This is one of those mornings that I love to share with all the folks who write to me daily telling me how lucky I am and how wonderful it must be to have a farm.

We awoke to about 1/4 inch of ice covering every surface of the farm, every door, every latch, every post, every bucket. Walking hundreds of feet back and forth carrying 6 gallon pails of water while you try to stay upright on a solid surface of ice is enough of a trip, doing it without having anything to hold onto because IT IS FROZEN makes it all the more enjoyable. So back and forth we go wit buckets of food and water to feed the animals. Of course they are miserable because they can’t really go out…at lest not without falling all over themselves. Days like today mean Dumplin’ stays in the barn too, can’t take a chance of having him go down on the ice. That is a scenario no horse owner lets comes into their mind without shear panic and dread. So he is tucked in his warm dry stall while Todd makes him a second Mr. Ed door so he can at least peek out.

SO anyway!

I come in soaked in ice and all I can think about is bread. Only one problem…I don’t have a loaf because I spent yesterday tied to my very aged dog who is in his last days. (I told you, that this life is harder than it seems, and this is one of the hardest). I just want someone to care for me, nurture me, tell me that it is ok. Unfortunately the only way I am going to get that right now is if I wallow in a loaf of something right out of the oven with mug of coffee and some tissues. I know, poor me…I’ll be ok, I really will.  After some popovers anyway.

Because I am feeling particularly fragile right now I decided to check out the King Arthur site and see what recipes it would yield. This my friends is now my “go to” Popover recipe. Absolutely perfect!

Popovers – King Arthur Flour

Recipe summary
Hands-on time:
5 mins. to 10 mins.
Baking time:
35 mins. to 40 mins.
Total time:
Yield:
12

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk (skim, low-fat, or full-fat), at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons melted butter

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 450°F. Position a rack on a lower shelf. The top of the fully risen popovers should be about midway up the oven. What you don’t want is for the tops of the popping popovers to be too close to the top of the oven, as they’ll burn.

2) Use a standard 12-cup metal muffin tin, one whose cups are close to 2 1/2″ wide x 1 1/2″ deep. Grease the pan thoroughly, covering the area between the cups as well as the cups themselves. Make sure the oven is up to temperature before you begin to make the popover batter.

3) Use a wire whisk to beat together the eggs, milk, and salt. Whisk till the egg and milk are well combined, with no streaks of yolk showing.

4) Add the flour all at once, and beat with a wire whisk till frothy; there shouldn’t be any large lumps in the batter, but smaller lumps are OK. OR, if you’re using a stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment, whisk for 20 seconds. Stop, scrape the sides of the bowl, and whisk for an additional 20 to 30 seconds at medium-high speed, till frothy.

5) Stir in the melted butter, combining quickly.

6) Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filing them about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

7) Make absolutely certain your oven is at 450°F. Place the pan on a lower shelf of the oven .

Bake the popovers for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Reduce the heat to 350°F (again without opening the door), and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until they’re a deep, golden brown.

9) If you plan on serving the popovers immediately, remove them from the oven, slip them out of the pan, and serve.

10) If you want the popovers to hold their shape longer without deflating and settling quite as much, bake them for an additional 5 minutes (for a total of 40 minutes) IF you can do so without them becoming too dark. This will make them a bit sturdier, and able to hold their “popped” shape a bit longer.

***notes*** perhaps the single most problematic issue people have with popovers is that they skip the crucial elements. The milk must be at room temp or warmed, but you cannot nuke it to boiling and expect to get great results. You will instead make scrambled eggs with flour. Another part is the eggs, they do need to be at room temperature and NO YOU WILL NOT GET SALMONELLA OR OTHER HORRID FOOD BORNE ILLNESS by leaving it on the counter to warm up. And perhaps the biggest…DO NOT open that oven door. Seriously, the world will explode and you will be responsible for it. Trust me, they are baking in there and you don’t need to peek.

I know what you’re thinking…I’ve finally lost my mind. But hear me out, homemade crackers are so good that you won’t be sorry you invested a little bit of time into them.

The holidays are right around the corner and it’s your time to shine, so gather up some flour, baking powder, shortening and heavy cream and get ready to make the best “saltines” you’ll ever have.

 

Making crackers at home is fun and easy and very, very tasty

Homemade Saltines

Ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup ice water
kosher or sea salt for sprinkling

You’ll want a silpat or parchment paper for this, it makes life much easier.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl and cut in the shortening.  You can do this a vareity of ways but the secret is to NOT over blend. I use my stand mixer with the paddle attachement on stir for about a minute. 

Mix the ice water and heavy cream together and slowly pour into the dry ingredients, I do this with the KA running on stir.

When the dough just comes together stop mixing. Your dough should be wet and sticky at this point. Divide it into 4 pieces.

Dust your silpat or parchment with flour, remove a piece of dough and gently knead the dough until it becomes very soft and pliable.

Now dust your rolling pin and roll this piece out until it is very, very thin. As thin as you can roll it and still be able to handle. Now sprinkle with salt to taste (and since these have no salt in them, you’ll appreciate the salty tops). Using a fluted pie crust cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into your desired shape, I just made simple squares and rectangles.

Now comes the fun part. Invert a cookie sheet over your parchment or silpat and gently flip. Your crackers should be face down on the sheet. Now gently start peeling the parchment or silpat away from the cracker dough.

Place your cookie sheet in the oven for about 8 minutes. When the edges are golden brown they are done. If they aren’t quite done in 8, check again every minute until the reach the desired color and crunchiness.

Proceed with the remaining 3 pieces of dough following the same steps.

Enjoy!

Have a wonderful Sunday, and do something delicious! (like make crackers!)
Colleen