A Throw Back to Thoreau

I began this test with a reference to Henry David Thoreau and our common call for a simpler life. Sometimes I long for the days of old when people struggled or thrived because of the grace of God and their own efforts. I don’t know if “simpler times” really ever existed for anyone. Even when things were relatively calm, it was always a hard-won peace and required a daily striving to keep it that way.

In our case, I think that as much as I rely on our efforts and God’s blessings, I look to my friends, family and neighbors for support, especially when I’ve run out of a key item like, dishwasher tabs for instance(thanks, Liz) and I need to go borrowing. Henry had the hang of this concept, if he was craving company or bread made by someone else’s hands, he went to his neighbors and was satisfied by what they had to share. This is my epiphany in this experiment. It isn’t about the hundreds of dollars I didn’t spend - I thought the money would be the most important thing I’d come away with. But now I’m realizing that the money comes farther down the list. I don’t want to spoil my top ten list of things I’ve learned, but I will say that I’m glad to have friends and neighbors (and blog commenters) who care and are willing to share. My family has been blessed with peace and plenty because of you.

Since we’re sharing, I want to share with you my favorite recipe I discovered this month. It is for home made tortillas. My sister says that if she ever has to rely solely on her food storage to get by, she’s not making bread, she’s making tortillas. Here is a variation on her classic tortilla recipe, I found this one here with the photos.

Recipe

Flour Tortillas

2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup warm water
11/2 tsps salt

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then turn the dough out onto the counter and knead the dough for about a minute. I stick mine in my kitchen aid and give it a whorl for a few minutes. Let the dough rest for about 5 min. Divide the dough into eight rounded balls. I double this recipe to have lots of leftovers.

Heat up a frying pan over medium heat. The heavier the pan the better. Sprinkle some flour onto the counter and roll out each ball of dough into a flat circle about 6 inches in diameter. If the dough is sticking to the table, just add more flour. Rotating the circle around as you're rolling it out can help you get that nice circular shape, but it really just takes practice; and they'll taste great even if they're not perfectly circular
Take a clean cloth and dust off any flour that's adhered to the tortilla, and place it onto the frying pan. You don't need to add any oil to the pan, they won't stick. When you see bubbles popping up all over the top of the tortilla, it's done. Take it off the heat and wrap in a clean dishtowel as you repeat the process.

Don't get discouraged if you're tortillas look funny, by the second or third batch you do you'll be a seasoned pro; and the whole process won't take more than about 20 minutes. Be warned though, once your family or friends get used to your hot fresh tortillas, there's no going back to store bought ever again!

These are great with butter and satl, honey butter, beans and cheese, or any other topping you can think of. The texture of these tortillas is amazing, you’ll be thrilled, just remember, DON’T HANDLE THEM TOO MUCH. That is THE KEY to tortilla success.

Enjoy, and when you’ve made them, go share some with your neighbors.