[The Recipe Thread]

Before you braid the dough.

You should be able to start braiding it right away, although you're welcome to let it sit and warm up a little if you want to or if you feel it would make it better.

[The Recipe Thread]

Thanks for the recipe Nathan. Baked the Cool Cats Challah this morning and its fantastic.

Just a question: Once you take out the bread from the refrig, do you let it sit out til its room temperature? Just curious.

Do you mean the dough before you braid and cook it or the finished, cooked bread?

[The Recipe Thread]

I like Latkes - my mom makes them sooooo good. She makes them from scratch

I've had 'em from scratch but never made by my mom. I should get her to try and make 'em this year.

*Random moment

BTW, and just putting this out there for no reason really, but my mom makes cheesecakes that put Cheesecake Factory to shame, and that is the opinion of not just me, but friends of mine, of the family, and even of complete strangers...

*Random moment over

[The Recipe Thread]

My ex wife is Jewish so I know a bit about their food. I always thought Challah was like Easter bread. My favorite though are the potatoe pancakes. I like the Maneshewitz mix. With sour cream or apple sauce.

A little bit. To me Easter Bread is sweeter (my Mom's parents are Catholic... to the point where her dad is a Deacon... and my Dad is a Cantor [musical/spiritual clergy in the synagogue]... figure that one out... Mom, Aaron, and I are converts to Judaism).

I'm not the biggest fan of Latkes (potato pancakes), though I do like the ones made with Manischewitz myself (even though I find Manishewitz itself way too sweet, and if I have to drink wine, I'd rather a sweet wine over the usual wine)...

Challah also makes really good French toast

You aren't kidding. Best French Toast I ever had was made with this challah that was... oh my God... it was like God himself made it! The family made it for my Bar Mitzvah back when I was 13, but they wouldn't give us the recipe because it's a secret family recipe... but GOD do I want to have that challah again! It's been years...

[The Recipe Thread]

I'll let you know how it turns out, Penny. This'll be a fun experiment.

Guess what, everyone? You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Challah. It's egg bread (for the one person who doesn't know), and when made correctly is one of the best-tasting breads in the world! It can also make some of the best French Toast ever. I have two versions of this Challah recipe. One assumes you have a 1.5-pound-loaf breadmaker, one assumes you don't. So here is "Cool Cats Challah":

with 1.5-pound-loaf breadmaker

without breadmkaer

general directions

Ingredients:

Dry Yeast - 3 teaspoons - 4.5 teaspoons

Warm Water - 1 cup - 2 cups, divided

Sugar - .5 cups - .5 cups

Flour (preferably bread flour) - 4 cups - 6 to 7 cups

Salt - 2 teaspoons - 1 teaspoon

Oil - .5 cups - .5 cups

Eggs (warmed to room temperature) - 2 - 2

In breadmaker, combine all ingredients, then set breadmaker to dough and let run. Once the dough is made, skip down to general directions.

If you don't have a breadmaker, combine yeast with .5 cups of the water and about 1 teaspoon of the sugar in a small bowl. Let the yeast activate for a few minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining sugar with 4 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining 1.5 cups of water, oil, eggs, and yeast mixture. Stir until well combined. Add some of the remaining 2-3 cups of flour with a spoon until the dough is firm and not too sticky.

Knead the now-made dough on a floured surface, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the dough is smooth (about 8 to 10 minutes). At this point, the dough can be placed in a large oiled bowl, covered with a lid or plastic wrap, and placed in the refigerator overnight.

The next day, remove the dough from the bowl, punch it down, and split into two halves. Now, take one half, split into three pieces (as equal as possible), roll those three pieces into "snakes," pinch down the ends, and begin to braid the three pieces together. Place this onto a greased baking sheet, then do the same with the second half, placing that on either the same baking sheet (if there's room) or another one (I personally find it easier to do the braiding right on the greased baking sheet because this way you don't have to worry about messing up the braid trying to transfer it to the baking sheet, but you can do it whichever way you want).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the loaves for 30-40 minutes, tenting them with foil if they brown too quickly.

These are best served warm (NOT HOT!). Enjoy.

[The Recipe Thread]

It's good to see this thread pick back up. I have some more recipes coming up, so look for 'em!

And PennyLany:

Is this for Dark Chocolate fudge or regular fudge? If regular, how would I make it a dark chocolate fudge?

For the Chocolate Lovers:

Million Dollar Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

Pinch salt

2 tablespoons butter - Not Oleo

1 tall can evaporated milk

Still the ingredients above in a large sauce pan, heat medium stirring constantly and boil rapidly for 6 minutes. Pour boiling syrup into large bowl, over the following ingredients:

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate bits (I use Ghirardelli chocolate)

12 oz German Sweet chocolate ( I normally cut the chocolate bars into pieces)

1 pint Marshmallow Cream

2 cups walnuts (optional)

Beat until all chocolate is melted. (Looks like frosting)

Pour into shallow pan (9x13) and let set several hours before cutting.

Makes a lot of fudge but very good for the soul.

[Song Name Game]

"The Down Town"- Days of the New

[ELP Thread]

Trilogy was a great and underated album by them.

Underrated? You sure? I love Trilogy. It's my second favorite ELP album after Brain Salad Surgery (can't get enough of Karn Evil 9).

I never heard that Trilogy was underrated...

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

I haven't posted here in a while.

Inga, noora, you two are very pretty.

Here is a pic of me... I need to explain this one. Sometimes, my brother and I goof around with stuff we find or buy. Well, our Mom bought this stuff called Mint Julep Masque for my brother. It's a face-cleaner type thing. He and I were goofing around with it, and put some on our face different ways, in spots and such, and took pictures of each other just being stupid. So this one is of me not completely done covering my face for a double-pic (that is, a pic of both me and my bro with green faces) Mom took later with her camera-phone and then stupidly deleted.

It isn't a good shot of me, and, quite frankly, I do not like myself with short hair. I think I look better with longer hair, but it's the only shot I have of this, so... and I apologize for the dark, grainy, blurry quality. Cell phone camera. What can you do?

[Beautiful Women]

I'm a straight chica so I don't know if my opinion means anything, but I have a girl crush on Keira Knightley. She's gorgeous. I could do with being her for a few days, and not just because she's starred in movies where she's had Johnny Depp, Jack Davenport, and James McAvoy as love interests.

I LOVE Keira Knightly. She is, IMO, one of the hottest female celebs around.

I can assure you Sophia's NOT the classic Italian beauty.....where have some peeps been all their lives?!!

Robert

I never said she was a "classic Italian Beauty." I can think of Italian beauties way more beautiful. I was just saying that Sophia is NOT ugly.

[Beautiful Women]

Sophia Loren was not ugly. She had an amazing body. I will concede that her face is not top-notch, but it isn't unattractive, either. I don't find it a "hot" face, but it definitely does not turn me off.

[Beautiful Women]

Does she Bite?

Where did you get this pic? Is it from a movie? Which one?

[Beautiful Women]

This one's probably pushing the boundaries a bit too far but... here's a hot redhead:

Lidiya:

[Rare Zeppelin]

Good luck.

Haha lol

Thanks. I have... hopefully... 80 to 85 years to fullfill this goal (I'm 21, and I hope to live through my late 90's), so it is possible given all that time...

[Rare Zeppelin]

If you desire, I have a digital copy of that Spokane show. As previously stated, the quality isn't special. This is purely for the historical record.

I have this one. In fact, it was one of the first boots I ever acquired. What I'm talking about are '68 recordings from before then.

I have actually made it my personal mission to release or see released (for free, of course), at least one 1968 Led Zeppelin or even New Yardbirds show before I die. My hope is it will include a complete performance of Good Times Bad Times and possibly Your Time is Gonna Come.

But I want to see and have at leasst one recording of a show prior to Spokane '68.

[Beautiful Women]

Damn... all the Italian. I wish I had a translator...

And Mangani... why does ledbaby's taste in women means ledbaby needs help? Just because you two have different taste in women doesn't mean one needs help for their taste. I happen to prefer ledbaby's taste in women over your myself. Not skinny, but toned... that's what I like. So does that mean I need help or something, too?

[Beautiful Women]

^No problem, guys.

As far as Queen Latifah:

I'd like to point out that she is no longer a spokesperson for the "obese" community, as she is now on a diet, belongs to a gym, and, overall, is working to lose weight. Don't believe me? Look at her subsequent movies from "Chicago" forwards. In each movie she looks just a little bit skinnier. I could be wrong, but I believe the reason is she was at risk for severe heart problems and blood pressure problems and diabetes and such in her future, so she's taken action.

That, BTW, is one of the reason we should strive to be skinnier (NOT Anorexic, but more toned, with less fat). Fat causes high blood pressure, and can put people at a risk for Diabetes and other such conditions. That's why toned, athletic people are healthier then fatter people.

Now, if I may, I think it'd only be fair that from now on, since we intend on continuing this discussion, we could include some hot women in our posts for those who are just here for the hot pics:

[Beautiful Women]

^Yeah we could. She's something else. IMO, she makes Angelina Jolie look ugly. She's just that hot.

[Beautiful Women]

And the drooling begins.

This is Aishwarya Rai. I love her.

More:

[Beautiful Women]

I'd like to know what's wrong with liking thinner women? Now, don't get me wrong. As I said before, I'm not into skeletons... but I'm also not attracted to "chubby" or fat or any varying degrees of "some extra meat on the bones" (except in the breasts, I'm not into huge, but flat isn't good on a woman, either). I like my women toned and athletic. That's just me. It's what I find attractive.

Now why do I find that attractive? Maybe partly because I myself am, at the moment, not athletic, and, in fact, could be mistaken for a beer drinker when I hate beer (mostly American beer, beer lovers... international beer is generally much, much better ), so, of course, I'm on a diet and now spend a lot of time at the gym and take more care of myself and my body then I ever have when I was in middle school and 9th and 10th grade... so I'm looking for someone who cares as much about her body as I (now) do about mine. When a girl is toned, it says to me that this girl cares about herself enough to take care of herself. Now, that doesn't mean unhealthy diets where you only eat the appetizer salad and drink one glass of water for dinner, a granola bar for breakfast, and a tiny fruit cup for lunch. It means a healthy balance of fruits, veggies, meat, and starch, and she likes to do high-energy activities (which generally means extra fun in the bedroom... ). She doesn't mind hanging out a the gym. However, she's just as ready to indulge in a tasty treat and "glutton" for a bit on it, even if she only does it because she knows she'll burn it off later that day or the next day.

That's what I like in a girl physically. Of course, Personality comes first to me, but since this thread focuses on looks, I won't go there.

So, what's wrong with not liking chubby women, such as this one?

Don't get me wrong. She's beautiful. And I'd say if she lost... oh... 10. maybe 15 (though that might make her too skinny) lbs, I could definitely find her attractive enough to drool over. As is, she's attractive, but... just not what I go for.

As an example of what I go for:

There is definatley a doublestandard. People will get upset if you knock a woman who doesn't have a great figure. But if a woman is a hottie it seems perfectly fine to knock her for one reason or another. (she is starving herself, etc.)

Unfortunately, it comes out of the bullshit of the PC-era. People who are fat (men and women) are just not healthy. Now, yes, sometimes it's a true medical condition that renders you that way (my Aunt actually has like a thyroid condition or something that keeps her from being thin). But a lot of times it's just a love for food and generally being lazy. And some of these people, for some unknown reason, hate the fact that a toned body is preferred over a fat body. As such, they campaign against them and try and make themselves out to be victims instead of getting a membership at the gym, walking more often, and going on a diet (not necessarily eating less, but eating more controlled). And these people are not the people with the medical condition (though they like to make you think they are). They are just the lazy ones who like to eat and are, quite frankly, jealous of the rest.

Guess what? I'm fat (sort of... and this is probably half the reason I'm still a virgin; I'm way too uncomfortable with myself at the moment to take off even my shirt... that's why I won't go swimming, either). Guess what? I'm jealous of those guys who are toned and muscular. So what am I doing about it? Well, what I'm not doing is whining and complaining to anyone who will listening and making a national issue out of my past unhealthy tendencies. What I am doing is going to the gym, being on a diet, walking more often, and generally getting healthy and losing weight and becoming toned and muscular. Why? Because it's healthy.

There's nothing wrong with a toned, slim body. It means the girl cares about herself, takes care of herself and is healthy. But, for some unfathomable reason, some people want "keeping healthy" to be a crime.

Now, there is a major difference between toned and "skeleton." A "skeleton" girl is a girl who starves herself and is so thin you can see her full skeleton. Like Mary-Kate Olsen. That is not hot.

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

Blurry pics are shyte more like, you want to be able to see what you're looking at!

What? You can't see those pics?

Besides... what more would you expect from a cell phone camera?

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

Nah, DoubleNecker. You ain't no troll.

Maureen and eviljane, you two are gourgeous.

Here's me again, took with my phone about 5 minutes ago:

I agree with JimmyPageZoSo56. Blurry pics are tyte.

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

I've never had pot brownies... but a friend of mine once made brownies with crushed Ecstacy(sp?)... now that was an experience.

I do want to try pot brownies, though...

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

Just me playing the first part of the three-part guitar solo from Pink Floyd's brilliant song Money:

[Post A Picture Of Yourself!]

^Nothing wrong with being pale, noora. You're very pretty.

I burn in the sun... I've never been tan a day in my life... but I'm red almost every summer...

Then again I don't go tho the beach much, anyways...