Red Bean Challah for Abraham---and a Lech Lecha Challah-Cast!

Then the LORD said to Abram, 
"Get going out from your land,
and from your relatives,
and from your father's house,
to the land that I will show you.
My heart's desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.                    Genesis 12:1~2 

 This week I made a Red Bean Challah for our forefather Abraham, for the week's Parsha, Lech Lecha!

If you are just joining in, this year in the new Torah Cycle I am trying out the idea of doing weekly "challah-casts" as a way to share about the weekly parsha reading and connecting it in some way to the making of challah  or some aspect of the challah making for Shabbat.  This week the topic is making a Red Bean Challah, for Abraham in honor of his setting out to "Go" into himself and obediently walk in the ways of the LORD to form the nation of Israel and be a father of all the many nations!!!
Hope you might enjoy watching the challah-cast !! And check out my new channel in progress,
Joanne's Challah-cast channel! I would welcome your comments and even questions or any feedback--are there are things you learned,?would like to see more of?  questions?  encouragement!!, etc, as it is a new work in progress!

Each week its a learning for me, and I hope there might be something in it for you!  Its a challenge how to make the challah connection to the week's Torah study, as well as a fun challenge in trying to make a short video that  that might be a way of sharing my love of making the challah and reading the weekly Torah, and that God's love might shine through as it all comes out of Love for Him!!

Now without faith it is impossible to please God.  For the one who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.                                             Hebrews 11:6

Blessings and Love!

Shabbat Shalom!!



Preview from this week's challah -cast!

First scene, a short clip from my return trip to Japan, where God showed me Mt. Fuji as He brought on the evening

voice over from the flight:  どうぞ、ごゆっくりを過ごしください。
We wish you a pleasant flight.

Scene switches to me in the kitchen "studio"!
Hi, welcome.
My name is Joanne and this is our weekly Challah-cast.
This is the week of Parsha Lech Lecha.
Welcome!

If you are just joining in,  these challah-casts are weekly broadcasts to go with each week's reading on the Torah Cycle.  We introduce the week's reading as well as connecting it in some way with the making of challah.  Like a pod-cast, but we are using the base of "challah" to make it a "challah-cast"!  Thank you for joining us in this week of Lech Lecha!

Lech Lecha is the third parsha (Torah reading) in the book of Genesis.  Starting with Bereshit, then Noach, and now Lech Lecha.  The story of where Abraham is called out into his mission to set out and be the father of many nations....

 For more on making a red bean challah for Abraham, see other posts including a tutorial on how to make it HERE and various posts related, HERE , HERE, and HERE.

The basic challah recipe I used for this challah in the challah-cast is this Whole Wheat Challah.
Enjoy!


♡

Morning Glories, and a Challah for Abraham

I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.    

---Genesis 22:17

The morning glories on the verandah opened in late September this year, or maybe even early October.  I am a little off in terms of the seasons as I was away for all of September and the beginning of October.  I confess I was a little discouraged about the morning glories before I left for my travels in early September, that the morning glories on the veranda still hadn't opened.  But when I came back there were these beautiful blue flowers the color of the sky!!  Even as some of the leaves were starting to dry and turn to brown, the morning glories are still bursting open with the color of sky each morning into these late weeks of October.  And some of the other flowers too were unusually blossoming for this time!   I should mention, a thanks to my husband, who watered the plants when I was gone.

I love morning glories, and how it is a surprise to see them in the morning and how there are these flowers looking out on God's Glory while at the same time created by His Glory.   Everything speaks of His Glory.

About the Challah, I made a Red Bean Challah in connection with the Torah Portion we are in, Lech Lecha.  Where God tells Abraham to set out from his native land to go to where he knows not where.   Lech Lecha, which means go forward, yourself ! also has the meaning to go forth and into one's self.  Which is interesting as I always thought of the going out and setting forth, but the journey to God is also a great journey into our selves as well.

 I pray that from His glorious riches He would grant you to be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Ruach, so that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith.                     --Ephesians 3:16~17

Shabbat Shalom!
Shavu'a Tov!

♡

To read about the Challah and Cherry Blossoms story of why a Red Bean Challah for Abraham, please see
HERE  Abraham's Journey and a Challah Tutorial 
 HERE  An Pan Challah and Lech Lecha Parsha, 
 HERE!  A Challah for Abraham,
and HERE  Challah for Abraham, cont'd!.  
(Or,  just enjoy the challah, without explanation!!! ) Thank you for making the journey and stopping by!  Enjoy!

Challah for Abraham (cont`d)

I embroidered the name of our forefather, `Avraham`on my first Challah Cover!

The swirls of red bean inside the challah remind us of Abraham`s journey!! The seeds sprinkled on top recall the promise to Abraham, that his seed would bless all nations!!

The Challah Cover says `Avraham`.
You can see the swirls of red bean in the bread.

The rainbow remains. (see last week posts from Noah!)

The wonderful thing about reading on the Torah cycle is to see how everything connects and goes back to the beginning.  I like to make the `physical` representations that express what we are reading in the Torah.  It helps me to see how everything connects, and how it connects to me and to life.

By keeping the rainbow on the table from one Shabbat--when we were studying about Noah---to the next, where we meet Abram, it reminds us that Abram came from the generations of Shem, son of Noah, and when we eat the bread and give thanks to the LORD for bringing forth bread from the earth, we give thanks for Messiah Yeshua who is the Bread of Life.  We see directly the connection to Abraham, as He is the seed of Abraham, as well is He who was before Abraham.

Yeshua answered, "Amen, amen I tell you, before Abraham was, I am!"

---John 8:58

I made this challah cover at this time of the cycle last year, and it is exciting to be able to take it out again as we are back to the beginning and reading the Parshiot about Abraham.  It is also a way to share the Torah with my daughter and guests at the Shabbat Table---including you!! Thank you for sharing the Shabbat and the challah.

I hope you might try to follow the tutorial in the post below to make a  red bean challah !! and if you do, please let me know if the steps are easy to follow , and if you learned anything new about the Parsha!! or any insights about how it connects with your life today or anything else about where you are in your journey...

Blessings and Shalom!!


These are the steps from braiding to completion:
(photos to follow)

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Abraham`s Journey, and a Challah Tutorial!

The Parsha this week  is Lech Lecha! which is where God tells Abraham (whose name is Abram when he sets out), to Go from his father`s house and leave everything behind.

I wanted to make a special challah to mark the occasion.

The Challah is a Red Bean Challah!
(an Original Challah, begun here @Challah and Cherry Blossoms!See posts HERE!An-Pan Challah and Lech Lecha Parsha, and HERE! A Challah for Abraham for why a Red Bean Challah!)

So in this post I would like to attempt to put the two together...to take you through the steps of making the challah, while relating it to the Parsha this week.  Any questions?!

Are you Ready?   Set , GO!!!

The LORD said to Abram,
"Go forth from your native land and from your father`s house to the land that I will show you."
--Genesis 12:1

1.  God tells Abraham to Go!  Lech Lecha!  Go forth!  Abraham leaves his father`s house with no specifics about where he is going, but in complete faith set out in obedience.  Abraham came from a family of idol worshippers (his father had a business of selling idols) and  found for himself the truth of the One true God. And as such he becomes the first `believer`, the one who we model our faith on!

At this point in the challah making, you start out with preparing the yeast and water, and wait a few minutes for it to become foamy so you know it is activated.

These are some of the ingredients I gathered --- the flours (white and whole wheat), eggs, salt, and the red beans.  The red beans are a product of Hokkaido, the north of Japan.  The oil I use is Grapeseed oil, it makes a smooth texture and dough that is easy to work with.

This sugar is called `tensai-to`てんさい糖. It says `sugar that is kind to the stomach`.  I like this kind of natural sugar, made from Daikon radish.  I don`t know if you can find it outside of Japan, but if you can, I highly recommend it! Or you can find the sugar that is local to where you are!

The yeast is starting to get foamy

Like me, this ingredient is from America. Oatmeal.  I was able to find it at a local food shop.  Am I stretching the Abraham comparison to say that like Abraham, I too set out to a land far from my father`s house!  Though to be honest, when I set out I didn`t know the LORD so I didn`t yet know the meaning of Faith and obedience.  Thus the only part of the comparison that sticks is that of leaving my home country for another land!!

Mixing in the flours (local from Japan) and making a dough

Knead until it looks smooth and arrange into a ball like this. 

Now we introduce the red beans!

  While the dough is in it`s first rise,

2.  Prepare the Red Beans
When I look into the bowl of red beans, I see all the beans, I can barely count them.
I think of God`s promise to Abraham that his offspring will be as countless as the stars in the sky.

I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you:
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.       ---Genesis 12:2

He took him outside and said,
"Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. "  And He added, "So shall your offspring be."  And because he put his trust in the LORD, He reckoned it to his merit.
---Genesis 15:5~6

And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham`s seed--

heirs according to the promise.   
--Galatians 3:29

This recipe is an oral tradition passed `up` by my daughter!! When she was very young, maybe around six years old, she loved to cook, and she asked my husband`s sister how to make red bean paste!!

3.  The dough has doubled

Abrahams descendants will be multiplied.

Now when God made His promise to Abraham---since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you, and surely I will multiply you." ---Hebrews 6:13~14

Now we will make the bean paste and fill it,  roll it into the strands, and begin the journey of making.
From one , make it into 6 parts.

 God changed Abram`s name from Avram to Avraham.
From one, a multitude, a Father of nations..

In Japan, red beans are used for celebratory `Red bean rice` on special occasions like weddings, graduations, etc.  Today`s Red Bean Challah is made in Japan, and is a celebration of our forefather Abraham who went forth in obedience to God, and the Faith with which he set forth ! 

notes on the Challah:
The recipe I used for the dough is this WHOLE WHEAT CHALLAH
Follow the recipe,  up to the second rise, with the substitutions or your own variations.
The substitutions I made are as per the post, instead of butter>Grapeseed oil, and for brown sugar>Japanese Tensai-To (sugar made from daikon radish)
After the second rise, divide the dough for your strands, and then roll them and put in the filling.
Add about 5 or 10 minutes to the baking time, as the filled strands might need the extra time.
Tent with foil as needed during baking if the outside gets done quickly.

To be continued....

A Challah over Mt. Fuji

challah wrapped in a `tenugui` cloth on the airplane table in front of the window

can you see Mt. Fuji?  There is is, you see! The mountain top!

Drawing from the plane, So close to heaven, God so near! 

Landed, with the Challah, in Tokyo!

Travelling from South to North, to Tokyo for Succot,
A challah in my hands.
Hoping to get a view of Mt. Fuji
before the plane lands.

There it is!! You see, the  mountain top!
The challah, on the table, prop (propped!)
Mt. Fuji and a challah in one view,
I hope one day you`ll see those two

Oh what a thrill
when it appears

So close to heaven
God so near

 Give thanks to the God of heaven

His love endures forever.   ---Psalm 136:26

Blessings and Shalom!
from Challah and Cherry Blossoms correspondent,

Shayndel

♡

Challah and Mt. Fuji notes on this story:

The challah is a Red Bean challah! I used THIS RECIPE for the dough, with a few variations, and for the filling used  red bean paste (secret: the red bean paste, called azuki,  I used this time was ready made,  from 7-Eleven!),  You can also make your own!
(Variations:  I often make this recipe as is, but for this red bean version I made the following variations.  I note this here as sometimes I will go back to make a challah and I forget what I did!  So this is like my  diary of making the challah, and of course I welcome you to try it too!!
instead of honey, I used Tensai-to which is a Japanese sugar made from daikon radish;  I substituted Grapeseed oil, instead of Olive Oil; and doubled the recipe, one loaf went with me to Tokyo, and the other stayed home and was for our Shabbat, see in posts below).

The first Red Bean Challah I made was in this past year for Abraham, you can see the Red Bean Challah in This post and This post.

note:  The challah is wrapped for travelling in a Japanese Tenugui.  Click in the *labels* at right side bar or beneath this post under `tenugui` and there you can find out more about these cloths.  The design on the tenugui I was carrying this Challah in had a picture of a red Mt. Fuji!

note:  If you see in the photos, you might not even realize where Mt. Fuji is, but please look close and you can see the dark shape of the top of the Mountain coming out from the clouds!! You can also see more Mt. Fuji views and posts on this blog, some readers may already know my Mt. Fuji and challah fascination!  

Also noted:  often we make a foil `tent` for the Challah in the oven after about 20 minutes, depending on your oven so the top doesn`t burn while the inside cooks.  I noticed this time as I was making the foil tent, that this Challah is for Succot and at this time we are commanded to dwell, rejoice in tents!!
This photo below is the Challah in it`s tent.

A Challah for Abraham

Then ADONAI said to Abram,
"Get going out from your land,
and from your relatives, 
and from your father`s house,
to the land that I will show you.
My heart`s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you,
to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.

                                 ---Genesis 12:1 ~2 

So Abram went, Just as ADONAI had spoken to him.   (verse 4).

As I was meditating on this weeks parsha, I wanted to make a challah that somehow would have a connection to Abram.   The idea of a red bean challah came to me, at first  because in Japan people make red bean rice to mark a special day, a celebration, and for congratulations.  And indeed Abram becoming Abraham and walking in faith with ADONAI to carry out this command to go to a new land and make a great nation,  is a blessing to celebrate!!

Then as I was making it, more things started to connect and I realized indeed a Red Bean Challah for Abraham was indeed fitting!  And filling!

This post is in progress so please enjoy some of the challah and see you a little later on this Lech Lecha Shabbat!

 Shabbat Shalom!!

Lech Lecha,  L`chaim!!

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