Gypsy living creeps in from time to time out in our garden…
Gypsy living is hard, beautiful, lots of work, charming and fulfilling.
I grew up with (and still have) a grandma who cooks on a wooden stove.
By choice.
I follow the steps she takes to get her wood stove hot, roaring, then coals.
Graduated levels of twigs and wood to bring it up to flames.
Then perfect little sizes of wood to keep it going.
I use a mini stove, she has a full size.
The men in my family used to have weekends of wood cutting.
A true sport in our family.
Perfect piles and piles of fresh cut wood walls…
Lining the 100 steps down to my grandparents’ house.
They use a massive fireplace as well.
At my grandma’s house, keeping the wood stove burning all day is akin to breathing.
You have got to keep it hot, because once you let it cool down or burn out, you are done for.
Unless you are done cooking.
I carve out a whole hour to get my stove up to par before I even think about cooking on it.
A kettle of water let’s me know how hot we are getting.
A wonderful day for warm sips and cooking on the tiny stove.
It’s during such cooking, that a kettle of boiling water becomes a luxury.
A whole kettle of boiling water.
Lemon ginger…
Mmmmm.
Warm, spicy.
Lemoney.
Thank you kettle.
Oh yes, and black tea for Mister Lovee…
I wanted to make a really rustic simple sweet treat for Mister Lovee.
Chopped up some apples, and put them in a pot with butter and brown sugar.
Oh, and a dash of salt.
Desserts always need a little salt to enhance the flavors.
Smells soooo good.
Miles hides under the gypsy wagon.
He hadn’t done that since he was a baby.
I don’t know how he got in or out because he is so huge now.
The family enjoys, while…
I keep the flames going…
Time for some savory, while the apples cook.
Oh and, some tortilla making for sure!
Make sure the stove top is hot hot hot for tortilla making.
I used wheat flour for my tortillas.
Sometimes I use oat flour by grinding my own oats in the food processor.
I have only ever used standard large oats, and they work awesome.
And of course, you can use all purpose flour as well.
Want the recipe?
Okay, here you go.
Homemade Tortillas
2 cups flour (your choice of flour)
(plus 1 extra cup of flour for dusting and rolling)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
( I use extra virgin olive oil)
The trick to these turning out?
Don’t knead your dough like crazy.
Or at all.
It makes the dough too tough.
I just mix it all up with my hands until everything is nicely incorporated.
But I never knead after that.
Next trick?
Use plenty of flour for dusting your counter and rolling pin, with each tortilla.
This will let you roll a paper thin tortilla.
(Make your dough balls smaller than a golf ball)
Then simply place on a very hot griddle/pan, let bubbles form, then flip.
Put inside a towel, and keep going until you use all your dough.
You’ll get about 10 tortillas.
The scent of fresh tortillas on a hot stove, awesome.
So authentic.
The aroma…
Then, put your fave toppings on and munch.
Make quesadillas and more – whatever you want.
I opt for fresh tomatoes, avocados, lemon juice, beans and corn.
So crazy good.
So fresh and delicious.
Lovee wanted apples on one (okay 3) of his tortillas.
They actually tasted quite lovely.
Especially since the tortillas were wheat.
Warm apple wheat treats, and hot tea in the gypsy wagon.
Mister Lovee was beyond delighted when I took him away from chores to join me.
He was so happy, and really enjoyed himself.
Yay!
We both laughed at how far he’d have to go to find a woman making tortillas on a little stove outside.
I told him he was my only customer and had to pay up 😉
It was good fun.
A wonderful gypsy day.
Mister Lovee went off to play his bass for the evening…
While I enjoyed the scent of apricot branches burning in the stove, and the sun setting.
Not to mention the warmth from the little stove.
Perfect for a mild winter evening.
Perfect timing too, because the next day crazy rains swept in.
Which made me happy for a bed indoors as well 😉
Gypsy dreams abound!
Love, V
how wonderful that all sounds! i love your little stove!!!
love & blessings
~*~
I love all your gypsy stories 🙂 They make me smile. Such eye candy, too. My husband would think I had flipped my lid if I told him we were having gypsy day, but I would love it.
That stove is too cute. I went to visit a friend of mine in Canada once when it was very cold out.
His family owned a campground & they had little cabins too. The only heat in the cabin was a wood stove.
Boy, I woke up during the night & the fire had burned out. It was mighty cold. You almost have to set your alarm to go off periodically to keep the fire stoked.
Those tortillas look yummy. I just love avocados.
O.K. I have to mention the weather again.
It was just below zero, today we had freezing rain, tomorrow it’s supposed to be 50, Tue. 60, after that 20’s & single digits for a low. Mon. or Tue. we could have a thunderstorm.
What is going on???
It seems, from the comments on here, that the weather is just crazy everywhere!
Ohhh those tortillas look really scrumptious Vanessa. Nice for a meal and dessert! I like Mr. Lovee’s idea with the apples. YUMMO!
We really got blasted with the rain this weekend here in Phoenix too. I just enjoyed lounging around on Saturday made a cake and did some reading while listening to the sound we haven’t heard a lot of lately, glorious rain! I will be glad to have sun back in the next few days. Fickle I know! 😉
Vanessa, I love this post!!! How wonderful to be able to enjoy what seems to be simplicity, even though it takes lots of work, with your family!!! The homemade tortilla’s looks so yummy!!! I will for certain have to try them.
Hope your Gypsy Dreams were sweet🖤
~~Hugs,
Dena
Sounds like an enchanted afternoon! You live a very rich life Vanessa, Thank You for sharing it with me:)
Xo
Wonderful post!You took my imagination to a gypsy trip with you…and those homemade tortillas mmm…
Simply magical! (lovin’ that wee stove!)
Have a beautiful day!
Mimi
Seas Gypsy
it must be amazing to cook on a wood burning stove. the savory apples and tortillas looks so delicious!
Your photos are truly a feast for the eyes!
your blog makes me so happy! Thank you for sharing this wonderful, beautifully colorful and creative day.
Beautiful and inspiring post as always Miss. Vanessa! You have such an amazing aesthetic in all that you do!
Isn’t it funny how your olfactory senses can be enhanced even through a computer screen? I can smell the wood burning (oh how I love that smell – in a stove or fireplace, or campfire I mean, not a forest fire – just to clarify). The scent of the apples and the tortillas cooking are perceptable. What a delightful way to spend time doing what you love with who you love!
XOXOXO
Yay! This gypsy living bits are some of my favorite parts of your blog (well let’s face it I have lots of favorite parts, but they are definitely one of them!) and I was just talking with someone the other day about making homemade tortillas so I will most certainly be trying your recipe! I have been meaning to ask you when you start planting and watering things here? When should I start planting and taking care of my little seedlings? I didn’t start until really late last year so I don’t know when the proper time to do it is.
Vanessa! The last time I checked in you were inundated with wild animals charging around your garden like they owned the place…or wanted to. So how lovely for me to see you enjoying your spot of paradise. Which by the way, I thought of immediately when I read about those wild animals breaking in. Your spot must seem like an oasis in the desert. Your cooking outside on the wood stove must smell like heaven…if the wild animals are anywhere near and can smell…
Thanks for the tortilla tut. I will try these for sure. *smiles* Norma, x
How cool! Thanks for the tortila recipe.
Mmmmmm I can almost smell the fresh tortillas…love them!
Ahhhh! Everything looks so scrumptious, Vanessa.
I love food that has been cooked in the out of doors. There is just nothing like it. The tastes and aromas are heavenly. I always enjoyed it when our entire family would go up to the mountains and sleep in a tent (and a trailer) and cook on a griddle over an open fire…breakfast, lunch, and dinner…just nothing quite like it. Thank you for sharing the tortilla recipe too! The tortillas look amazing and the fillings you and Mr. Lovee both used looked equally divine.
XO
Miss Teresa
Those look delicious! We make our own oat flour too.
Really beautiful! I LOVE the copper kettles and lace table cloths 🖤 Thanks for the tortilla recipe ~ I’m going to try it soon.
Jill
Ohhhhh, yum! I have been wanting to try making my own tortillas and was looking for a good recipe! This should fit the bill perfectly! I wish I had space enough for a gypsy hideaway in my tiny little corner of this earth! 🙂 I think I would spend quite a bit of time in it!
Хвала за израду поузданог покушај да пружи објашњење за ово. ОÑећам Ñе веома робуÑтан отприлике то и желе да буду информиÑани више. Ðко је у реду, као што можете поÑтићи додатни интензивну мудроÑÑ‚, да ви миÑли те додатне поруке врло Ñличне овоме Ñа више информација? То може да буде изузетно кориÑно и кориÑно за мене и моје колеге.
I love your gypsy wagon, and the food looks amazing and delicious! I’ve been on an avocado kick for sure, and collecting lots of recipes on my Pinterest board. I don’t have a little stove to make homemade tortillas though…wonder if they could be cooked on a grill or on the firepit with an iron skillet? Hmmmm….you have my mind racing. Yay! 🙂
Dearest V, I am longing to come visit you in your little paradise. It all looks and sounds beautiful! I love how you’ve made the Gypsy wagon such a comfortable and charming place. And cooking outdoors on such a wonderful little stove too! Perfection.
Thanks for the good wishes about D. He is home and doing much better. Not out of the woods, but past the first hurdle. Much love to you and Mr. Lovee. xoxox
Your Grandmother still cooks on an old wooden stove…I love that and I love that you do too! What fun it must be out there beneath the sky cooking sweets and savories as the humming birds fly by “-O. My dad gave my sister one almost identical to yours and can you believe she painted it copper???EEEWWWWWWW!!!!! I was horrified as I’m sure you would be too!!!
Vanessa, I HEART you!!!!
Oh! That Mister Lovee of yours has cute knee caps…teehee!!!
Loved this! Some of my fav posts of yours are the gypsy wagon tales. It sounds like such fun. Thanks for bringing us along! See ya round the fire. Kathy in a very wet chicago
Love your gypsy liv’n!
Food looks delicious! You are inspiring me to get the wood stove out of storage and use it.
You make me want to go out and buy a wood cook stove. I make apples like that in a skillet.
The tortillas look wonderful.
We all need a gypsy wagon and a gypsy day.
Here we are just hoping no tordnadoes form today in the storms headed our way.
Venessa! I received your Magical package! I tweeted about it here: https://twitter.com/1newthing2day/status/296312203575971840
Thank you so much! I’m soooo excited! i am wearing the lovely socks and I feel so happy! 😀 They are very beautiful! I love all the post cards! They are truly beautiful!!! I thank you so much! I love your wood stove! Gypsy living looks wonderful! Love the tortilla recipe! I must give that a try! 😀 Thank you and have a glorious rest of the week!!!! 😀 Sprinkling some magic happy dust all over your blog! 😀 sprinkle…sprinkle….sprinkle! 😀
Oh Mi8ss Vanessa what wonrous treats you are serving and a wondrous post. It is good to see all the beautiful photos you snapped. I’ve been out of it for about a week and am just starting to get back on my feet (see my latest post). I still have a long way to go but I am getting there with help from my furry ones and family…It’s no fun to be sick.
Hope you all have been happy and healthy.
Beautiful post. Beautiful teacups. Your second photo actually caused my overactive brain to think I smelled woodsmoke!
I just made the tortillas tonight for dinner.
I used wheat flour & they were yummy!
Thanks for the recipe!
Does he know how lucky he is to have you?
Hmmmm???
Loved Miles squooshed under there.
What a romantic way to spend the day. LOVE your stove and beautiful copper pots and pans. Those tortillas look delicious. And what you filled them with…oh yum! Thank you for sharing the recipe. 🙂 xoxo
Oh i love those kettles! They are beautiful.
what a lovely story to go with your dinner…..love it. I’ll have to try some of those tortillas myself……
Wow wow wow…dreamy…you are amazing! 🙂
All of my senses woke up reading and seeing your splendid story…
Love and blessings,
– Irina