Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 2

Cold Fermented Pizza Dough

Can a person ever have too many pizza dough recipes? Um, no. So, here's another of our favorites. It's cold fermented, which means it needs some time to rest in the fridge before it's pliable. I rather like making the dough on Wednesday or Thursday, punching it down once, and being able to take it out of the fridge on Friday for pizza night. It makes for a quick dinner (that NO ONE complains about), and the crust is so chewy and crunchy and perfect. Awesome for individual pizzas or a couple of l...

Twenty-Seven Going on Elderly

The old man out to do what he does best: EAT.It's that time of year when the birthdays come raining down in a deluge of celebrations, presents, cake, and well-wishes. Kicking off the birthdays in our family is Stoney. Yes, Stoney is a horse, but he is as good as any family member worth honoring. Not exactly one of my children, more than a companion animal, a special sort of friend who has never said a word to me... and such an important presence in my life. See why Stoney is so exceptional? He st...

How I Caught a Bullfrog

This is the story of how, after decades of waiting, I finally caught a bullfrog. For anyone who knows even the most basic of things about me knows that I am an avid animal lover. It's written in my genetic code or something, because animals have always been fascinating--I can't get enough of studying them, holding them, learning about them, drawing them... But why a bullfrog? Catching one has been on my bucket list since I was a kid. I don't remember how old I was or where I was visiting with my...

The Sparrow

It didn't take long for Covid to throw off a lot of things about life. Some of it wasn't so great (I'm looking at you, toilet paper and hand soap shortages), but for our family, there were some memorable moments that we remember fondly. Like, Jack's Covid beard. Jack's beard was spawned from not needing to go into the office for several weeks on end, which extended to an indefinite remote working situation. Why shave when you don't have to? To say Jack can grow facial hair is a gross understateme...

Thoroughly Reminded

Happy Easter from the Eliker clan!After a few weeks of cold, chilly, rainy (and tornado-y) weather, we were blessed to wake up to a beautiful Easter morning with sunshine and balmy temperatures. As usual, we were torn out of bed earlier than we might have otherwise chosen to get up by the shrieking insistence of overexcited children ready to find their baskets. Basically, their goal was to eat candy for breakfast. It's a rare, occasional treat, so I obliged once everyone ferreted out their candy...

Honey Pie

I wanted to make a treat to share with the family, and though I love chocolate chip cookies and rice crispy squares as much as the next sweet tooth, I wanted to try something new. I fortuitously stumbled across honey pie and made it for pie day on March 14th. It was as delicious as you'd think, especially since I used our own honey. Delicious (try it with a dab of homemade whipped topping to take it to the next level)!
Ingredients:One homemade or store-bought refrigerated pie crust2 cup milk1 cup...

Thanks for the Memories, St. Louis!

Spring break and Jack's work trips don't always coincide, but when they do, we try to take advantage of the opportunity. This time, Jack had a conference in St. Louis, and we decided it would be fun to join him for a day trip to see a city that the older girls don't remember visiting and most of our children had never been to at all, save for an occasional drive through on our way back to Nebraska. For me, St. Louis is nostalgic. My dad grew up there, and we'd visited some of his family members w...

Green Cabbage Noodle Stir Fry

On my continuing quest to expand my culinary horizons (and thus avoid the dreaded dinner rut), I stumbled across this recipe. Not only is it simple, it's hearty, filling, satisfying, and quick. It delivered a punch even though I held back on the spice, and I love when a dish has everything from noodles to veggies, and with some pre-cooked shredded chicken, it also has plenty of protein. It's an all-in-one dinner that I'm keeping the recipe for.
Ingredients:Sauce1/2 cup soy sauce (I used reduced s...

Buttery Garlic Naan

We have long been a fan of Indian food, and I'm not exactly sure why we hadn't tried making naan before... maybe the thought of needing a tandoori oven scared me? Turns out, it isn't entirely necessary. With a griddle, these DELICIOUS flat breads cook up in just a couple of minutes and go so good with pad thai or coconut curry noodle soup. YUM.

Ingredients: Dough 1/4 cup warm water2 teaspoons granulated sugar1 1/2 teaspoons yeast3/4 cup warm milk3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or plain yogurt1/4 cup veg...

Strawberry Crumb Muffins

Once or twice a week, we enjoy muffins as a side dish to our dinners. There are so many variations, tons of ways to make them healthy/healthier, and they make a quick breakfast the next morning. We stumbled across these while trying to clean out our freezer in preparation for the upcoming growing season. We realized we had tons of strawberries left, and after making jam, desserts, fruit salads, etc with them, we needed a different way to use the delicious strawberries we had. This recipe was def...