She puts her heart and soul into her work, making people happy with the fruits of her labor!
Once again, my dear cousin Simi directed me to our next Like a Local destination — Chanalee, of Challah Fairy fame. Simi (and her friends) make a biweekly trip to Chanalee’s home to stock up on her deliciously over-the-top jalapeño-garlic sourdough breads. I immediately called her to hear all about it.
Chanalee was generous, friendly, and more than happy to share her story and her recipe.
Chanalee moved to Wesley Hills as a stay-at-home mother when her daughter was three months old. When she had two young children, she started baking challah every Friday. She would always bring one loaf of challah to her friend and place it in her mailbox, which was situated at the end of a long driveway. Each Friday, her friend would call her and say, “Ooooh, the challah fairy was here!” This triggered the name of her business, which has stuck until today.
Local friends began to purchase her delicious challah and urged her to sell to the public. So began a hectic and taxing stage in her life. Chanalee would bake large amounts of challah and deliver throughout Monsey, Teaneck, Englewood, the Upper East and Upper West Side, and even to New Rochelle and Scarsdale. She made deliveries every Thursday night, schlepping all over in a rented van (and in those days, with no GPS, it wasn’t so easy!).
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