to get that bread made, remember I'm experimenting with the gluten issues though I think we all know I have some sort of sensitivity by now, I'd best end this post and get the dough rising at least.

Religion 101

As the Christian holidays in December draw ever near I find that I want to learn more about the world religions.  I'm not a thrill seeking individual that wants to form her own cult and have followers brain washed.  Just making that clear.

I do want to learn.  I'm curious.  I want to know what makes any one person gravitate towards a particular religion and what they get from it personally.

Last night J and I talked about theology.  He supports my decision to learn  more about the Mormon religions of LDS and the Mormon Fundamentalism.  From what I know about the Mormon religion it started in NY state, a state I grew up in and basically that's all I know about it.  We also chatted about my wanting to learn about the Jewish religion and their Torah.  I'd also like to read the Quran as well as any other religious books we can find and learn about their traditions.

I want to know the why's.  I want to just know.  If we all came from one religion, according to what I was taught in CCD classes, then why did so many other religions shoot out from it.  (I was brought up Roman Catholic.)  Have I been lied to?  I mean really now the Native Americans weren't near the cradle of life where I was taught that the true religion began from but yet their creation beliefs aren't all that far from what I was taught either.  Can you see the confusion?

I want to learn about the genealogy of religion and how and when each branch formed with its various sprouts from there.

So if anyone has any good sources for religion leave them below in the comments section.  Links, sources to free reading materials are always welcome.  If you know me well enough to have my address feel free to send me what you have in books or leaflets.

Knowledge is out there, it should always remain free for those willing to learn.  I want to learn.