I get to experience the end of the world few times a day. The beginning to the end usually involves me chasing a three year old around the house trying to get her to do things such as getting dressed, washing her hands or something else. Things that feels trivial to me and yet feel so completely unnecessary to a three year old. No matter how correct and calmly you try to handle the situation it usually ends with the equivalent of a nuclear meltdown.

When I was I kid, I was taught that it was a virtue to never ask for anything and always obey. You were supposed to wait until someone rewarded you for working hard and being humble. What a terrible lesson to teach a kid. You get almost nothing in life if you don’t push and ask for it. If you want something you gotta get up and grab it. I learned the hard way that this is not how things happen in real life and I still find it very difficult to ask for things though I have gotten better at it.

I am trying to keep this in mind when dealing with my daughters extended terrible twos. We need to get her extreme will and determination to a manageable level and yet we don’t want to kill it either. I don’t want her to be the quiet, polite kid standing in the corner. I want her to go after the things she wants in life.

How to do this is still an mystery to me. At the moment we are just trying to get through the day still retaining some sanity.

About the only thing sensible I managed to do last weekend was to make a good dinner. Interrupted about 5000 times with some demands from the little lady but I got there in the end (about an hour later than planned) and I think we only hit the end of the world 3 times in the process.

Tortillas in a tortilla warmer

I made breakfast burritos with home made tortillas. I usually use store bought tortillas. I simply don’t have time to make them from scratch. Sometimes though I indulge and make them and there is really nothing that beats them. I usually make them when I make breakfast burritos as it is the dish where you get the most effect out of them.

These aren’t healthy that is for sure. They use shortening (American hydrogenated vegetable oil) but it makes them so soft that I cannot imagine making it without them.

Flour tortillas

Adapted from Homesick Texan

310 gr flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 scooped tsp shortening (eg. Crisco)
175 ml of warm milk

Warm the milk. It shouldn’t be warmer than so that you can stick your finger in it without burning it.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the shortening and now slowly pour in the warm milk. Stir until it is mixed. Knead the dough for couple of minutes until it is firm and very soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for approx 20 minutes.

Break the dough into eight pieces and roll them into balls. Store them under a plastic wrap for approx. 10 minutes.

Roll the balls out into round tortillas approx 20+ cm in diameter. I usually use a small plate to make it round and then make one extra tortilla from all leftovers scraps. Make sure you keep couple pieces of the cuttings for testing the heat of the pan.

Right before turning

Heat a pan until it is very hot (highest temperature). Test if it is warm enough by trying to bake the leftover piece of the dough. Cook the tortillas about 20-30 seconds on each side. Usually perfect time to turn when it starts getting bubbly. I usually lower the heat a little after I have made the first couple of tortillas.

Tortilla

Shopping tip: The rumour has it you can buy Crisco shortening in Norway. The only location I heard was Meny in Jessheim but this was few years ago so I cannot say if this is still the case. If you get a hold of a jar, it lasts for ever. My jar is imported from the US.