Repost: Tree-Shaped Challah for Tu Bishvat

On Wednesday for Tu Bishvat I shared with you a great challah from my friend Rabbi Phyllis over at Ima on (and off) the Bima.  I liked her idea that we could extend Tu Bishvat into Shabbat, at least for challah shapes.  So, I decided to make my own tree-shaped challah.

I basically managed to take my worst, most blurry shots of challah ever. Oh well. You get the point. I started with three really long strands. Then I braided them without really closing off the end. At the top, I coiled them a la Croatian Star Challah or Parting of the Sea Challah.

I decided that there weren't enough co
ils, so I added a few more. (My strands were actually a bit too long, so I tore them and used the ends as the additional coils). I'm thrilled with the result.

I think it will be really fun to tear apart the strands.

Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!