The Way to the Heart

The rains have found their way to our island farm. We snuck a few seeds in the ground just as the first drops hit the back of our neck, and said a little prayer for what we can reap in the upcoming months. Broccoli Raab tossed with fresh sausage, lots of garlic, breadcrumbs, and good pasta is always a winner at our place. A big bowl of borscht with beets from the garden and beef from a local farm is perfect on a cold winter night. French radishes dipped in butter and salt help us forget that we are in the middle of the rainy season. And lactino kale baked in a very hot oven become irresistable chips that go with anything. Food is such a pleasure in our home, and although our kids are not the most adventurous eaters, and if given the choice would definitely opt for anything with ketchup over a kale chip, they are happy to devour many healthy snacks that we make together.
A favorite treat in our house is homemade graham crackers. My oldest son, Gus, told me the other day in astonishment that he just discovered you could buy graham crackers! He admitted that he was given some as a snack at Summer camp, and although they were "really yummy" they were not as fun as ours that we make at home. Our homemade crackers are a staple in the kids' lunches, and have stirred a lot of interest for the recipe from teachers, parents, and other kids. So here you go, roll out some dough on a rainy day like today. Let your kitchen get messy with something you can eat instead of just the usual play dough. No matter how my kids abuse this dough with ridiculous sprinklings of flour "snow", or how ever many times they roll, cut and then roll again, these always taste great. Just make sure you dock the dough before it goes in the oven (prick it with a fork several times) to ensure the crackers bake evenly. Oh, and have the milk ready for dunking.

Graham Crackers
1 ½ C Flour
1 ¼ C Graham flour
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Cinnamon

¾ C Butter
1/3 C Sugar
¼ C Brown sugar
¼ C Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Egg

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat cold butter till soft. Add sugars then honey, vanilla, and finally egg. Continue to mix until egg is completely combined. Add dry ingredients to mixer and beat until fairly stiff dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thick. Cut into 3 inch squares and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until dark golden brown. Note: you can play around a bit with proportions in this recipe, for example I usually use more graham flour and a little less white flour.