My Heritage: Chippewa/Ojibwe Fry Bread Recipe!
My friend Laura and I have a decent amount of Native American in our ancestry (Ojibwe/Chippewa tribes for me, and Lakota for her), and we’ve both taken a pretty heavy interest in it. We were talking about how tasty fry bread was, and how we should figure out where to buy some, when we stopped and thought, “We can make that ourselves!” (Funny how it took that long to dawn on us.) It’s a super simple recipe, that doesn’t involve yeast, and we made them in about an hour (at the most.)
Without further ado, the recipe (modified from the first Chippewa recipe listed here):
You Will Need:
- 1 +1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 tsp. baking powder (or 1 tsp. baking soda and 2 tsp. cream of tartar)
- 1 egg (we used large)
- 1/2 cup warm milk (we used skim)
Also:
- 1/2 cup flour for kneading
- Enough cooking oil to be 1/2 in. deep in whatever sized skillet you are using to fry the bread.
How To:
We used an electric skillet and vegetable oil to fry them (I suspect that frying them in coconut oil would be tasty, too) so I started by filling it a 1/2 inch deep with oil and turning it to 400 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together well in a medium sized bowl. Beat egg separately and add to dry ingredients. Heat milk for 45 sec to a minute in the microwave and add slowly to the mixture.
Begin kneading in the bowl and once it seems a little more uniform, turn it out onto your “flour’d” kneading surface and knead for a minute or two.
Role the dough out until it is (ideally) 1/2 an inch thick. Ours was probably closer to 3/4 due to a crummy rolling pin, but they still cooked all the way through.
Once the dough is a uniform thickness, cut it into 2″ wide strips. Â A pizza cutter would be perfect for this, but we just used a steak knife. Then cut those strips into 3″ long pieces.
Next, put slices in the middle of the pieces (I didn’t know what the heck they meant by that, so Laura was knowledgable and kind enough to demonstrate) like so:
You are then ready to fry your bread! Place them in the oil carefully, and let them brown for a minute or two before turning and doing the same to the other side. Laura and I did two at a time so we could keep a better eye on them.
Your finished product should be biscuity and delicious! Fry bread is typically served with a berry sauce (wojapi) but we’re eating it plain, because it’s that good. 😀
Laura and I will be making more “heritage food” in the coming months, so expect more tasty posts!
-Sadia xoxo
Lightening Blonde Hair With Hydrogen Peroxide
My step mom asked me to lighten her hair with peroxide and baking soda when she saw how well mine turned out! I kept track of measurements this time, partly since I would be doing her whole head, and partly since my peroxide and baking soda lightening post got so much traffic—I figured y’all would appreciate a recipe. 🙂 I also added conditioner to the mixture this time to make it more creamy and easier to apply.
You will need:
- A small mixing bowl.
- A brush to apply the mixture. (I used a spongey craft paintbrush.)
Mix together:
- 6 tbsp Baking Soda
- 3 tbsp Hydrogen Peroxide
- 1 tbsp Conditioner (I used Suave with Almond & Shea Butter.)
I wound up using about two and a half batches for Tiff’s fairly thin, shoulder length, hair. I just mixed more as I needed it.
(Update 8/9/2012: In case you don’t make it down to the comments, Lisa shared a mishap she had while attempting this herself. “I’d like to warn anyone and everyone. Do not mix this in an enclosed container. I mixed it in a fruit smoothie blender. When I tried to take off the lid, it literally blew up. It made a huge POP and that stuff went everywhere. It was also very hot!!! Scared me so bad.” Whenever there’s a chemical reaction going on—in this case, what’s changing your hair color—there will often be a gas that leaves the mixture and can create pressure in a closed container. Be careful!)
Apply as you would any other hair dye/bleach. I started on the under side of her hair and worked my way toward her hairline doing small sections and paying close attention to her roots and the ends of her hair. We were using a barber’s cape, and placed an old towel on the floor below her to protect the rug, so I let the hair with the mixture applied hang down until Tiff’s whole head was finished. Then I wrapped it up in plastic wrap to avoid bleaching furniture or her shirt while she waited for her hair to process. We let it sit for an hour and did not apply heat. Do not to leave the mixture in for longer than an hour to avoid damaging your hair.Â
Cool Tip: I have heard that if you don’t do anything to it (no heat from flat irons, no hair dryers, etc.) for three days, your hair’s cuticle will seal up almost like new!
One more tip that I have to offer is to purchase some shampoo with a toner (like this one) in it that is made for blonde hair; this will keep it from getting too orange.
Here is a “Before & After” pic of Tiff’s hair:
I think it turned out super cute! Something about lightening up your hair—especially the strands framing your face—makes your whole look seem more summery and alive. 🙂
I also have a better photo of how my hair turned out from the lightening (plus my lovely sister on the left and sooper dooper boyfriend on the right):
Again, please share your own lightening endeavors, and give me some feedback!
-Dizzle
Creamy Garlic Tomato Bisque
Firstly, apparently (according to The Joy of Cooking) this isn’t technically a ‘bisque’ since it doesn’t have a seafood base, but that’s what the recipe calls it, so that’s what I’m calling it!
This recipe is from The Food Network’s website. I’ve been in a grilled cheese mood, and what goes better with grilled cheese than tomato soup??
Things I did differently than the recipe:
- I left the bacon out, I wasn’t in a bacon mood!
- I added about two tablespoons of olive oil to the veggies at the beginning, in addition to the butter—the flour was getting too sticky.
- The recipe calls for 40 oz. of chicken stock, but since I hate having excess I simply bought three 14 oz cans of chicken stock, putting me 2 oz. over what the recipe calls for.
- To make up for the extra chicken stock, I added a bit more heavy cream at the end, about 1/8 c extra.
- I also didn’t strain the puree, since I don’t mind chunky soups.
Forgot to add:Â
- I put two stalks of celery and two carrots in, instead of just one of each.
- I also added dried basil in place of the parsley that you’re supposed to simmer in it with the thyme and bay leaf.
What else I’d like to do differently next time:
- I think just two cloves of garlic would be plenty for this stew, it’s veeery rich and it took SO much effort to prepare them, haha. Thank goodness for eHow, or I’d never have known how in the first place.
- In place of the heavy whipping cream I might want to use fat free condensed milk for health reasons. 🙂
- Lastly, it wasn’t as tomato-y as I wanted, so an additional can or even half can of tomatoes would be perfect, I think!
I hope your endeavors are as tasty as mine were! 🙂 Here’s the final product, topped off with a couple grilled cheese sandwiches and a mini Coke!
