In just a few weeks, summer will  be in full swing.School will be out and summer  camps, swimming parties and sleepovers will begin. As a child ,my siblings and I always spent part of our summer break with our grandparents and that meant antics with the cousins, evenings in the back yard gazing at the stars and of course, family dinners. Flour tortillas, made daily, were served with every meal and younger women learned the art of kneading and rolling from the older women.

Here are four generations of women in our family (circa 1984). On the left is my Mom ,Sarah, holding Karah. I stand behind pig-tailed Kala and Grandma Dora is on the right. Her kitchen was the center of the home and where I learned that food has the power to pull people together.

Fast forward 25+ years. Kala is no longer wearing pigtails but holding her baby girl, Ava ,who was 18 months old when we started teaching her how to maneuver around the kitchen.

Ingredients

4 ½ c. flour

2 t. baking powder

2 1/2 t. salt

1 c. shortening

1 c. hot water

Just a few weeks ago she had her first experience with a rolling pin.

Step 1

Place all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add hot water slowly and knead  to make a large dough ball.

Pinch off pieces almost the size of golf balls and create small dough balls. Click here to see a video of this process.Lay each piece on the counter and roll back and forth, then lift, make a 1/4 turn, lay on the counter and repeat 2-3 times until your raw tortilla is more or less round (this takes practice) and no thicker than 1/4 in.

Place on a preheated griddle and cook on either side until light to medium brown spots are visible.

Ideally, you should cool them on a rack. When they're completely cooled off, you  can store them in a large ziploc bag and they won't stick to each other.

Food=family and family =love

I'm a fan of  traditions. They make people  feel safe because they are reminders of WHOSE we are. You can leave your Fingerprint on the lives of others by keeping traditions alive with your biological family, a neighborhood  or workplace family. The important thing is to give life to traditions that create memories of love, laughter and truth.