I don't know about you, but I love bacon. The only problem is that it is really expensive for a food that isn't terribly healthy and mostly adds flavor and fat. For us bacon is a "sometimes food". Most of the time I keep an eye on the sales and look for coupons, but sometimes I really luck out. You see, I don't care if my bacon is pretty, or uniform, I just like the flavor so I keep my eyes out for "bacon ends and pieces". Not every store carries them, but if the store you go to cuts their own bacon keep an eye out for it. The ends and pieces are the slices that are too short, too thick or thin, the ends from pieces that are too long, etc. The are whatever is leftover that isn't perfect, but they are still bacon and generally cost half as much as the normal kind. Sometimes you'll get bits that are mostly fat and other times you'll get big hearty bits that are more like ham than bacon. You can either eat them as is and enjoy the variety (which is my favorite way) or chop up the bits you don't like and use them on salad, in omelets, on pizza, etc.
The other tip I have is to save the bacon grease after you cook bacon. All you need is a glass jar that you can keep in the fridge. After you cook your bacon pour off the grease into the jar and save it in the fridge for later. By saving it you are saving it instead of pouring it down the drain you are saving money and your drain at the same time. This may sound silly and a little overly frugal, but bacon grease has a great flavor and can really enhance a lot of dishes and the bacon grease is free (once you've already bought the bacon) while butter, margarine and oil have to be purchased. Instead of scrambling or frying your eggs with a little bit of butter try bacon grease. Then you can get the flavor of bacon without actually making fresh bacon (or eating all those extra calories). It is also great for frying greens, the flavor of the bacon really pairs well with the more bitter greens and can help take the bite out of them. Next time you want an interesting, and cheap, side dish try using some of that bacon grease to fry up potatoes, add a little garlic powder or season salt for a dish that really says "comfort food". There are so many places that using bacon grease in place of butter or oil can enhance the flavor of the meal while cutting the cost just a bit (especially if you use real butter).
How about you? Have you heard of bacon ends and pieces? Do you save your bacon grease for use in later meals? If so what is your favorite use for bacon grease?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
{this moment}
{this moment} - Inspired by Soulemama. In her words: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you want to participate head over to her blog and enjoy!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
To Be or Not To Be a Princess?
A couple of days ago a friend linked to this article about how the "princess" culture is taking over for little girls. I shared the link and the dichotomy of the responses was interesting. I have to say, as the mother of a little girl, I feel princesses and pink really are overdone. While I think that the author goes overboard on keeping princesses totally out of her daughter's life I can see where she's coming from. When you find out you are having a little girl you can pretty safely assume that you will be given a plethora of pink clothes unless you specifically request otherwise (and sometimes even then). Your daughter will be called a "princess" by pretty much everyone.
If someone sees her digging in the dirt without a bow in her hair it will be assumed that she is a boy, even if she has pink flowers in her shirt. Random strangers (like the UPS guy) and friends alike will question why you painted the nursery blue if you are expecting a girl. This has caused many of us mothers of daughters to rebel. A part of me honestly wants to say "no pink, no princesses, and no dresses". That said, I then think back to my own childhood and I realize I could never be quite that strict. My bedroom was painted pink, at my insistence, from the time I was 8 until I was 15 or 16 when I decided to repaint it. I loved Cinderella and even dressed as her one year (though I made my own costume out of a junior bridesmaid dress I had, I didn't buy one of the premade Disney ones). While I don't wear dresses often, I will sometimes and they make me feel pretty.
This begs the question of where to draw the line. This is a line that will be different for each family, but one that should be drawn none the less. The easiest place to start drawing the line is with colors. Pink is a great color, especially on a girl like A. who has blond hair, blue eyes and a rosy complection. However, she also looks smashing in blue (to match her eyes), brown, green and even gray. In many ways these colors look even better on her than pink, but pink is the color that most little girls clothes come in. My goal with pink is not to exclude it, but to keep it equal with all the rest of the colors. With the nursery we painted the walls sky blue and did a jungle theme because we knew we were planning on keeping the theme for the next kid and switching A. to a "big girl room" when the time came. After much debate we've decided to paint the room green and have a mix of white and light wood furniture. There will be some pink and brown accents and we are really excited. (I'm hoping to make A. a quilt for her bed that will go with the floral/woodland/garden theme we are choosing, but we'll see how that goes.) Her room will have some pink, but also lots of other colors. The same goes for her clothes, some are pink, some are purple, but some are blue and brown and white too. I don't wear the same color every day so why should she? Pink can be a good color, I'd rather we not all get tired of it before her second birthday.
The next question, in order of ease to answer, is dresses. Dresses are pretty, but they are rarely practical. This is especially true when you are a toddler. I will let A. wear dresses when she wants, but right now she climbs so much that they would be a hindrance (hmm, maybe I should encourage more dresses to make chasing her easier). Right now she likes to run and climb and dig. Dresses are great for more formal occasions, church or other places where she will be sitting still and we have a few just for that, but mostly she wears clothes that she can move and get dirty in.
Now it's time for the hard question, princesses. As a kid I loved the Disney princess movies. I watched Cinderella so many times that I could sing the whole soundtrack and quote most of the words. I loved Beauty and the Beast and wished I was a brunette so I could look like Belle (sometimes I still do). However, this was all when I was older, I was old enough to understand the difference between real life and storybooks. Many of the "princess" themed things on the market today are aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. Little girls that are just beginning to figure out who they are and how the world works. They are just learning how imagination works and pretending to be a character in a story can stifle that. After all, which is more open ended, pretending you are the fairy princess trapped in a tower and playing through the act to see what happens or pretending you are Cinderella going to the ball to find your "happily ever after"? In the first example the prince might rescue the princess, or the princess might get bored waiting and slay the dragon herself, or maybe even rescue the prince. In the second you are pretty much following along with what happened in the movie, sure you might embellish some, but the main plot is already established. The second issue I have with the Disney princesses in particular is the assumption that "happily ever after" is automatic just because you met your prince. In the movies the princes are all one dimensional creatures that have little more than a title and looks to recommend them. Is this the kind of man you want your daughter to marry? Do you want her to assume that simply because she is married that she will never have to work on her relationship, that they will live "happily ever after" no matter what? Should she assume that her "prince" will take care of everything and she'll never have to lift a finger or do her share in the relationship? That's a good way to wind up unhappy and divorced. If you want to point your daughter towards a princess to emulate, why not point her to some of the real life princesses? Many of them have been very strong women who have put duty, honor and country ahead of themselves. They have had their share of sorrow and tragedy along with the pretty dresses and giant parties. They have worked and sacrificed and been strong for themselves and others. Their stories might not be all glitter and gowns, but many of them are wonderful role models for older girls. While we are at it, why not teach our daughters about the many other strong, intelligent women in the world. The women mathematicians during WWII that spent their days calculating the ballistics tables for the army or working on the Manhattan Project. How about the women who were off flying planes or working in factories so that the men could be freed up to fight. Or the many brave women, even today, who keep the home fires burning and the children safe, fed and well mannered while their men are off serving in the military. Why not teach our daughters about Marie Curie, Jane Goodall or the women's rights movement? Princesses are alright in their place (once girls are old enough to understand what that place is), but why should they displace so many better things? I love escaping into a good, fun or just plain fluffy story as much as the next person, but that doesn't change the fact that at the end of the book I have to be fit to return to real life.
I want my daughter to be an intelligent, strong, well rounded, insightful, honest, hardworking, loving women. I want her to be able to earn her daily bread, care for children if she chooses to have them, support herself and her family as needed or be content in the knowledge that staying home can be just as important. I want her to be able to find a good man, or to be able to live life contently on her own if she can't find one that meets her high standards. I want her to be able to act like a lady, while still retaining her own strength. Most importantly, I want her to figure out who she is, not who someone else thinks she should be. Princesses and playing dress-up can help her in this, but I am not convinced that blindly following the princess trend will.
My goal is to push off her exposure to Disney princesses, Dora the Explorer, Barney and Friends, Lightning McQueen, Thomas the Tank Engine, or any other "licensed" characters as long as I can. This isn't to say that I think that these shows and movies are bad (many of them a lot of fun), just that I don't like the idol worship that goes along with them. I hate that toys are sold to the kids instead of the adults. I hate that the goal of marketing is to convince children to pester their parents until the parents give in and buy the latest "it" toy. I also hate the peer pressure that is associated with this. The idea that you are somehow not as good as the next kid if your parents don't buy you a certain thing. This is not what I want to teach my daughter. I don't want her to value things more than people or good character. At some point we will watch Thomas and Friends (assuming I can get over the fact that Ringo Star isn't Mr. Conductor anymore). We will also sit down together and watch Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. But I'd rather wait until she's old enough to understand that it can be just a story on the screen and doesn't need to be a way of life.
If someone sees her digging in the dirt without a bow in her hair it will be assumed that she is a boy, even if she has pink flowers in her shirt. Random strangers (like the UPS guy) and friends alike will question why you painted the nursery blue if you are expecting a girl. This has caused many of us mothers of daughters to rebel. A part of me honestly wants to say "no pink, no princesses, and no dresses". That said, I then think back to my own childhood and I realize I could never be quite that strict. My bedroom was painted pink, at my insistence, from the time I was 8 until I was 15 or 16 when I decided to repaint it. I loved Cinderella and even dressed as her one year (though I made my own costume out of a junior bridesmaid dress I had, I didn't buy one of the premade Disney ones). While I don't wear dresses often, I will sometimes and they make me feel pretty.This begs the question of where to draw the line. This is a line that will be different for each family, but one that should be drawn none the less. The easiest place to start drawing the line is with colors. Pink is a great color, especially on a girl like A. who has blond hair, blue eyes and a rosy complection. However, she also looks smashing in blue (to match her eyes), brown, green and even gray. In many ways these colors look even better on her than pink, but pink is the color that most little girls clothes come in. My goal with pink is not to exclude it, but to keep it equal with all the rest of the colors. With the nursery we painted the walls sky blue and did a jungle theme because we knew we were planning on keeping the theme for the next kid and switching A. to a "big girl room" when the time came. After much debate we've decided to paint the room green and have a mix of white and light wood furniture. There will be some pink and brown accents and we are really excited. (I'm hoping to make A. a quilt for her bed that will go with the floral/woodland/garden theme we are choosing, but we'll see how that goes.) Her room will have some pink, but also lots of other colors. The same goes for her clothes, some are pink, some are purple, but some are blue and brown and white too. I don't wear the same color every day so why should she? Pink can be a good color, I'd rather we not all get tired of it before her second birthday.
The next question, in order of ease to answer, is dresses. Dresses are pretty, but they are rarely practical. This is especially true when you are a toddler. I will let A. wear dresses when she wants, but right now she climbs so much that they would be a hindrance (hmm, maybe I should encourage more dresses to make chasing her easier). Right now she likes to run and climb and dig. Dresses are great for more formal occasions, church or other places where she will be sitting still and we have a few just for that, but mostly she wears clothes that she can move and get dirty in.
Now it's time for the hard question, princesses. As a kid I loved the Disney princess movies. I watched Cinderella so many times that I could sing the whole soundtrack and quote most of the words. I loved Beauty and the Beast and wished I was a brunette so I could look like Belle (sometimes I still do). However, this was all when I was older, I was old enough to understand the difference between real life and storybooks. Many of the "princess" themed things on the market today are aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. Little girls that are just beginning to figure out who they are and how the world works. They are just learning how imagination works and pretending to be a character in a story can stifle that. After all, which is more open ended, pretending you are the fairy princess trapped in a tower and playing through the act to see what happens or pretending you are Cinderella going to the ball to find your "happily ever after"? In the first example the prince might rescue the princess, or the princess might get bored waiting and slay the dragon herself, or maybe even rescue the prince. In the second you are pretty much following along with what happened in the movie, sure you might embellish some, but the main plot is already established. The second issue I have with the Disney princesses in particular is the assumption that "happily ever after" is automatic just because you met your prince. In the movies the princes are all one dimensional creatures that have little more than a title and looks to recommend them. Is this the kind of man you want your daughter to marry? Do you want her to assume that simply because she is married that she will never have to work on her relationship, that they will live "happily ever after" no matter what? Should she assume that her "prince" will take care of everything and she'll never have to lift a finger or do her share in the relationship? That's a good way to wind up unhappy and divorced. If you want to point your daughter towards a princess to emulate, why not point her to some of the real life princesses? Many of them have been very strong women who have put duty, honor and country ahead of themselves. They have had their share of sorrow and tragedy along with the pretty dresses and giant parties. They have worked and sacrificed and been strong for themselves and others. Their stories might not be all glitter and gowns, but many of them are wonderful role models for older girls. While we are at it, why not teach our daughters about the many other strong, intelligent women in the world. The women mathematicians during WWII that spent their days calculating the ballistics tables for the army or working on the Manhattan Project. How about the women who were off flying planes or working in factories so that the men could be freed up to fight. Or the many brave women, even today, who keep the home fires burning and the children safe, fed and well mannered while their men are off serving in the military. Why not teach our daughters about Marie Curie, Jane Goodall or the women's rights movement? Princesses are alright in their place (once girls are old enough to understand what that place is), but why should they displace so many better things? I love escaping into a good, fun or just plain fluffy story as much as the next person, but that doesn't change the fact that at the end of the book I have to be fit to return to real life.
I want my daughter to be an intelligent, strong, well rounded, insightful, honest, hardworking, loving women. I want her to be able to earn her daily bread, care for children if she chooses to have them, support herself and her family as needed or be content in the knowledge that staying home can be just as important. I want her to be able to find a good man, or to be able to live life contently on her own if she can't find one that meets her high standards. I want her to be able to act like a lady, while still retaining her own strength. Most importantly, I want her to figure out who she is, not who someone else thinks she should be. Princesses and playing dress-up can help her in this, but I am not convinced that blindly following the princess trend will.
My goal is to push off her exposure to Disney princesses, Dora the Explorer, Barney and Friends, Lightning McQueen, Thomas the Tank Engine, or any other "licensed" characters as long as I can. This isn't to say that I think that these shows and movies are bad (many of them a lot of fun), just that I don't like the idol worship that goes along with them. I hate that toys are sold to the kids instead of the adults. I hate that the goal of marketing is to convince children to pester their parents until the parents give in and buy the latest "it" toy. I also hate the peer pressure that is associated with this. The idea that you are somehow not as good as the next kid if your parents don't buy you a certain thing. This is not what I want to teach my daughter. I don't want her to value things more than people or good character. At some point we will watch Thomas and Friends (assuming I can get over the fact that Ringo Star isn't Mr. Conductor anymore). We will also sit down together and watch Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. But I'd rather wait until she's old enough to understand that it can be just a story on the screen and doesn't need to be a way of life.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday Tip: A Place For Everything
A few weeks ago I realized that my living room was never clean. It felt like every time I would pick up the toys A would throw them all over the place again and I'd be back where I had been. Before long I stopped being as careful about picking up my things and putting them away so shoes, water glasses, books, etc were added to the toys. Before long I was overwhelmed and in many ways gave up on a clean living room. I was always stressed and A wasn't terribly happy about it either because with toys all over the floor there wasn't room to play. Finally I realized what was going on and that I needed to get her toys under control. I got DH to help me and right before she went to bed one night we grabbed all of the toys and books out of her room and put them in the living room along with all the toys, books, etc that were out there.
Once A. was safely sleeping we piled up all of her books in one place and all of her toys in another and started sorting. We started with the books because they were the easiest. She has a ton of wonderful books, but many of them have paper pages and she's already torn a couple while looking at the pictures. We sorted out the books that she might hurt from the board books. The books with paper pages we set aside for times that we are reading with her and stacked the board books on the coffee table to be put back in her room so that she could look at them on her own. We then started in on the toys. The toys were harder and really overwhelming. We have always tried to follow the idea of just having a few nice toys instead of a bunch of junk, but the pile was huge. It took up half the free space in the living room!?! We started sorting, first we put all the toys that she had outgrown in a box to save for the baby. At first I worried about this because I hold regular playdates and some of the kids that come are much younger. However, I realized that some of the toys like the felt balls are fun for kids of all ages so the tiny ones would still have something to play with (I was right, at the next playdate the babies loved playing with the balls almost as much as the toddlers). We then set aside the toys that I know A will love when she's a little older, but shows no interest in yet. Every month or so I'll get that box out and see if her tastes have changed, but in the meantime those toys aren't acting as clutter. Also, because they won't have been out the whole time, when she is ready to play with them they will be new and novel so I know she'll love them all the more for it. At that point, with a pile we still felt was giant DH and I went to bed. I figured we'd finish the next day after we'd had a chance to sleep on it.
The next morning A woke up in a great mood and was having a great time playing in her crib so I ran to the living room and started grabbing toys. I started with the books followed by the toys I knew were her favorites and started putting them away in her room. When I was done I pulled her out of her crib and she was enthralled. She would pull toys off the shelves and then put them back!!! I was in shock, I was also surprised how much smaller the pile in the living room looked so I set to finding places for those things as well. In the end we didn't really have to get rid of anything, we just had to set aside the toys she isn't playing with. After we are sure we are done having kids we will obviously give away the toys that our children have outgrown, but right now we know that they will be used again in a few months. In the meantime, one evening of organizing has made a world of difference in our lives. Now that everything has a place A. can help me put away her toys before her nap and before bed. She likes helping us do it and our living room looks a lot nicer now too. The nicest thing though, is that now that all of her toys are accessible and most of the floor is clear at any given time A is happier to play by herself which give me more time to get stuff done. As new toys come into the house old ones will have to be put away or given away so that there is always space, but in the meantime we are all happier and didn't have to make any of the hard decisions I was fearing.How about you, do you organize your toys or let them take over? I used to let them take over figuring that it would help A find what she was looking for easier if she could see them all. Now I know that, for her at least, it is easier to find something if it is where it belongs. I never expected that of so young a toddler.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Unconditional Love
I know that for Valentine's Day everyone has love on the mind. I had been thinking about what I wanted to write about, but couldn't think of anything that was really different. I can say "I have the best husband", but I think that most women would say the same of their hubby (at least today). I can tell about how much I love A and the love I have already for the tiny being growing inside me, but those emotions come standard with being a mom. I could even talk about how much I love my pets, how nice it is on a cold night when the dog moves down from the warms spot he's created on the bed next to my pillows to the foot of the bed and then snuggles my feet keeping them warm. I could talk about how our younger cat used to snuggle against my belly when I was pregnant with A. and how he has been enamored with her ever since. But instead of any of those ramblings, I'll tell you about yesterday and thereby get a chance to brag on my little girl. :)
Yesterday afternoon I was tired so I laid down for a nap. My DH, knowing how exhausted I've been lately did a great job of playing quietly with A so I could get some sleep. That was until, about an hour into my nap, A. realized that I wasn't around and after checking the house reasoned that I must be in my room. She ran to the baby gate yelling "Mommy, Mommy", and DH explained that "Mommy is sleeping, let's let her sleep and go play over here." (The yells of "Mommy" had woken me up so I got to hear the whole thing.) A. turned around and went into the kitchen where DH was doing some dishes and started pulling things out of one of the cabinets she's allowed to play in while I rolled over to go back to sleep. Suddenly I heard a squeal of joy and renewed shouts of "Mommy". I cracked an eyelid to see A. running across the living room with a pizza pan which she then proceeded to bang against the medal baby gate in an effort to make as much noise as possible. At that point I couldn't hold back the laugh and she realized that her plan had worked. I got up and came out to pick her up amid squeals of joy. I have to admit that part of me was a little sad to have my nap cut short, but the look of pure joy on her face at seeing me was so amazing it made up for a lot. So did the giant hug and wet kisses I received upon picking up my girl.
To me, moments like that are love personified. They make all the work and frustration that comes with parenting a headstrong toddler worth it. They show just how deep love can be. There was absolutely nothing that A. needed me for at that moment. DH is more than capable of taking care of her. She had a clean diaper, she'd just had a snack and DH plays lots of games with her that I never do. But, all that being said, she wanted me. Not because something was wrong, but because she was having such a great time she wanted to share it with me. Now is that heart melting or what?
Yesterday afternoon I was tired so I laid down for a nap. My DH, knowing how exhausted I've been lately did a great job of playing quietly with A so I could get some sleep. That was until, about an hour into my nap, A. realized that I wasn't around and after checking the house reasoned that I must be in my room. She ran to the baby gate yelling "Mommy, Mommy", and DH explained that "Mommy is sleeping, let's let her sleep and go play over here." (The yells of "Mommy" had woken me up so I got to hear the whole thing.) A. turned around and went into the kitchen where DH was doing some dishes and started pulling things out of one of the cabinets she's allowed to play in while I rolled over to go back to sleep. Suddenly I heard a squeal of joy and renewed shouts of "Mommy". I cracked an eyelid to see A. running across the living room with a pizza pan which she then proceeded to bang against the medal baby gate in an effort to make as much noise as possible. At that point I couldn't hold back the laugh and she realized that her plan had worked. I got up and came out to pick her up amid squeals of joy. I have to admit that part of me was a little sad to have my nap cut short, but the look of pure joy on her face at seeing me was so amazing it made up for a lot. So did the giant hug and wet kisses I received upon picking up my girl.
To me, moments like that are love personified. They make all the work and frustration that comes with parenting a headstrong toddler worth it. They show just how deep love can be. There was absolutely nothing that A. needed me for at that moment. DH is more than capable of taking care of her. She had a clean diaper, she'd just had a snack and DH plays lots of games with her that I never do. But, all that being said, she wanted me. Not because something was wrong, but because she was having such a great time she wanted to share it with me. Now is that heart melting or what?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Naan
I'll never forget the first time I had Indian food. I was home from college and my sister decided to drag me out for a girls night with her friends. I was a little worried because Indian food seemed so strange, but I'd had a roommate who'd loved it and my sister tends to have good taste so I figured it was worth a shot. The place we went had two menus, the one in English with descriptions of what each dish was and prices in the $6-$10 range and the one that wasn't in English with prices in the $4-$6 range. I ordered off the second menu and loved the food (though I still don't know exactly what it was I got), especially the naan that came with it.
I always figured naan was one of those specialty breads that was just too hard to make at home and would occasionally buy some from Trader Joe's. Then, while mindlessly watching PBS while attempting to knit a lace shawl Baking With Julia came on and the episode was all about how to make naan. I grabbed the post-it notes and pen from by the phone and wrote frantically. Now when I want Indian food and am feeling kinda lazy on the cooking front I'll make up a batch of naan along with the premade entrees from Trader Joe's and some rice. I rarely remember to do this, but on Friday my sister mentioned that she was making Indian food, but that she'd yet to find a good naan recipe so I emailed her this one. She agreed, it's perfect. Since that conversation I have been craving some myself so today I made a batch. If you want to make a batch too I've included the recipe below.
Naan:
2T. Active Dry Yeast
2 1/2c. Warm Water
Flour, lots of it
Put yeast in a large bowl, add the warm water and stir them together. Slowly add flour (first stirring and then kneading) until it forms a soft, slightly sticky dough. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise until it has doubled in size. Put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 500F*. Punch it down, knead it a bit on a heavily floured counter and divide into 4 pieces. Divide each quarter into 4 pieces and knead them a bit more and then roll them into flat, rounds about 1/4" thick. Stab it all over with a fork to keep it from rising up in the oven (this is the main difference between naan and pita bread), sprinkle with water and then add toppings. The original recipe called for salt, green onion and caraway seed. I like garlic salt or onion salt, I'm told that traditionally ghee (or clarified butter) is used too. Put the rounds on your preheated pizza stone and bake for 6 minutes. Enjoy!
I generally do 2-4 at a time because that is what fits on my stone. There is then plenty of time to prep the next ones while those bake.
*Make sure your pizza stone is rated to at least 500F, many are only rated to 400 or 450 and may explode when you put wet dough on them. I think that this is the one I have after I exploded the last one.
ETA: This is now linked to the Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Check it out for lots of tasty recipes.
I always figured naan was one of those specialty breads that was just too hard to make at home and would occasionally buy some from Trader Joe's. Then, while mindlessly watching PBS while attempting to knit a lace shawl Baking With Julia came on and the episode was all about how to make naan. I grabbed the post-it notes and pen from by the phone and wrote frantically. Now when I want Indian food and am feeling kinda lazy on the cooking front I'll make up a batch of naan along with the premade entrees from Trader Joe's and some rice. I rarely remember to do this, but on Friday my sister mentioned that she was making Indian food, but that she'd yet to find a good naan recipe so I emailed her this one. She agreed, it's perfect. Since that conversation I have been craving some myself so today I made a batch. If you want to make a batch too I've included the recipe below.
Naan:
2T. Active Dry Yeast
2 1/2c. Warm Water
Flour, lots of it
Put yeast in a large bowl, add the warm water and stir them together. Slowly add flour (first stirring and then kneading) until it forms a soft, slightly sticky dough. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise until it has doubled in size. Put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 500F*. Punch it down, knead it a bit on a heavily floured counter and divide into 4 pieces. Divide each quarter into 4 pieces and knead them a bit more and then roll them into flat, rounds about 1/4" thick. Stab it all over with a fork to keep it from rising up in the oven (this is the main difference between naan and pita bread), sprinkle with water and then add toppings. The original recipe called for salt, green onion and caraway seed. I like garlic salt or onion salt, I'm told that traditionally ghee (or clarified butter) is used too. Put the rounds on your preheated pizza stone and bake for 6 minutes. Enjoy!
I generally do 2-4 at a time because that is what fits on my stone. There is then plenty of time to prep the next ones while those bake.
*Make sure your pizza stone is rated to at least 500F, many are only rated to 400 or 450 and may explode when you put wet dough on them. I think that this is the one I have after I exploded the last one.ETA: This is now linked to the Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Check it out for lots of tasty recipes.
Friday, February 11, 2011
{this moment}
{this moment} - Inspired by Soulemama. In her words: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you want to participate head over to her blog and enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)