Do you have any baking traditions in your family?  One of the things that I love about my mother-in-law is her relationship with Katie--but I also love that she can make the best homemade tortillas ever!  She's been rolling tortillas with the end of a wooden broom stick for 35 years--and she taught me how!  It is pretty easy to make the dough--not so easy to roll them out...  We're starting Katie young so that she can pass the tradition on to her children some day!

First grandma makes the dough.  She does everything by feel, so I've had to work on perfecting the recipe for myself:

3 cups flour
4 TBS Crisco
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 cup warm water

That's it--all you need to make these scrumptious tortillas.  I have made them with more healthy ingredients--even with applesauce instead of the Crisco.  But to make them with the best flavor, you have to go the unhealthy route.

First you cut in the Crisco to the mixture of flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix with your hand until their are no lumps--this is the tricky part and requires a few minutes to do correctly.  Next, add the warm water.  You also need to get the feel of this, too.  Too much water and the dough is sticky.  Too little and the dough will be tough.  Kneed the dough for just a few minutes.  Split the dough into 12-14 balls and let them rest under a towel for 20 minutes.  Roll (the hard part) and heat on a hot griddle (usually medium high).  Believe me, this takes practice.  But once you learn how, it is so worth it!  I would recommend buying a tortilla rolling pin.  It is almost impossible to roll them with a standard size rolling pin.

She's getting the hang of it at 3 years old.  Can't wait to see what happens in a few years--maybe I can retire my rolling pin!

Next, we heat them on the griddle. 

Delicious!

What are some of your traditional family meals?  Are there any that you share with your kids?  I can still remember making chocolate chip cookies with my grandma.  I thought they were the best cookies in the whole world...

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