Tortilla time!

Tortilla rolling pin, getting ready to flatten some dough.

It's hard to capture the whole picture...

Here's a tortilla ready to go, one in the pan, and flour everywhere.

There's no way to make tortillas without flour everywhere. If you had a picture of the cook, there's flour from nose to toes.

A few summers ago, when Angus was just a baby, my Aunt Bert taught me how to make homemade flour tortillas.  There is just no comparison, between the homemade ones, and those you buy in plastic packages in the store....once I started making them at home, the store tortillas seemed very flabby and bland, rather like North Dakotans on a Brazilian beach. (I'll give you a minute for that mental picture...)

My Dad made me this tortilla rolling pin, that I just love! He really, really dislikes working with wood, so it's a precious gift, and I smile everytime I use it.  His father, my Gramps, made me a big handled rolling pin that I use for cookies and piecrusts, but it didn't work so hot with tortillas.  This little rolling pin has more movement, and creates a more even pressure.  And it's just cute!

Here's the deal: some of my readers LOVE recipes, but true to my flaky fashion, I didn't really learn a measurement recipe for these.  (Bad luck for those of you collecting farm recipes.)  I'm sure you can find one on the net, or in a good cookbook.  Aunt Bert showed me about how much of each ingredient to use, about how much to mix it, and about how long to cook them.  And they turn out about right.  If you come visit me, I can show you about how much, how long and so forth.  But no sneaking off to write it down!

While I'm making the tortillas, on the back burner of the stove is a pot with pork sausage, chopped onion and red spuds, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, cumin, salt and whatever else I can think to throw in.  It's different every time, but starts the same!  When it's time to roll them in the shells, we usually top the mixture with sour cream and sometimes salsa. Wayland likes shredded cheese, too.  They're pretty rich this way, and if you want something lighter, try butter and cinnamon sugar. (I have no idea how many Weight Watcher points that is, but it has to be lighter than the sausage filling, wouldn't you think?)

I've already started training on Maggie, and she's getting pretty good at rolling them out. Her's turn out a wee bit thick, but they are pretty good.  I always think of my Dad and Aunt Bert when I'm making these, and wish they could be here to share and laugh and tell stories and tease.  And eat piles of homemade flour tortillas.