For a long time, I had been wondering about homemade tortillas. Seemed like it might be a lot of bother to make my own. After all, they are available in every grocery store…and aren’t those good enough?

But maybe good enough isn’t good enough! When I came across a tortilla press recently at Sur La Table, I could not resist. I brought it home and introduced it to my kitchen gradually, like a new family pet. It stayed on my counter for several days while I figured out what to do next.

Here’s what I can tell you. You don’t really need the tortilla press. Instead, you can use a rolling pin. But a tortilla press expedites the process tremendously, and helps make each one more uniform.

Plus it’s fun to use. And, it was that much more fun after I saw how much my family enjoyed the results, hot and fresh from the griddle.

The bottom line is – with or without a tortilla press – corn tortillas are better prepared in your own kitchen. Homemade, they have an incredibly addictive texture, and are ever so much more flavorful. The bonus is that you know exactly what’s in them, too.

The trickiest part of the entire process may have been deciding where to buy the masa harina, which is the special flour used for tortillas, made from hominy or dried corn kernels, and soaked in limewater. I’m using Bob’s Red Mill masa harina with good results, which I found at Arbor Farms in Ann Arbor, but you can find other brands in international food aisles all over town.

I served this batch of tortillas with my favorite Best Veggie Chili. I made them again the next day, just to have more for our Breakfast Tofu and Bean Burritos, too. Both times, they were unbelievably good.

Before these experiments, it sounded like it might be a lot of trouble to make our own tortillas. I was wrong. It’s really easy, and it’s worth the effort. And now I know.