Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Homemade Crackers and the Perils of Shopping with a 13 year old

Anyone have a good recipe for homemade crackers?  I tried my hand at whole wheat crackers last night, but they didn't come out crispy enough, more like flat bread.  Perhaps I needed to only bake them longer, or maybe I need to add more oil than the recipe called for.

My new goal is to learn to can.  I bought a pressure canner today and hope to try it out with lemon marmalade.  My lemon tree is going gangbusters this year.  We planted most of our citrus about 13 years ago or so - they took a long time to take off.  The lemon has been producing small amounts for several years, but I just last year started getting small tangerines, and this year I see my first grapefruit.  I would also like to learn to can my guava - make jam or juice.  It doesn't keep for long, the variety I have, anyway.

I have a bunch of tomatoes in the green house in containers.  I am hoping to try my hand at tomato sauce in a month or two.  And since cabbage does so well here, I really want to try sauerkraut and kim chee.

We've had so much rain - several inches in the last week.  Good thing I am not relying on my outside garden - there is just one sad beet, an anemic radish and a few small cucumber seedlings.  I am not sure what happened to all of the cabbage seedlings that were starting - they appear to have washed away.  If we see the sun soon, I will probably get all these unexpected stragglers in places where I didn't plant them.  It's happened before.

If it doesn't stop raining in such quantities, I am going to have to start wearing my rubbah boots to town.  As it is, I wear my croc sandals so I don't ruin all my shoes in the rain.  They are quite old, and there is no tread on the bottom, so I am constantly slipping.  Gives quite the air of excitement to even the smallest errands.  I can feel the eye rolls from my kids, "OMG, there mom goes again - almost falling. I am so not related to her."  No, my kids might roll their eyes, but it is more in fondness for my klutziness....well, except the 13 year old.  He walks about four feet behind me, and I am sure he is trying to pretend we're not related....

Since he is number 3, I know for sure this stage will pass.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am thankfully past the 13 year old stage, but now I'm dealing with my 6th (if you count the stepkids) 15 year old and the "my gosh Mom, don't you know anything" attitude. LOL Love 'em anyway.

NancyDe said...

Hi, Ruth, I totally count step-kids :). I teach high school - taught middle school for quite awhile - definitely have to love (and laugh at, secretly so as not offend) them.

Anonymous said...

I haven't tried crackers yet. If you find a good recipe, please share! I would love to make crackers from scratch :)
LOL @ Your kids :) My kids would totally laugh! My almost 12 year old got the BIGGEST kick out of me running my head into the window. Opps got to close :)

Anonymous said...

Oh and canning! It is so much fun! At first I was scared that I was going to blow up my kitchen, but it worked out Fabulously! :) Have Fun!

The Sumerlin Dorper Farm said...

I am going to try canning this year also :) Im excited, my mom and sister are going to teach me!

Chai Chai said...

Nancy - With all the snow/slush/mud here I wear my slop boots here all the time. I call it farm fashion. I hope straw in ones hair comes into style soon as well.....

Leigh said...

Sounds like it's time for new crocs! Congrats on the canner. It's a big piece of equipment but oh so worth it.

Crackers is on my list to try too. I don't have a recipe though! I was hoping to find one in the comments. :)

NancyDe said...

SDF, like so many other skills, I wish my grandmom were still around to help me. I am on my own.

Chai Chai, I actually saw a HSN ad that had a girl out on the town in pink rubber boots and a dress. Farm Chic? Straw in the hair can't be far behind - in designer colors.

Leigh, I should probably explore "grown-up" shoes, instead of glorified rubber slippers.

You can try the cracker recipe I tried:

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/3 cup cooking oil (I used olive oil)
1 cup water
Salt to taste on top

Mix until just incorporated and roll to no more than 1/8 inch and bake 15-20 minutes in 350 oven.

Mine were not so crispy - maybe I kneaded it too long or maybe I didn't roll it out flat enough. They taste good though.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

I have never tried to make crackers before, but when I need a recipe I always go to Allrecipes.com. I have never been disappointed and all the recipes are rated and reviewed. Good luck!

taio said...

interesant

NancyDe said...

FBMKW, I did go to Allrecipes, but I really think I did overhandled the dough and didn't roll it thin enough...my fault. I am going to try it again.

Thanks, Taio, thanks for stopping by.