Pick a Pizza, Win a Prize!

You can never have too much pizza. At least, I can’t.

I know it’s cliché, but pizza really has been one of my favorite foods since I was like, born. Maybe because it’s just so versatile, that you really could never exhaust all of your potential pizza options in one lifetime. Maybe because it’s also as much fun to make as it is to eat. On the heels of our recent pizza-making team effort, my boyfriend and I decided to try our hands at another pizza variety. We used the same crust recipe and the same sauce recipe, but this time let the sauce cook for a few hours in the crock pot.  We also switched up the toppings, like you do, and for this one, went with pepperoni and mushrooms, and used a mix of Havarti and mild cheddar cheese.

waiting to bake.

Oh yeah – and this time we also rolled out the dough much thinner, and made two thin-crust pizzas, instead of one giant extra thick and puffy one. Having not one, but two crusts made it into a little friendly pizza-making competition. We each rolled a dough, and topped it individually, and baked them, one at a time.

Pizza #1:

which is which?

Pizza #2:

and whose is whose?

So….can you guess which one is mine? Pizza #1 or Pizza #2? First person to comment on the post with the right answer gets a free Small Indulgences cookbook!  And no guessing if you already know – that means you, Steve. 😉

Go Team Pizza!

I was off yesterday (I love having Monday off – just saying), so in between laundry, yoga, and cleaning, I decided to make pizza dough. I hadn’t make pizza at home in a long time – probably not since pastry school, I reckon. So I thought I’d give it whirl. I used my favorite recipe from bread making class (which was also my favorite class). I had all the ingredients on hand luckily, including dry yeast. So, I made the dough, and put it aside to let it proof for about an hour, while I (reluctantly) finished my chores. When I came back to check on it, it had risen rather nicely.

perfectly proofed.

At this point, my boyfriend arrived home, and I shared with him the joy of the proofed pizza dough. We had a (slightly heated) debate about what to put on top, and it was at that point I realized I wasn’t very good at making sauce, while he apparently was. So, while he made the sauce, I rolled the dough onto the pizza stone.

just roll with it.

We always have an assortment of cheese in the house, but we really didn’t have any traditional pizza topping cheese. We did have a whole wheel of mild cheddar. So, he shredded some up, we put it in the oven, and then hovered around, hoping for the best.

pretty as a pizza.

It looked real nice. That was a good start. But how would it taste? I let him do the honors of slicing it. We each took a piece, and proceeded to chow down.

a little slice of love.

We ate the entire thing – the two of us. Let’s just say the teamwork paid off. And all we had to do was add one extra ingredient that we always have around the house – love.

Next time, we’ll share it, I promise. 😉

 

 

my dad hates cake.

So it’s Father’s Day. And I keep seeing all these other bakers and bakeries promoting their “Father’s Day Treats.” We’ll that’s just great– if your father actually likes the stuff. My dad, sadly, is not nor has ever been a dessert guy. So, today gives me no reason to bake “treats,” and due to my own father’s lack of a sweet tooth, I’m uninspired to bake treats for anyone else’s dad either.

Now, I don’t want to come off as a hater – I do still celebrate Father’s Day, and honor the life of my own sweet-toothless father, “Wild Bill,” as he was known in his younger days. Nor did I let this fact keep me from finding a way to do what I love most. I had to think “outside the box” on this one — the pizza box, in this case.

pizza for pops.

I said I was unmotivated to bake desserts – not bake. I’m never unmotivated to bake. I just had to explore other options. What can I bake, that’s not sweet, yet still fun to make and incorporates some level of creativity? Pizza! What man doesn’t like pizza? What person doesn’t like pizza? You know what they say – there’s no such thing as “bad” pizza. And by pizza, I mean pizza. But this was a pretty good pizza. The best I’ve ever had? No. But it was made with love, and love conquers all; thus my pizza conquers all, as logic would have it.

I have to be honest though – I did make this pizza pictured in this post for my dad, however it was for his birthday in April. I would have done the same for Father’s Day, however, I was 100% sure that Father’s Day was last Sunday. So sure, that I drove all the way to my parents house with a gift for my Dad, and gave it to him, at which time, neither of my parents cared to tell me that it was not Father’s Day. So now, I go back there today. I think they just wanted me to come over there twice. 😉

for the love of pizza!

I have found a brand new obsession: pizza. I don’t  mean eating it – as cliché as it sounds, if asked what food I couldn’t live without, I would answer pizza (with ice cream being a close second). So in a sense, I’ve always been obsessed with pizza in itself. But this is a whole new obsession; I’m embarking on a quest to make the best pizza I’ve ever had.

the future home of my pizza.

This is most likely going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve had some amazing pizza over the years: Tacconelli’s (so far still number 1), Mack & Manco’s, Lorenzo’s, heck even Pete’s Pizza down the street from my house is pretty freakin’ awesome.  And now I want to be among the ranks of the greats. It’s going to take time, a whole lot of precious time. It’s gonna take patience and time. But, I’ve got my eye on the prize, and there’s no turning back now. The first time my hand touched that pizza dough, I knew. It was like magic – sparks flew, my hands tingled, my eyes widened… it was fate. The universe had brought us together. I assembled that first pizza with love and care, and, although I was nervous as to how our first date would end, I felt confident and comfortable every step of the way. With some fresh mozzarella, parmesan, roasted garlic, and olive oil, into the oven it went. And, to my own surprise, the results were, well, impressive (even my instructor said so).

I really AM Italian!

With our first date going so well, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Mr. Pizza again. So 2 days later, I invited him to dinner, but this time, in my own kitchen.

hello, lover.

 

For this round, I added tomatoes, roasted garlic, peppers, mushrooms, goat cheese, and a drizzling of olive oil and basil. This was a really good pizza. (Note the size – I keep them mini, of course!)

It’s gonna be a long journey to the top, though. But what a ride. Care to join me?  😉