Hike Night

In the craziness that is Spring on a farm we have had to push the stop button. One night, once a week, we pack up our dinner and leave.

Sometimes we eat in the car, sometimes on the trail, but no matter what, we go hiking.

We have to. We need to recharge. Even when you forget that your family will indeed need to actually "eat".

You mean to tell me that these people want dinner every single night??? But they already had breakfast! Aaaannnndd lunch! Here children and hard working husband, drink some water for dinner.

Obviously, I would never actually only offer water for dinner, unless someone gave me an attitude, but that is a whole other post. I'd offer them all a banana and milk smoothie..... That'll fill 'em up.

So what is a mama to do when she needs to feed her family the day before grocery day, and she forgot to pull any meat out of the freezer? Not to mention it needs to be pack-able.

Well, I did what I always do when I need direction for my life. I headed on over to my favorite blog. Thank goodness for Shaye and her Irish Farls!

And thank goodness for hike night.

And family time.

And being unplugged from our to do list.

And getting to watch a male Grouse do his thing to try and impress the ladies. He was pretty awesome. He was strutting and dancing and making his Grouse noise just a few feet from us.

And thank you Lord for food.

Pastry Dough

Oh this dough. I really can't say enough about it. It has made its way onto our plates many times these last couple weeks. I use it with both savory and sweet fillings. Each time thinking this new filling is my favorite. Making dough is by far my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. Pies, breads, pasta, pizza dough and now pastry. I enjoy the process.

This recipe is for two Gallettes, because one is never enough. Heck, two is barely enough. Especially when feeding the 5 mouths in this family.

You will need:

- 2 1/2 C. White Flour (Do yourself a favor and please use non-GMO)

- 1/2 tsp. Salt

- 16 Tbs (2 sticks) Butter

- 1/3 C Plain Whole Milk Yogurt

- 1/2 Cold Water 

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 400.

Step 2. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix together.

Step 3. Cut the butter up into small chunks. Add the butter into your flour and salt and mix with your hands. Smash and pinch the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs. Use both hands and really get into it. 

Step 4. Add the yogurt. It should look about like this.

Step 5. Slowly add in the water. It does not take much and this can vary from cook to cook and even batch to batch. You want it to feel somewhere between biscuit dough and pie crust. 

Step 6. Now flour your work surface and knead, gently. We don't want to over do it. So probably 3-5 actual kneads would be good. Now cut your dough in half. See the layers forming and the pieces of butter? That is what we want.

Step 7. Roll it out and fill with whatever goodness your heart desires. If it will take awhile to prepare your filling go ahead and place the dough in the refrigerator. We don't want the butter pieces to melt.

Step 8. Fold the edges up over the filling and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes. 

And enjoy! Happy eating friends!

What are you going to put in yours? 

Galette

It may have finally happened. The pastry dough that I have been looking for.

Easy and no fuss to make, at least by puff pastry standards. Light and chewy on the inside and crisp and flaky on the outside. I filled one with mushrooms and sweet potatoes. Topped with smoked mozzarella cheese. Then packed it and the kids up and had a picnic with Timothy on his lunch break.

Then magic happened. Food magic. I used the leftover dough to make this blueberry, honey and

pecan baklava-esque galette.

Pair it with all the kids in bed, a rainy evening, a latte and all is right in my world.