Making tortillas

Instead of talking about how some stranger (bug spray guy) was in my apartment while I was sleeping this morning, I'm going to recount (with pictures!) yesterday's fun.

On Sunday we made homemade tortillas. Well, technically A. and K. made them, and I gave advice from behind the camera while I took pictures. I have to admit, they were good. Very good. And far easier than I would have thought. Since we've always had a "YUCK"-factor whenever we used any store-bought tortillas (and ended up throwing them all out), I think we'll just make our own from now on.

Yes, I took pictures. I'm behind in posting them, but... eh. I've been busy. I have been making it a habit to cook with the camera within reach (much to the dismay of my family, who often get recruited for the actual cooking part while I play photographer).

So, pictures!

A. made the dough. Sadly, I didn't get pictures of that. I didn't think about it until after they were rolling it out. By the time I had the camera in my hand, K. had taken over and A. was elsewhere. First, she would get one of the little balls they'd made.

Then she got some flour...

and dusted the little ball with it.

After that, she would pat it out, flattening it a little bit.

After she had it more or less flattened, she would start to roll it out using an old Disney glass from Burger King because I am in desperate need of a new rolling pin.

From time to time she would stop to pat it out, sometimes dusting it with a bit more flour.

After she was all done, she would peel up the raw tortilla and put it on a piece of wax paper atop the growing stack waiting to be cooked.

After K. was done rolling all the dough out, A. came in and started cooking the tortillas.

Over and over and over again, until we had a lovely little stack of tasty home-made tortillas!

After the tortillas had cooled and it was nearing time for dinner, I went in and made Simple Taco Meat (see my tweaks to the recipe here).

It was a good meal, and everyone had at least a little bit of fun. Even with the fun factor, I think next time I'll make them myself while they're at school and work.

Oh, and those tortillas? They're good spread with peanut butter and wrapped around a banana, too.

Coming soon: playing with a coconut.

Family Fun

We went to the AirFest out at the base today.

Wow.

We were only there for a few hours, and those were the last few hours of the show. We showed up just to watch the Blue Angels fly.

See, Mom had taken K. out there yesterday and they saw a few of the earlier flying exhibits from the car before they had to leave. Mom told K. a lot about the Blue Angels and K. really wanted to see them. So despite all that we had to do today to prepare for A.'s flight tomorrow, we drove the 45 minutes or so to the Air Force base on the other end of town, sat in traffic for nearly 20 minutes, walked nearly 45 minutes from the parking area to where the air show was actually being held, stood around in the sun watching the Blue Angels for 45 minutes, spent the next 30-45 minutes trying to get autographs (got one Blue Angel pilot's and took a picture of K. with him - she was thrilled), then made the hike BACK to the car where we sat for 20-30 minutes before we even got the chance to get back into the main flow of traffic.

It was so very worth it. K. loved the Blue Angel's show, and after several attempts, I managed to finally catch them splitting. The picture quality itself is rather poor, but I'm sure they're much better than what the people taking pictures with their cell phones got. Out of all the pictures I took today, this one is my favorite. I'll be posting others at my flickr account tomorrow.

And with all the fun, there was bound to be a bit of a downer thrown in. The Universe likes to keep such balance, after all. A., being a natural red-head, is burned pretty good on all exposed skin areas. K., being 10 and not quite as fair-skinned as her father, is experiencing her first ever sun burn. Thankfully it's just her shoulders and the top half of her upper arms, with just a bit on her chest. She wore a tank top today. I... well, I'm a natural blond and a reformed sun-loving desert rat (I haven't spent much time in the sun at all in the past 15 years). I'm a bit charred around the edges, meaning my face is all pink and I can feel the heat it in, but I'll be fine in a day or two.

I think K. now understands why I'm always pushing her and her father to wear their sunblock, and I don't think she'll balk so much when I reach for it for a while. I haven't decided yet if I'll keep her home tomorrow or not. I'll decide in the morning when I get her up. It may be a good day to keep her home and let her sprawl on the couch and re-watch Happy Feet while her skin soaks up all the aloe gel it can handle.