When my nephew comes to stay with us he likes to stand in the big front window to watch the buses come up the hill. From this viewpoint he can also see a number of plastic owls perched amidst the turrets and gingerbread of the Victorian houses he calls "castles". I think the owls are there to keep the pigeons in check, but quite honestly, I'm not sure they're very effective. I found an antique owl cookie cutter recently, and thought it would be fun to bake owl shaped crackers with Jack when he came to stay with us last week. I used the cheese cracker recipe from Alana's The Homemade Pantry, and never looked back. They deliver big-time on the cheese flavor, are snappy and crisp, and you can bake them off at your convenience.
I baked half the crackers as owls, and then did the remaining half as teardrops. One word of advice, don't skimp on the quality of cheese you use here. It's where much of the flavor in these crackers comes from. I used a strong white cheddar cheese, but you can certainly use a good orange cheddar. Or branch out from cheddar altogether - you know a Gruyere version is going to be good. And it might take some experimenting, but a blue cheese version would be worth trying to get right.
A shot I took with my Land Camera of W! ayne rea ding and practicing the alphabet with Jack. It's hard to believe this is the same little guy.
Take a minute to have a look at Alana's book - it's lovely, and it has all sorts of recipes related to making everyday pantry items - toaster pastries, ketchup, mozzarella, instant oatmeal, peanut butter cups, and yogurt. You can find Alana here, and here, and I loved seeing this spotlight related to the making of her book cover.
Thanks for the inspiration A - hope to cross paths again soon.
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