Monday, September 3, 2012

Graham Crackers for Labor Day, California Parks

Bear sighting in Yosemite near El Capitan
The meadows at twilight

I thought I was safe, but when I turned to my right, I was facing a black bear! He scrambled onto a white, metallic cylinder, and tugged at locks, eager to get the treasures that lay inside it. I wondered if it had honey, which would have enticed Pooh. A sign over it read "Bear Trap". To think that the previous afternoon, I had spent two hours sorting all of my belongings (securing soap items and food in a bearproof locker) and taking every single item out of the car to avoid getting bear attacks--now, here I was willingly filming one! At the forty-five second mark, though, I switched the camera off and called it a day. We drove out, and left the rest of the gawking crowd which had increased by the minute. Most visitors wanted to see a wild animal up close, even if they didn't realize the dangers involved! 
  It was time to walk over to the base of El Capitan. The silver gray, largely smooth mountain loomed over our heads. At night, red lights shone on it, announcing the presence of climbers who were sleeping as they hung suspended on it.











History
Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister, invented graham crackers in 1829. He created them to be a health food, and they originally were made with unbleached wheat flour and wheat germ, and were barely sweetened. Nowadays, they are made with a lot of sugar and honey, and are often served as s'mores (a block of Hershey's chocolate served with a roasted marshmallow and sandwiched between two graham crackers).

Recipe

You can make the traditional square graham crackers, such as the recipe indicates:


I cut the dough with a mini teddy bear cutter to make a cookie similar to teddy grahams.




References




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