I over heard the cutest conversation at the super market this week. Two young women, clearly grocery shopping newbies; they were pushing their grocery carts side by side down the cookie and cracker aisle oblivious to how much room they were taking up. As I tried to maneuver by them, one said to the other, “how do they make crackers?”

“Oh, they just cut thin toast into little shapes.”

Apparently, this made perfect sense to her friend who replied, “cool” as she reached for a box of Ritz.

Now that we’re back in the city for the winter, we’ll entertain a lot more than we do at the farm. Visits there involve over-night stays because of how far away we are. In the city, folks can walk, take a cab or drive themselves. It makes entertaining easier which, in turn, causes me to entertain more. I’m getting away from doing the big dinner party scene. I don’t have the time to cook all day. Instead, I prefer to serve small plates or trays of appetizers. One of my new favorites is Chef Dan Barber’s one-ingredient whole grain crackers. I found the recipe in Food52’s Genius Recipes cook book. It couldn’t be easier. You just boil up some whole grain, I chose farro, then give it a whiz in your food processor, spread it out on a baking sheet and fire it in the oven for a couple of hours. Given my addiction to beautiful salt, I sprinkled my mushy grains with Maldon sea salt flakes and, for addition texture and taste, some sesame seeds. After they’ve cooled, you break the large cracker into different size pieces and you’ve got yourself some delicious, rustic looking crackers for dipping into a creamy dip.

One-Ingredient Whole Grain Crackers adapted from Food52 Genius Recipes

• 1 cup dried farro
• water
• 1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

THE STEPS:

1. Preheat oven to 300*F
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment
3. Cook farro until tender according to manufacturer’s instructions then drain
4. Scrape the cooked farro into the bowl of your food processor.
5. Whiz until pureed. If the farro is too thick, add a little water.
6. Spread the farro puree over the surface of the baking sheet.
7. Spray the top of the farro with a little food release spray, place a layer of parchment paper over the top of the farro and, using your hands, push the farro out as thin as you can. Remove the top piece of parchment and discard.
8. Place in the lower third of your oven for 2 hours.
9. Remove from oven to a cooling rack.
10. When completely cooled, break into random size crackers.

THE LOVE: These crackers have no shelf life so eat them at one sitting.