Flour Tortillas

I was amazed at how simple these are! They take a while, but it is well worth it. This recipe makes approximately 8 tortillas. If I need to stretch them out, or if I am making chips, and the tortillas need to be thin, I can make twelve. If I need more than that, I double it.

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp oil

3/4 cups milk

Start the milk warming. I measure it into a bowl, and then put the bowl into  bigger container filled with hot water. Once the milk is warm, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose sticky ball is formed. 

Knead for 2 minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. ( Kind of contradictory isn't it? What I mean is that you should be able to press a finger into the dough, but it should bounce back when you release your finger. ) 

Place dough into a container, and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls, place them on a plate, ( make sure they aren't touching )  and then cover balls with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. ( If you don't let the dough rest, it will be like elastic and won't roll out to the proper thickness and shape. )

After the dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out in a four inch circle, then roll with a rolling pin until it is 8-9 inches in diameter. Don't overwork the dough or it will be stiff. 

In an iron skillet heated on medium, cook the tortillas. It should start to puff a bit when it is done. The first one takes the longest, and then they take about thirty seconds on each side. 

Keep tortillas in a ziploc wrapped in paper towels, in the fridge. You can reheat them in the skillet again if you have leftovers. 

Bread!!!

So, I wasn't entirely motivated to make bread. I mean, it was something that would be nice, but was not entirely necessary. Until . . . We figured out that Angelica has allergies. A LOT of allergies. Just some of the items on her food list are corn, and tomatoes, and corn, and mushrooms, and corn, and spinach, AND corn. Do you get my drift? She has a lot more allergies, but corn is the biggest. It is also the hardest to avoid. Corn is in everything! I mean seriously, how many forms of corn can there be? Let's see, corn syrup, corn starch, corn oil, corn flour, and don't forget corn meal. So, unfortunately, or maybe not unfortunately, there was corn in the bread. After 1 month without bread, I am entirely motivated now. Still a bit unsure if I can handle it. (You know, I've only been trying for a year or more.) To my delight, It worked! I will definitely be using this recipe in the future. Probably about once a week. Start to finish the recipe takes about four hours, so it takes a good portion of the day, but it is well worth it.

Bread
6 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (about 2 tbsp)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups warm water

Combine 2 cups of the flour with sugar, salt, yeast, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Gradually add warm water and stir well. Mix in one more cup of flour.

Slowly mix in the remaining 3 cups flour, kneading until well mixed. ( The dough may seem a little on the sticky side, do not add more flour. Also, be careful not to over knead. Once the dough is no longer sticky, and everything is mixed in, it is time to stop kneading.)

Preheat the oven to 350. (I preheat the oven now so that I can provide a warm environment for the bread to rise. I also close all windows and doors into the kitchen. Yes, it becomes very hot, but it is important that the room be warm when the bread is rising 

Grease a bowl, to set the dough in. roll the dough around, and make sure it is greased on all sides. Cover and let rise for 1 hour and 45 minutes. If the dough rises to more than double, you can move on to the next step.

Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

Punch down again and let rest for 10 more minutes.

Divide dough into halves, place in two greased bread pans, and let rise for 1 hour, until double.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy!