tejon

The rolls are long gone. My oldest loves them with a singular passion, and will happily skip all other food if he knows there are any left. I have him balance out the rolls with fruits, vegetables, and protein rich foods only by insisting he eats those items before he gets the coveted rolls again . The sourdough starter is exactly the same as I use for bread. Originally it called for using 1/2 cup starter to 2 cups milk and 2 cups flour, letting it all sit overnight, then removing 1/2 cup and adding it back to the starter jar. I didn't want milk introduced into the starter so I tried cutting back on the milk and flour and refreshing my starter at the same time. Works out well. Here's the recipe: Grandma's Sourdough Pancakes Makes ~ 10 2 cups milk 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sourdough starter 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1 T. sugar 1 T. oil or melted butter 1 egg The night before, combine milk, flour and starter in a large bowl. Cover loosely and let sit at room temp. overnight. The next morning take out 1/2 cup of the mixture and add back to starter jar. Add remaining ingredients to the the remaining dough, adding more flour or milk if mixture is too thick or thin (this will depend on the thickness of the starter used). No more directions here, since she knew how to make pancakes and assumed anyone else would as well .

Wanted to note that I'm the only one missing breakfast today! The boys had some french toast and strawberries - my husband had some oatmeal. I do actually feed everyone even when I don't eat .

Thanks . Credit goes to my Grandma, who taught me to make them (almost) as well as she did. They are a nice way to keep my starter going if I forget to refresh it often enough. Really good with half whole wheat flour or other grains thrown in for contrast with the slight tang. A man after my own heart (no sign of breakfast for me here, either). We usually have something substantial on Saturday mornings since my husband is home and we can all sit down together. Sundays I'm out grocery shopping, usually earlier than my stomach is willing to agree to any kind of nourishment.

Breakfast: chamomile tea while I make out my shopping list and cut coupons. Do I know how to party, or what?

Dinner: Pinto beans slow cooked with bacon, onions, garlic, cumin and chile powder and topped with cheese, some tortillas and some cabbage tossed with vinaigrette. Normally I'd have my menu and shopping list for next week prepared now so I could go grocery shopping early tomorrow morning. It was a rough night with my oldest, so the list is only partially done. I usually go over what is in season, what is on sale at our local store, and what we have in stock and get some ideas. Usually at least one new dish gets included in each week's menu, often many more depending on how much time I'll have to cook that week. I ask the boys and my husband if they have any requests, and then make up the list of dinners for the week. It isn't particularly rigid - sides are usually made up from whatever looks the best at the produce store, meals can be made on any night. Mainly I've found it really helpful to know that I have everything on hand for a meal - it means that I have one less thing to plan during the day and I don't get to 5:00 and scramble to make something. I've found we waste a lot less food now and use far less prepared foods, plus the bonus of saving quite a bit of money (important for a family with one salary, especially in this area). I have a few things narrowed down and will most likely finish up menu planning early tomorrow morning, then cut my coupons and get off to our local grocery store, then Trader Joe's, then the asian market where I buy most of our produce. This ends up taking a total of about 1 1/2 - 2 hours total, but I only go once a week.

Breakfast: Grandma's sourdough pancakes . Last night I set out starter, flour and milk, then added baking soda, an egg, salt and a litte oil this morning. Topped it off with some sweetened blackberries and sausage. I remember eating these pancakes with my Grandparents on their boat when I was little. They had a 28 foot sailboat that my Grandpa bought as a shell, then made all the cabinetry himself. My Grandma had the tiny galley arranged just so in order to make the most delicious meals as we sailed and fished and swam in the tiny harbor of Todos Santos. She always had a screw top jar of starter that she used to make waffles, pancakes, biscuits, and bread to go with the freshly caught fish. That jar was closely guarded and had a place of honor in the tiny refrigerator. We saw it as the place where all good baked things began. Glad to be keeping the tradition alive .

Guess what we're going to have for breakfast tomorrow morning?

He loves my cooking, and comments often on how lucky we are as a family to have such good food available all the time. Right now he's busy doing the dishes, his part of the food preparation split when I cook. When he cooks, I clean up, and when one of us is sick the other does both. Works out pretty well. We used to cook together quite a bit, but now it's a bit easier to corral the boys while one of us makes the food. Thankfully he loves food of all sorts and we have similar tastes, so I am free to make just about anything and know that it will be happily devoured. He's a good cook, though methodical to the extreme (he's an Engineer, what can I say?). He admires my ability to throw things together without a recipe and come out with something delicious, and I am in awe of his ability to follow a recipe without changing even the tiniest thing. We complement each other well .

Dinner ready:

Dinner started:

Then each slice is rolled up from the wide end to the narrow end, pulling a little to keep the layers closer together. Then I squeeze the sides together to form the crescent shape. The boys rolled a few as well Next comes baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the rolls on lightly greased baking sheets or Slipat/Exopat sheets - I find the recipe divides well between two half sheet pans. Bake for around 12 minutes, or until just golden. Then brush with a little more melted butter and let cool. Done!

When the dough is doubled in size, I divide it into 3 pieces. I like to use my kitchen scale to make sure they are about the same weight. Then the dough rests for 10-15 minutes so it's easier to roll out. Then I roll into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Next the dough gets brushed with some melted butter: Then I use a pizza wheel to cut it into 12 slices:

Lunch: Ate outside since the boys wanted to "work. They like painting the fence and outside of the house with water and paint brushes (note to parents of small children - this is a great outdoor activity that isn't messy and cools things down during hot weather). I had a simple lunch: a Fuji apple, some Jack cheese, and a handfull of almonds, all washed down with yet more water. All that and free entertainment as well!

Add enough flour to make a soft dough, then knead for 10 minutes (I let the mixer take over this step). Then off to a covered bowl to rise:

Rolls: 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 cup butter, plus 1/4 for brushing on the rolls later 3/4 cup warm water 1 tablespoon yeast 2 eggs 5 - 5 1/2 cups flour Warm milk, butter, sugar and salt, then let cool. Cook's perk here - once the pan is empty, the bit that is left is MINE Next, take warm water and dissolve yeast (I use active dry yeast). Add in eggs, milk mixture, and flour:

It was really difficult to find things that we could all eat when the boys had so many food allergies, but it made me really explore ingredients and different foods. The biggest thing I found was that it's far easier to work from cuisines that don't really use the item that you're trying to avoid - avoiding flour is much easier if you are making Indian or other asian dishes that simply didn't have it to start with. Dairy isn't present in most Chinese or Japanese food, ditto corn with the exception of corn starch (arrowroot starch substitutes adequately, though). I was able to get away from using canned broth since almost all of it contains corn syrup (how does this make any sense? ) and quickly learned how much better my own stock was. The dal meal is a good example of foods that we ended up trying due to the boys' food allergies. I was never a fan of lentils or dried beans or legumes in general before, but we needed a simple way to get protein to both of them without having to mess too much with the laundry list of allergens. Once I started making dal, I found it delicious and started branching out. My pantry is now full of lentils and legumes of all kinds and we enjoy them probably once a week. I also learned things that are now helpful. I now know that powdered sugar contains a bit of corn starch, and I can make my own baking powder easily (it also contains corn starch). Kosher foods were a true blessing since they don't usually contain corn and dairy in a product is clearly marked. All of this has made me a better cook, and has broadened the foods I feed my family.

Breakfast: black tea with a little turbinado sugar Wasn't really hungry this morning, but I'll most likely snack in a bit once my stomach has deemed food acceptable. Off to start my Grandma's rolls .

I actually think it's important to make sure junk foods don't become more attractive because they are forbidden. We do keep the occasional treat in the house and are already teaching both the boys about moderation and what different foods do for their bodies. My husband and I also teach them by what we do - we work hard to show them what balanced eating looks like. I also work hard to make sure that they both have a lot of healthy, good tasting choices available so eating well is easier.

Dinner: I have been wanting to make something similar to the churrasco the CA group had at Mi Ama, and came across this. I ended up making double the Chimichurri sauce - can you have too much Chimichurri? I think not. It was delicious, and very similar to what we had at the restaurant. Served with a baked potato (that was even better with some juices and more of the sauce drizzled over) and sauteed bok choy.

It's used to move the oven racks in and out without having to use a pot holder - the spot beind the squirrel's "ears" hooks a rack easily to pull it out, and the angle between the neck and head holds the rack so it can be easiliy slid back in. I'm thinking of making her rolls tomorrow, and then something special for Saturday's breakfast since the whole family gets to sit down together. Dinners on Sunday and Monday will most likely come from her classics as well - nice to have an excuse to dive into the recipe box and remember delicious meals from when I was growing up. I'll also scan in one of her recipe cards so I can show how she kept track of each recipe - some have over a decade's worth of dates and sides and occasions for each dish, along with which family member liked or didn't like the dinner. I will be ending the blog with the dessert everyone in the family remembers most fondly - my Grandma's peach crisp. I might even share the recipe .

This afternoon's snack was a bit healthier :

They say confession is good for the soul, right? All right, then. My older son Ryan's lunch:

Making chimichurri sauce to go with the steak: Parsley, cilantro, oregano, jalapenos, garlic, salt, oil and vinegar all go together and sit for a few hours so the flavor gets even better (though it's incredibly good right now - must keep repeating this is for dinner, this is for dinner over and over so I don't grab a spoon right now and attack it).

Dinner started: Ribeye steak, onions, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, thyme, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper are all going to marinade for a while. Sorry for the blurry picture - little hands were "helping".

That's my younger son, Arden, eating miso soup (which both the boys love). I think he liked the big spoon almost as much as the soup inside.