Happy Birthday Judy

 

A long time ago I promised my friend  Judy that I would make her some gluten-free Indian fry bread, because it was a treat she very much enjoys. I put it off for quite a while, but as her birthday was this month, I decided it was about time I honor my promise. 

So today Judy and Diane drove to Flown Piggies Farm for a little birthday lunch. Judy looked colorful in her flower laurels and she wore a sash that blinked on and off, announcing she is THE birthday girl. Darn right she is! I know the wee girl she used to be, long ago in Bavaria, would certainly love her future prospects. 

Her daughter Diane provided the birthday gal's pink Champagne Cake which was a heavenly delicacy enjoyed by all (and I forgot to bring out the ice cream, darn it!).

Hockey Pucks, pre-air frying

The week leading up to Judy's birthday celebration,   plenty of friends on hand to test out different gluten-free fry bread recipes.  The first batch was a fail - the fry bread batter was air-fried in my oven and... um... although my dear friends assured me the fry bread was tasty, they kindly omitted the fry bread texture wise were reminiscent of hockey pucks. 

The first batch being a failure, I channeled my inner Indigenous Auntie, settling on a recipe that seemed a little closer to my fry bread goal. The winning recipe was indeed, gluten-free, and it used both yeast and baking powder, and better yet, going full Navajo, this time the bread was deep fried. 

Ready to flip...

Flipped over, golden brown

A little history here: my introduction to Fry Bread was when I was a docent at the California State Indian Museum. The main food for the day was Fry Bread and I had a ball dishing up Indian Tacos for honored elders on their special day.
Fry bread is to Indigenous Peoples in the USA, as is soul food to African Americans, which is to say, making the best of something that was never really an honor in the first place. By that I mean, taking crap food you were given (in the case of fry bread, Indigenous people trapped on reservations were given salt, flour & oil, none of which was recognizable to them as food from their normal diet> They'd been promised meat, but didn't get any. They made the best of it and soon enough, Fry Bread - the only thing you can really make with what they were given - became a tradition. 

Behold, the Fry Bread Taco, piled high with ground
beef, black beans, lettuces, tomatoes, sour cream & more. 

Judy and Diane had tried their first Fry Bread at a Washington state Pow Wow and the fry bread tacos did indeed wow them. It was my pleasure today to serve up hot, fluffy-ish fry breads. Happy Birthday and many more to Judy, who is certainly an honored elder from another land.  

[Post Script: here is a link to a fateful 'Honored Elders Day' at the State Museum celebration back in the day. When the elders pouted a bit because some people decided Fry Bread Tacos weren't good for elders. HA! Fry bread, every once in a bit, does not kill anyone, and it does hit THE spot.  Fry Bread or not Fry Bread... that is the Question]