This website is a gathering place for adventurous grannies and all those who love them. So.. if you are a granny, have a granny, know a granny or love a granny, thanks for joining us!
To read the story of Phyllis Hassan’s cross country adventure, click here.
For her photos, click on the image below.
|
|
 |
|
Many many thanks to my son for sending me this link.
Its an article about the need to make roads safer for riding bikes. At the end of the article they mention several very experienced riders who have been killed in the Dallas area. My friend and inspiration for this website, Phyllis Hassan, is included in the tragic list.
Sign the petition if you can, we need all the help we can get!!!
Start the syrup first so it will have time to simmer and cool before the pancakes are ready.
Fruit Syrup
2 cups fresh or frozen fruit
Note: If fruit is fresh, mash down to fill 2 cups, if frozen, over fill measuring cup, it doesn’t need to be exact)
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (or less to taste)
Bring water and fruit to a boil in a good solid sauce pan. Add sugar, stir, and reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork or wire whisk to break down fruit. The longer you simmer, the thicker the syrup will become, just don’t let it burn if you want it really thick. I like it thin so the juice soaks down into the pancake.
Will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Freeze to keep longer.
Cinnamon – Yogurt – Whole Wheat – Pancakes
Mix liquid ingredient together well until smooth:
2 eggs
1 cup (8 oz) yogurt
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
Note: Measure oil first then the molasses won’t stick to the measuring spoon
Now for the dry ingredients. You can mix these in a separate bowl, then add to liquid.
I prefer to just let the dry ingredients float on top of the liquid until I have all the dry ingredients in the bowl. Then I stir up the dry on top to mix them a little before I mix it all together. It saves me washing an extra bowl.
Whichever method you prefer, the main idea is once you start mixing the dry into the liquid, stir as little as possible. The more you stir at this point, the more tough the pancakes will be when they are cooked.
Dry ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour, stirred but not sifted
Note: stir the top few inches of flour in the package, measure out a cup, stir again, measure out the second cup
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup powdered milk
Note: If you don’t have powdered milk, you can use regular milk or soy milk instead of water
Once you have gently mixed the dry ingredients with the liquid ingredients, you are ready to cook the pancakes.
I make my pancakes huge. About a cup of batter per pancake. If you do that, it will only make 5 or 6 pancakes, but you will spend less time cooking them, but its trickier to get them done without burning. One pancake this size is plenty for one person, unless you are in training for a cross country bike ride, then you might want two 
Its easier to make smaller ones, so if you use about 1/2 cup batter per pancake, you will get about 12.
I like to put plenty of oil in my cast iron skillet before I start to cook the pancakes, because I like them crispy on the edges. Just make sure your pan is warm enough that a drop of batter forms bubbles right away.
Once your pan is ready and you have added batter, spread it out some with your spoon so it won’t be too thick in the middle. This batter is fairly thick, so it won’t spread much on its own.
My mom used to make little designs with the batter. She would make our initials with the batter first, backwards, let it cook for a second, then add more batter. When the pancake is done, you can see the outline of the initials in the middle of the pancake.
You will be able to tell when its time to turn over the pancake by looking at the surface. The bubbles will have popped and the upper surface will look more solid, or somewhat cooked. Don’t wait too long or it will start to burn on the bottom side. If you turn it over too soon, the pancake might fall apart some, but it won’t hurt anything. Better too soon than burnt, you can always turn it multiple times until its cooked and browned to your satisfaction.
½ cup butter
½ cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon cloves
1 cup grated raw carrots
1 cup seedless raisins
¼ cup peanut butter
mix butter & honey; add & mix eggs; mix dry ingredients separately & then add to batter; add & mix carrots, raisins, & peanut butter; spoon into greased casserole dish; bake at 350º for 25 min or until fork comes out clean.
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
5 cups water
1 cup lentil
1 sliced celery stalk
1 sliced carrot
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon ground ginger or 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup parsley (optional)
sauté onions in olive oil in soup pot until onions are translucent; add water, lentils, & vegetables; bring to boil and turn down to simmer; add spices when lentils are tender (~ 45 minutes); simmer for about 15 more minutes & remove from heat; add parsley.
Red Velvet Cake
2½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1¼ cup melted butter
4 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded beets (cooked or raw)
mix dry ingredients; mix wet ingredients & add to dry ingredients; add beets & mix; pour into greased casserole dish; cook at 350º for 40 min or until fork comes out clean; frost with cream cheese frosting when cake is cool; refrigerates well.
Cream Cheese Frosting
6 Tablespoon cream
6 oz cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
½ lb powdered sugar
mix all ingredients with beater
½ cup oil
1 cup sweetener (honey, sorghum, molasses, and/or maple syrup)
10 cups of grains (rolled oats, rolled wheat, rolled rye, puffed wheat, and/or puffed rice)
1-3 cups dried fruit (raisins, currents, dates, cranberries, and/or apples)
1-3 cups nuts/seeds (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, flax seed and/or sunflower seeds)
Optional
½ cup peanut butter
1 Tbl vanilla
¼ cup milk powder
2 Tbl nutritional yeast
1 Tbl grated orange or lemon peel
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
Heat oil, sweetener, and peanut butter (optional) in a large pot until thin. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining optional ingredients if desired. Stir in grains. Dried fruit & nuts/seeds may be added now or after cooking. Spread mixture into ungreased cookie sheets with sides or casserole dishes. Bake at 250°F for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Cool. Store in an airtight container.
Variation
To make granola bars, reduce grains to 6 cups and press mixture into two 8 inch square pans. Bake at 300°F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cut while hot, but cool before removing from pan.
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
2 eggs
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup dry milk powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup dried fruit
½ cup nuts
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, water, & vanilla in bowl until smooth. Add flour, dry milk powder, salt, baking soda, & spices; mix well. Mix in oats, dried fruit, & nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown.
Ok, I’m satisfied now, they are definitely hawks. I did a little looking around the web and I was pretty sure the birds I saw fit the description, but I had only seen from a distance. Now I’m really sure!
It was very exciting this morning, thinking about hilltops and hawks. I saw one on the sign as I passed by, very cool! but it didn’t fly around, so I went on passed. As I was walking, quite a ways away, I heard a sort of slight whooshing noise sort of behind me on the field side, not the traffic side.
I turned and looked just in time to see a hawk land on a fence post no more than 30 feet from where I was standing. It was obscured by the branch of a small bush, but I saw it clearly, met its gaze eye to eye in fact.
It was beautiful!
Ok, I’m going to ignore the road kill I was going to write about (poor motherless racoon babies) and skip on to the Red Tailed Hawks.
But first, a reality check.
This is what eventually happens to all empty fields around here.
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
Note: To view all the photos in this blog entry as a slide show, click on one of the photos and use right and left arrow keys to move through images.
Ok, now for the Hawks.
I’ve been noticing that different birds hang out in the field at the top of the hill, than in the trees around my house. The other day I saw what I thought might be a hawk, perched on one of those large round hay bails. It was too far away and my photos didn’t show it, but I thought if I watched for it, I might see it again. A friend told me once, if you want to see birds of prey, look up.
So, this morning as I came up the hill toward the empty field, I looked up. Sure enough, there was a hawk perched on a street light.
I’ve been thinking for months about all the interesting things I see on the way to work, that I could blog about, now I’ve gone blank!!!
Maybe I will start with some photos of the sunrise. My favorite part of the morning commute. I took these last week, July 3rd I think?
Note: To view all the photos in this blog entry as a slide show, click on one of the photos and use right and left arrow keys to move through images.
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
Lest you get the wrong impression and start to think I live out in the country, let me explain. I live in a burb of Dallas. It was out in the country once upon a time, but not anymore. The field I pass by every day is a remnant left over from the days when this area was farmland. (Hog farms I’ve heard, but no one brags about that.)
