grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Willpower

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will•pow•er
n.
control of one’s impulses and actions; determination; self-control.

My definition of willpower…crossing the Brazos River at Waco with a giant, straight-from-the-oven, Poppa Rollo’s hamburger-onion-jalapeno pizza…THEN…buying three dozen, freshly-baked, apricot, apple and strawberry cream kolaches from The Czech Stop in West…THEN…driving 90 miles home to Dallas without taking one bite…

Willpower, not to be confused with…

in•san•i•ty
n.
extreme foolishness or irrationality.

talya

Musical Pairing:

“Those pizzas I ate were for medicinal purposes.” 
― Amy Neftzger

Cross the Brazos at Waco, Billy Walker

Homemade Fruit Roll-ups

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Fruit Roll-ups were a staple snack in our house when the kids were young. Fun for them and quick for me! Plus, I admit it, I liked to eat them too.

I recently tried my hand at making homemade fruit roll-ups. They were extremely easy, healthy and tasty.
Ingredients
3 cups strawberries (or whatever is on sale)
1 tablespoon honey (if your strawberries are sweet enough, no honey needed)

Method

Puree strawberries and honey in blender or food processor.
Cover cookie sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the fruit puree over the plastic, leaving space around the edges.
Bake at 170 degrees for 6-8 hours (depending on your oven). It takes a long time for the fruit to dry out, but don’t worry, the oven is not hot enough to melt the plastic wrap.
When dried and cooled (much like leather), peel the fruit away from the plastic and place it over a sheet of parchment paper. 
Cut the fruit and paper into strips and roll them up.  

Store in a plastic bag. They will not last long…

talya
Grace Grits & Gardening

Bacon Scallion Hoecakes

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Grace Grits and Gardening Hoe Cakes

Once upon a time as early as the mid-1700s, field hands used their flat hoe blades as a griddle, frying corn cakes over an open flame.  In the South, these cakes were known as hoecakes (commonly called johnny cakes elsewhere). 

As the daughter of a cotton farmer, I find this fascinating.

My husband and I recently made Bacon Scallion Hoecakes (as published by Garden & Gun). My cast iron skillet handed down from Nana proved perfect for the job and was much easier than trying to clean off my garden hoe. 

Get prepared for a seriously amazing dish…

Bacon Scallion Hoecakes 
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup bacon fat
1/3 cup sour cream (we substituted Mexican cream – it was great!)
2 eggs
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup finely chopped crisp bacon
canola oil with a bit of bacon fat

Method:

In a medium bowl, whisk together first five ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, water, fat, cream. Blend well then add eggs and mix until just combined. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix until a thick batter has formed. Do not over mix… Gently stir in onions and bacon. Again, do not over mix… Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Use an ice cream scoop to pour batter into pan.

 Cook as you would pancakes, frying on each side about 2 minutes. Add more oil as needed. 

grace grits and gardening

Makes 12-14.

Serve hoecakes with ribs, chicken, soup, etc. instead of cornbread, garlic bread or rolls. Or for breakfast or dessert, drizzle with honey or maple syrup and serve with powdered sugar and fruit. 

We served ours with collard greens and spicy grilled shrimp.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Delicious!

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!