Co-op: Delaney Farm

Today was my co-op to Delaney Farm. It's still hot! here and I'm 35 weeks pregnant...oh joy! It was well-worth it, though, and we learned some great Colorado (and local) History.

The Round Barn (the only known Round Barn still standing in Colorado):

Speculated to have started as a Silo, but too big to support the weight of the feed, it became a barn for Dairy Cows and Goats. Round Barns were common in Colorado to combat high winds on the prairie. The Delaney Family were Dairy Farmers and Bakers in the late 1880's.



Inside the Round Barn



The Roof of the Round Barn



The Gully House Homestead. All 11 Gully residents (parents and 9 children) lived in a small house with a front family room, very small kitchen, parents' bedroom, and a kids' loft where all of the children slept.

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Challah bread co-op

We had a co-op today to make Challah bread. Our homeschooling friends are Messianic Jews that follow tradition, and it was so much fun to learn how to make the bread and the rituals that accompany it.

According to Jewish law, every Jew must eat three meals on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). Traditionally, a "meal" must include bread, so observant Jews eat challah at the beginning of their Shabbat meals. As with any other type of bread, the blessing, "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz" is recited before the challah is eaten. Translated, this means, "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth".

Maisie did such a fantastic job! Here are some pictures:

As we were leaving, the family was preparing their loaves of Challah bread as their Shabbat began just a few hours after our co-op (sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday). Maisie learned much about their traditions, such as the fact that they do not use knives to cut the bread on Shabbat because knives are a symbol of violence and war; instead, the bread is torn off by hand.

When our friends post their recipe, I will post it here. It's very yummy!

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