If Heaven Was Made Out of Cheese...

It would taste like my new pizza recipe. I'm not bragging. I didn't invent cheese or pizza or heaven, but I experimented in the kitchen last night and come up with a recipe that so impressed the judges that an encore performance was requested.

I've been testing pizza dough recipes for a while. Some of them are basic and quick, some are complicated and time-consuming, but not one of them has been truly satisfactory. Then I heard my boss say that she puts oregano in her pizza dough, so I thought I'd give it a shot, except that I didn't have any oregano. But I do have Epicure's Pizza spice, which is super yummy but almost too much for my kids when I dusted the pizza with it. So here's the recipe I came up with.

1 cup of warm water (warmer than body temperature, but not hot)

1 pkg. or 2 tsp. of yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

2 1/2 cups white flour (or a 50/50 blend of white and whole wheat)

1 tsp. of pizza spices or dried oregano

1 tsp. of coarse salt

1/4 tsp. of cracked black pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/3 cup spicy red pepper spaghetti sauce

3 cups mozzarella or blend of cheeses

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to the lowest setting, then turn it off. Whisk together the flour, spices, salt and pepper. When the yeast is ready, add it and the olive oil to the flour mixture. Blend either with a fork or in your mixer with the dough hook. If using a fork, turn onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning so the entire ball is oily. Cover with a clean dish towel and place in the warmed oven for 30 minutes.

After the dough is risen, remove it from the oven and pre-heat to 400F. Roll the dough out and place on your pizza pan, pushing all the way out the edges and forming a crust. Then put on your toppings and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and brown.

The only think-ahead part of this recipe is the time the dough takes to rise, but I usually do the dishes or get my toppings ready. Both of my kids only like cheese, but this time I used the Classico Spicy Red Pepper sauce and I think it made the pizza. I also really like the pre-shredded cheese packages. Not only are they easy, but the blend of cheese is always something I would either never think of or wouldn't be available up here. Either way, you can use pretty much whatever cheese you have in your fridge.

Some other yummy toppings include:

1. Pesto (as the base), prosciutto, pine nuts, and bocconcini
2. Caramelized onions, portabella mushrooms, and sage with ricotta cheese and no sauce.
3. Back bacon (Canadian bacon), peppers, olives, and a little cheddar mixed in the the mozzarella.

The kids still pick everything off, but at least we enjoy our half of the pie. I love to eat, and I love to cook, so I'm going to start posting some of my favourite recipes. Not that I have time to make them...

Pixie Dust

I love this picture. I can't believe the sun hit the bubbles so perfectly, so precisely. Thank you, Nikon, for delectable digital wonder. Thank you, God, for the sun and for the precious gift of Felicity.

A Week of Firsts

This is how our week went:

Monday - Felicity spends the day at Grandma's. Xander spends the day trying to blacken his other eye. David spends the day wondering why God "blessed" him with a crazy wife. Hannah spends the day getting ready to launch her oldest child into the scholastic world. Also spends the day trying not to scream into the heavens "MY BABY!!!" or burst into tears. Fails miserably.

Tuesday - Hannah wakes up at the crack of dawn and spends way too long blow-drying then straightening her four-year-old's hair. Kicks herself several times for not buying Felicity a new backpack, and stresses to David several times the importance of a First Day picture. First Day pictures have to feel somewhat forced with the child looking blankly into the camera. Mission accomplished. Felicity cries when David drops her off, which Hannah hears over and over again from every parent who comes into the clinic. Xander also cries when David drops Felicity off, which Hannah hears over and over again every time she calls home. The day ends with Hannah trying to squeeze Felicity for information about her new school only to realize that the only answer she's going to get is "I don't remember". Like this:

me - Felicity, how was your first day of school?

F - I don't remember

me - Did you cry? (simple question to which I already know the answer)

F - I don't remember. Oh, yeah, I did, but then I didn't.

me - Did you have fun?

F - *shrugs her shoulders* shrugs her shoulders?? Did I blink and she turned 13???

me - who's in your class? any new kids?

F - I don't remember

Do you get where I'm going with this? That was the entirety of our conversation. I fed her pasta and put her to bed.

The rest of the week pretty much went like that. Work was insanely busy, plus I had to go in early every day so David was acting chauffeur for the week. Felicity was tired and Xander kept peeing everywhere (seriously) but we were getting into a groove. Then FRIDAY happened.

Now, I wasn't there, but picture in your mind the most epic tantrum you have ever seen your child throw. Now imagine you're in front of an audience of parents and teachers, and when your younger child sees how much fun your oldest child is having, decides to join in on the tantruming. That was the start of David's day, and it wasn't even 9 o'clock. I honestly could not believe it, especially since Felicity is not our tantrum thrower. That would Xander's job, Tantrum Thrower Extraordinaire, or at least that's what it says on his resume.

Anyway, David had her apologize to her teacher when he picked her up from school. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but we both felt she needs to know that her actions affected the people around her. We then talked to her that night and told her it was okay to be sad, but screaming was absolutely not okay. She seemed to understand, so hopefully next week will go more smoothly. Then she went off to Grandma's to end the week the way she'd started it, and I took a nap. A long nap, with Lilo & Stitch playing in the background, so I dreamt of Hawaii and Elvis. Could have been worse.

Here's a few pictures.

Felicity's first day of kindergarten:

Xander's first black eye:

I think the most surprising part of this whole week was the fact that this wasn't just hard on me or the kids, but David was really affected by watching his little girl head off into the world. We realize that she's a few decades away from truly leaving the nest, but we both felt that in some ways we're going to have to start letting her go. I think the hardest moment for David was on Wednesday. He'd gotten to school a little early so her teacher told him she can just go to the playground, and they would call the kids in for school. So he walked her over, gave her a kiss and off she went, on her own, into the sea of children. There was a moment where he couldn't see her, so he walked to the end of the fence and there she was, playing all by herself on the jungle gym. She wasn't worried or looking for him or anyone else. She was completely content and she was FINE. Which tells us that so far, we're doing okay.