I’ve been promising to make Dana a challah tray for along time. I finally cobbled one together. It’s not without it’s imperfections, but she seemed happy with it, so I guess all’s well.
Dana is a fantastic baker (and cook for that matter). Before our son, J, came along she would bake occasionally, but once we had new life in our home, she was determined that he would only eat home-baked bread. And so it has been. Now 15, our son has never known store-bought bread in the house. She also frequently bakes challah for the temple. This year for Rosh Hashanah, it had bits of dried apricot. And honey, of course. Delish. Challah for Rosh Hashanah is traditionally round (not elongated), so it was ok that the tray wasn’t ready in time.
I wanted the tray to be lightweight — just enough to get the loaf from the car into the temple, so it’s 1/4″ plywood. The sides are lath, like that used for building trellises. The end pieces, have the Hebrew word for challah burned into wood using a laser engraver. (More on the engraver in a future post). Two coats of polyurethane. I think I might add a cloth liner to keep the bread off the wood. Always more to do.
