Eighteen for 50 - Catching up, somewhat, on food

Two posts in one week was a delusion that I had.  How about no posts for two weeks instead?  

The weekend of the 15th/16th was spent going to the cabin, cleaning and hauling stuff home.  One more trip out there for E last Monday to do some more work (spiffing up the shed with paint and finishing cleaning it out), then the photographer was there Wednesday and by evening on Thursday, it was listed.  We've had a number of showings already, and inventory for similar places is very low, so hoping it sells soon.  It is a bittersweet parting - the cabin really has been a great deal of fun and we have a lot of great times there.  I can't wait to scrap book some cabin memories and also to see what comes next for us and our lake life.

We celebrated our 21st anniversary in true E and me style - quiet time at home with take out from a local restaurant. If it weren't for the stupid virus, this was when we would have been in Norway.  There is always another year for that, right?

I promised some recipes so let's get to a couple of those now. 

Recipe 17 - Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Veggies and Sausage

This was a recipe I pinned awhile back when all the recipes on Pinterest seemed to be sheet pan dinners - toss all this stuff on one pan and bake it.  I think this phase has peaked but there are a few of them that I liked and this was one I would definitely make again.  Ingredients were simple, just a little chopping for prep and then some really great flavor (more than I expected from the minimal ingredients).  We had ground Italian sausage instead of links which would have been easier to work with and it took a little searching to find shelf-stable gnocchi.  I had only ever had boiled gnocchi, but liked it crispy.  I may have slightly over-cooked so would not bake as long next time - gnocchi was a little tough).  It was not quite as good as leftovers but we would both definitely make/eat this recipe again. From a website called 12 Tomatoes, my comments in ( ) PLUS I don't have annoying ads popping up all over the place.

Ingredients:

1 (17.5 oz) package potato shelf-stable gnocchi (in pasta aisle)

1 orange bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 small red onion, cut into wedges (I used about 1/2 this amount and only put onions on one of the 2 pans, since E doesn't like them)

1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes - don't tell)

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 lb Italian sausage, sliced (mine was ground, no casings, so I made little bite size balls of meat)

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped (I didn't have fresh basil so sprinkled dried basil very liberally)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Spread out gnocchi, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and sausage on two rimmed baking sheets.

Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (and basil if using dried) and toss to coat gnocchi and veggies in the oil. (I found it easier to toss/coat in a bowl vs. on the pans.)

Spread ingredients out in a single layer and bake until beginning to brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove, stir and spread back out in a single layer, and return to oven until golden brown and tender, about 10 more minutes. (bake time too long - maybe go about 5 minutes more after stirring)

Toss with fresh basil, serve, and enjoy! (or sprinkle with dried basil before baking).

Recipe 18 - Thai Chicken Pizza

We used to have California Pizza Kitchen in this town and I LOVED their Thai chicken pizza.  Then again, I will eat almost anything that has peanut sauce in it.  Unfortunately, CPK in MG closed and I have been thinking of that pizza for years now. Most Sunday nights are pizza night at our house and we finally tried this recipe.  I forgot to get carrots, and E doesn't like/eat sprouts or onions so I didn't add those either. I had too little dough for the amount of sauce I made (to be fair, I don't make my dough to be measured in pounds and was not going to make 2 smaller pizzas, just one big one), and I forgot the cilantro.  I used rotisserie chicken so I didn't have to mess with cooking and chopping chicken.  Despite all those modifications, I thought it was pretty darn good.  E said his only complaint was that it didn't really seem like pizza. I would make this again, but use less sauce.  You can try my pizza dough recipe (I now cut recipe in half), a pre-made crust or any other crust you like.  Recipe is from Spicy Southern Kitchen website where she teases you with some amazing pizza dough recipe/technique but then never actually tells you how to make it (and the link to where you can supposedly learn it goes nowhere).

Ingredients:

for the spicy peanut sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon oyster sauce (I didn't have this so subbed another tbsp hoisin - could have skipped it all together)

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon olive oil (I didn't use because I had cooked chicken)

2 chicken breasts cut into 3/4-inch cubes (I used about 2 C chopped rotisserie chicken)

1 pound pizza dough (I used 1/2 of the crust recipe linked above

cornmeal (skipped this like I always do when using pizza stone)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

4 green onions, slivered diagonally (didn't add)

1/2 cup bean sprouts (didn't add)

1/3 cup shredded carrot (didn't add)

2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (forgot to chop them but it was okay)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (forgot to add)

Directions:

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees (or as high as your oven will go). (I used my normal 425 degrees that I always bake my pizza at and did not preheat the stone - it is easier to work with your dough if stone not hot)

To make Peanut Sauce, combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside. (Did NOT boil - it started to separate and get weird consistency so I called it good enough after it was heated and combined - it was delicious!)

Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan and cook chicken until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Place chicken in a bowl and toss with half of the peanut sauce. (Oh, whoops!  I just now see the part about tossing the chicken with some of the sauce - I just put all the sauce on the pizza)

Divide dough in half and shape each into a 9-inch round. (I made the usual pizza stone sized pizza - 12"? 14")

Coat a pizza peel lightly with cornmeal and place one pizza dough round on top. (nope - no pizza peel and no cornmeal, just rolled out the dough on stone). Spread 1/4 cup of sauce evenly on dough. (Maybe using 1/2 cup instead of the whole batch like I did would be better)

Cover sauce with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese.

Place half the chicken on top of the cheese followed by half the green onions, carrots, and bean sprouts. (or if only making 1 pizza - all the chicken, onions, carrots and sprouts if using)

Top with 1/4 cup mozzarella and half of the peanuts. (remaining cheese and all the peanuts)

Transfer pizza to pizza stone and bake 8 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden. (mine bakes longer because it is bigger and at lower heat)

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Repeat for second pizza.

Honestly, I feel like I should give you a whole new recipe - by the time I got done with all my revisions, the directions were probably super confusing.  I'll do better.

Cheesy caption, like "Thai it!  You'll like it!"

Until we eat again - I have 2 more recipes and 3 more books!

Hallie

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 21 (4 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 20

Blog posts published– 18

Miles walked in May - 39.63

             Miles walked year-to-date –213.6

Scrap book pages completed –19

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Fifteen for 50 - Vaccining and Cleaning

Daffodils - because we're all tired of seeing pics of vaccines

I know that vaccining is not a real word.  Just because I can say it and type it (though it does get the squiggly red line underneath it when I do) does not mean it is a word.  You don't need to tell me that the correct word is "vaccinating".  Vaccining rhymes better.  So there.

Vaccinations need a song.  If you know me, you know that I think everything should have a song.  I was trying "My Vaccination" to the tune of Carly Simon's "Anticipation" (aka "the ketchup commercial song" from back in the day).  "My Shot" from Hamilton was an easy idea - "I am not throwin' away my shot".  The Offspring "Come Out and Play" was in the running too - changing the line "You gotta keep 'em separated" to "You gotta get 'em vaccinated".  It's a work in progress.  Give me your suggestions (perhaps I'll get a playlist going!) and I'll keep you updated with any other brilliant lyrics I dream up.

I got my COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday and have spent a couple of days just sitting around making antibodies.  We drove to Fergus Falls (about 5 hours round trip) on Thursday, in the rain most of the way, to get the J&J vaccine.  E scored back to back appointments for us (apparently it helps to be awake and online at 1:30 AM) so we made the trip.  We wanted to get them sooner rather than later and had both the means and time to travel - luxuries that not everyone has.  There were snacks (thanks to my managers for a big box from Nuts.com a couple weeks ago) and beverages (iced tea for me, Arnie Palmer for E) on the road. I started reading him a new book to occupy the time (I am the living breathing audio book in our family) -  Montana 1948 by Larry Watson - a re-read for me.

The first 12 hours after the shot were smooth sailing - a little pain in the arm initially but I returned to work, helped interview a potential new hire, cleaned up my email and work inboxes and answered a few questions.  We had an easy dinner, watched a few episodes of TV (I was more than a little obsessed with finishing the final few episodes of Dexter this week), and E went grocery shopping after 10pm as he usually does.  Around that time, I started getting sleepy and then the aches began.  I slept fitfully, discomfort in joints and muscles most of the night, and woke up with a headache.  E reported feeling like he had been run over by a truck.  Friday was a head-achy muscle-achy day for me (E felt better earlier than I did) and I worked on what needed to be done with my co-workers but not much more.  That night, I woke up around midnight and was freezing.  Literally chattering my teeth and shivering to the point I had trouble pulling socks on because my hands were shaking so much.  I pictured myself like an old cartoon where Woody Woodpecker or Sylvester the Cat gets tossed in a freezer.  I put on 2 pairs of socks, flannel pants and a flannel button-down shirt over my nightgown.  It took about 15 minutes under the covers fully dressed before I warmed up enough to fall back asleep.  By morning I was fine and have been great since, but man!  Those antibodies sure must like it cold when they are building up their little army.

Besides making antibodies, I did a few other things this week.  Early in the week I walked, but not at all Thursday-Saturday.  I finished one little book, and started a new knitting project (red baby alpaca yarn for a large triangle scarf/smallish shawl). We finished Dexter so if you have been waiting to talk to me about it so as not to spoil it, I am ready for the discussion now.  All the rain has made the grass green up and the trees bud that intense lime green that kind of hurts your eyes.  The daffodils and forsythia have burst their yellow blooms in the front yard. I cleaned up my closet, putting the sweaters up top, bringing the shorts and capris where I can better reach (and am very happy to report that I have several warm weather clothes that fit me!).  The street sweeper has been by (if you are new to this blog, check out this post for more on why the street sweeper gets special mention).  Spring is here, I am vaccinated, and starting to feel cautiously optimistic. 

I have a post percolating in my brain about the pandemic, how social distancing works for me, and why I don't mind Zoom meetings or wearing real pants, but it isn't ready yet.  Instead, I will leave you with this limerick I am submitting the Minneapolis paper.  

The pandemic has brought out the memes,
With Fauci and shots as the themes.
I stick close to home,
And don't want to roam,
Socially distant like my introvert dreams.

Book 14

My one little book completed this week was Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace.  I read the first in the series earlier this year and enjoyed this one too.  As I read it, I wondered how many adventures today's children have.  I don't think too many get a chance to wander off up the big hill and into the woods with nothing but a picnic basket and their two friends who are also 9 years old.  Do we let kids explore anymore?  Discover new paths?  Make up imaginative stories or pretend to be the flying lady at the circus?  Be left alone at home to cook up grand experiments in the kitchen?  Moi, j'en doute.

Recipe 14 - Crusty Pizza Dough

I already have a pizza crust recipe that I have made nearly every week for about a year (except the 2 times I made the new cast iron deep dish crust), but saw this one in the instruction and recipe book that came with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and thought I would give it a try.  All the commas are theirs - I hear in my head the voice of Mr. Gavin, my 10th grade English teacher ("Comma crazy" he called me), and want to remove some of them but editing is not my forte. Also, the weird and persistent capitalization of the word "speed" is theirs - I did it just so I could call out how weird I thought it was.

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp if you have a jar of yeast like I do)

1 C warm water (105-115 degrees)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, oil and 2 1/2 C flour.  Attach bowl and dough hook (I was so excited to use the dough hook!) to the mixer.  Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 C at a time and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes (I probably could have used just 3 cups vs. the full 3 1/2).  Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down.

Brush 14" pizza pan with oil (or in my case, use 12" well-seasoned pizza stone and skip the oil). Sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings. Add toppings as desired.  Bake at 450 deg for 15-20 minutes.

I use BBQ sauce on the crust and also a drizzle over top of the cheese

We made BBQ meatball pizza (BBQ sauce and sliced pre-cooked meatballs, topped with mozzarella).  It ended up being perhaps a bit more crust than we are used to but it made a very sturdy crust that held up well and tasted good too.  I will try it again with my more saucy tomato sauce next time.

The crust, ready for its close up.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 14 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 14

Blog posts published– 15

Miles walked in April - 13.77 

               Miles walked year-to-date –142.73

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we eat or read again,

Hallie

Three for 50 - Possibility Everywhere

 

Recipes Two and Three

Two new-to-me recipes this week - Cast Iron Pan Pizza and Cheddar Scone Biscuits.  I should explain for those new to my blog that we eat a lot of pizza at my house, mostly home-made (or ho-made as we like to say) and since March 2020 we have been having pizza every Sunday night.  This week we broke from our usual crust (which you can find the recipe for multiple times on the blog but here is one link for it which also tells why we call it Ho-made) and tried a new one.  Adapted from this blog, we halved the recipe and topped it with marinara, turkey sausage crumbles, shredded mozzarella, and green and red peppers. I will tell you how I made the pizza. We liked it and will substitute for our regular pizza crust occasionally (maybe once a month).  Note that the dough needs to rest for at least 30-60 minutes so plan ahead.  

Cast Iron Pan Pizza - recipe as below makes one 10" pizza, which serves 2-3 people

3/4 C warm water (approx 105-110 deg F)

1/4 t dry active yeast (I buy jars of yeast vs. pkg because it is more versatile)

1 T olive oil

1/2 t kosher salt

2 C all purpose flour

1 T cornmeal

2T grated parmesan cheese

1/2 C marinara (we used part of a jar already open in fridge.  You could also use an 8 oz can of tomato sauce with 1 t Italian seasoning and 2 minced garlic cloves or any other sauce you like)

1 C shredded mozzarella

your choice of toppings - we used about 1 C Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles and about 1/2 pepper worth of diced red and green bell peppers

In a large bowl, add warm water and yeast.  Allow to sit for about 5 minutes to activate yeast.  Add olive oil, salt and flour - stir to combine.  Turn out on a floured surface and knead, adding a little flour if too sticky to handle.  It should be a little tacky but not sticky.  Knead until smooth and elastic (I kneaded about 20 times).  Put in zip top bag in fridge (next time would probablynot waste the plastic and would use a covered bowl) for at least 30-60 minutes or up to 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 525 F.  Sprinkle a 10" cast iron pan with a tablespoon of cornmeal.  Press dough into the pan, pressing it out towards the edges and up the sides as best as possible. Set stovetop to medium high and wait a few moments for pan to heat.  As pan and dough warm up, continue to press dough more evenly on bottom and up the sides to form the crust.  Cook a few more minutes until it starts to puff up and bubble slightly.  Remove from heat and use your fingers to create some slight divots in the dough.  Top with marinara, your toppings and mozzarella.  Sprinkle shredded parmesan along top edges of crust. Bake (in the pan) in oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and rust is golden brown. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before slicing.

We also like soup at hour house and I have other posts on that here and there and everywhere.  Biscuits go great with many soups and this week we had good old Chicken Noodle Soup with this new recipe.  This recipe also lead to a google search to figure out what the difference is between scones and biscuits - egg is the main difference apparently.  Not sure how this one is both a scone and a biscuit.  It came from a Penzey's catalog back when they still used to send paper catalogs chock-full of recipes and interesting articles about cooks.  These puffed up tall and were very tasty.

Cheddar Scone Biscuits - makes 24 small biscuits

2 C cake flour (all-purpose flour works fine as well and that is what I used)

4 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/8-1/4 t Cayenne pepper or smoked paprika, to taste (optional - I used 1/4 t Hungarian smoked paprika)

1 egg

1/2-3/4 C milk, divided

5 T butter

1 C grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 475.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne or paprika (I "sifted" with a wire whisk because Hallie does not sift). In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1/2 C of the milk.  Cut the butter into dry ingredients and blend until the mixture is pea-sized crumbles.(Recipe says easiest to use your fingers but I used my pastry blender because that is what I do for all biscuits.) Add the cheese and almost all of the egg/milk mixture, reserving about 1 T to brush on top of the biscuits.  Mix gently together until just combined but do not overmix or they will be tough.  Add the remaining milk if the dough is too dry (I added about a tablespoon).  

Roll or pat the dough to about 1 inch thick.  Cut into circles with a very small biscuit cutter (I used the smallest one I have which is about 2" diameter).  Brush scones with the reserved egg mix.  Bake at 475 on an ungreased heavy (or parchment-lined) baking sheet for about 10 minutes or until puffed up and lightly browned.  Watch carefully, as the size of the scone will determine how quickly they bake and at that temperature the bottoms can burn pretty quickly (mine took about 8 minutes).

Books One, Two and Three

I finished 3 books this week - off to the reading races!  Tuesday I finished a book club selection (the one I selected so I will need to review it later this month before attempting to lead discussion on 2/6) - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  This one had come up on multiple lists of classics you should read at sometime in your life and I am so glad I finally read it.  It is not without its challenges for readers, including all of the dialogue written in dialect, but once I got into the flow of that (yes, I may have been reading out loud at times), I found the story very engaging and it pulled me through quicker than I thought it woud.  It takes place in the late 1920s/early '30s in Florida and is the story of Janie, a fierce independent Black woman, her life and her three marriages.  The writing is lyrical and flowing, starting off with "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." The story is told in a circle - we know right away Janie is coming back from burying someone, that she had last been seen in town with someone named Tea Cake and that the whole town's tongues were wagging with stories of her.  She then tells her whole life story to her friend Pheoby and entrusts her friend to tell her story to others as she wishes - "You can tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause mah tongue is in mah friend's mouf."  I would highly recommend this book - there is a reason it is on so many reading lists.  There are important racial, feminist and class themes but also a love story and poetic prose.

Book 2 - started and finished within the week (a couple days of not being able to sleep after feeding the cats at 5am helped) was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.  Very different than Their Eyes and probably more widely read (or maybe you saw the movie), Wallflower is teen fiction told completely in letters from Charlie, a 15-16 year old, to an unnamed person he simply addresses as "Dear friend".  Comical, troubling and at times relatable, Charlie is a wallflower, encouraged by his friends and teachers to "participate" in life.  It takes place in the early 90s and Charlie is a little younger than I was then.  There are a lot of issues brought up in this book (rape, homosexuality, drug and alcohol use, various types of abuse, mental illness) though not gone into in depth.  I think this one gets tossed out there as the high school experience of an outsider but I could not always relate to many of the things going on.  I didn't attend parties in high school and did not observe many of the things Charlie saw or did.  I know when happened (and still do) but many parts were not at all my experience.  That said, it was a good story, kept my attention and I always love stories told in letters!

Book 3 - And now for something completely different!  No Children, No Pets by Marion Holland was a childhood favorite that I read this week while I ate lunch.  My copy was a first edition, published in 1956 and I have no idea where or when I got the book.  My guess would be from a garage sale and 2nd or 3rd grade.  The main storyline is 3 children (Jane, the oldest, is 12) and their widowed mother from Philadelphia who inherits an old apartment building in Florida when her great uncle dies.  The family and their cat Victoria show up at the apartment house to try to settle the estate, and find a sign posted "No Children, No Pets", a rather run-down building, needy and angry tenants, and a missing caretaker.  

I now remember why I read it many times when I was young.  Florida, the ocean, hurricanes, coconuts and seashells were all new to me as a child in the Midwest.  Visiting another place through reading is a great escape and great way to learn too.  It is a simple gentle story with elements of mystery and characters who we learn aren't always who they seem to be at first.  

I was planning to do a little more Hindsight 2020 but with 2 recipes and 3 book reviews, I will leave that for a future post.  I plan to highlight some of the books I read last year.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 3 (4 more started)

Recipes tried – 3

Blog posts published– 3

Miles walked in January –25.9

                Miles walked year-to-date –25.9

Scrap book pages completed –0

Hats donated – 0 (4 ready)

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read and eat again,

Hallie

Aren't You Hungry?

Eating: It's been awhile since I posted a recipe.  How about something you might never expect - Pizza Waffles.  If you are like us, you have a waffle maker but use it only once every couple of months, if that.  Why not branch out into something other than the usual breakfast waffles, perhaps something savory?

E discovered this recipe a few years ago while watching a TV show, I don't remember which one.  One of those local daytime talk shows. (Per further research, it was on KARE-11 TV.)  They had a guy, Ross Sveback, who was hosting some "Waffles Redefined" cooking shows around town, and demonstrated Pizza Waffles.  E quickly found the recipe on the website, printed it off and we have been making them ever since.  I may have been a bit obsessed with them early on and probably annoyed more than a couple friends with my incessant talk of "pizza waffles pizza waffles pizza waffles." Must say it 3 times fast - fun!  It is not a last minute supper idea since the batter needs to sit for 1 1/2 hours.  Also, plan ahead if you want to make the yummy fresh sauce.  We generally make it on the weekend.  In a pinch, E and I have used premade pizza sauce. Don't tell. If we do make the sauce below, we often substitute dried herbs for the fresh, just because we don't have fresh herbs on hand in the winter.

Pizza Waffles - recipe by Ross Sveback

Basic Yeast Batter
1 1/2 C milk
8 T butter
1/2 C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 1/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 t baking soda

Place milk and butter in a small pan over medium heat until the butter has melted.  In a liquid measuring cup, place the warm water, sugar and yeast.  Stir to combine and let sit for ten minutes.  Combine the flour and salt.  Add the milk/butter mixture.  Stir in the yeast mixture.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours.  The mixture will bubble.  Remove the plastic wrap and stir in eggs and baking soda.

For Pizza Waffles
1 1/2 C minced pepperoni (E and I use Canadian bacon because we prefer it)
1 C shredded Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnishing)
2/3 C fresh diced mozzarella cheese (we use shredded "unfresh" because that is what we have)
1 recipe Basic Yeast Batter

For the waffles, stir in pepperoni and cheeses into batter.  Pour batter into waffle iron and bake until brown.  Transfer onto a rack in the oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees to keep them crisp if necessary.  Serve with tomato-basil sauce (recipe below) and Parmesan cheese.

For Tomato-Basil Sauce
1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1/2 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
1 tsp oregano
8 basil leaves, minced
salt

Heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic.  Heat until it has softened.  Add tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme and oregano.  Cook slowly for 15 minutes to reduce the juices and infuse the flavors.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.

Photo is from the KARE-11 website.

Totally tasty and a great use of the waffle iron.  Try them and let me know what you think.

Until we eat again,
Hallie

P is for Pizza

Eating: This feels like a cheater post to me, because I have blogged about this before, but the first thing I thought of when creating my list of topics was, "P is for Pizza".  I love pizza, all kinds, but really like my own homemade 'za most of all.  We call it "ho-made" ever since seeing a sign in Door County, Wisconsin, for "ho-made" jam and laughing about the person who would call themselves a ho just for making jam.  We went through a phase last summer when we made pizza every Thursday for weeks, trying different toppings and flavors.  Our usual pizza is Canadian bacon (ham) and peppers (green, red or yellow bell, depending on what we have on hand) with a traditional red pizza sauce.  We also made sausage and pepper pizza (also with red sauce), Mexican pizza (with salsa instead of sauce and with taco meat, cheddar cheese and a little fresh cilantro), and barbecue chicken pizza (barbecue sauce instead of red sauce, and shredded or chopped cooked chicken, peppers, and if you like, onion).  But our favorite new discovery was Aloha Chicken Pizza which I have already given the recipe for.

Here's how I make my basic pizza.  I always use a pizza stone (Pampered Chef, though I supposed other kinds will work, too).  Some people make the dough in their bread machine, but I think that seems like it creates more work than it saves - I mix it by hand. 

Crust (from Betty Crocker, aka "Big Red") - this recipe is technically for 2 pizzas but we like our crust a little thicker so we use the recipe for one 14" pizza.
1 package yeast (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
2 1/2 C flour
2 Tbls olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (my 'secret' tip - when I am making for a red sauce pizza, I add a sprinkling of Italian seasoning into the crust mixture)
Combine yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and mix until yeast dissolves. Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes. Let rest 5 minutes. Roll out onto warmed pizza stone (or of course you can use another type of pizza pan or other flat pan - I always use my stone and I always preheat it with the oven when making this crust). 

Basic Red Pizza Sauce (also from Betty) - also technically for 2 pizzas but does not seem too saucy when used on one pizza.
1 eight-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced fine
(and my 'secret' ingredient - a bit of grated Parmesan)

Top with your favorite ingredients, and about 2 C grated mozzarella.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted/browned to your taste (we like ours medium brown) and crust is golden.

Yum.  I wish we had pizza on the menu tonight.

Until we eat again,
Hallie

Tattoos and Pizza

Reading: I will be reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish guy who wrote it (can't think of his name right now... I am sure it will come to me eventually, or I will actually look it up because it will bug me.  Anyway...).  I have resisted reading this book for a couple of reasons.  First off, it is popular and everywhere.  That almost always turns me off a book.  Ask me if I have ever read some of the other books that "everyone" has read.  Unless it was chosen for a bookclub selection, the answer will nearly always be "no". 
Secondly, it is not my style of book.  Nothing I have heard about it has endeared me to it or made me want to read it.  Mystery/thriller kind of genre, graphic sexual violence, long descriptions and lots of character
Third of all, I don't like tattoos.  And the title always gets the Fountains of Wayne song, 'Red Dragon Tattto" in my head and then I call the book "The Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo".  Look up the song.  It cracks me up.

Stieg Larsson.  That is his name. So anyway...

Why am I reading it?  Because one of the bookclubs wants to.  And bookclub is not all about reading only what I want to (as much as I try to sway people away from certain books...).  Maybe it will be a treasured read.  I didn't want to read Harry Potter and I ADORED that and became obsessed with the series.  I also did not want to read Twilight and HATED that and did not read any more after the first one.
We'll see.  I'll keep you posted.

Eating: When last we saw Hallie going off to cook, it was Aloha Chicken Pizza on the menu.  Did she make the pizza?  Did they enjoy it?  Will she share the recipe?  The answers are all "yes".
Aloha Chicken Pizza was truly delicious.  It may have bumped the previous favorite off the top of the list (though I must admit the top two are quite similar - the former #1 was BBQ chicken pizza).  It is a Pampered Chef recipe, though I have made my own tweaks (of course!).  First off, I made my own crust.  Second, I used rotisserie chicken instead of cooking and chopping chicken.  Thirdly, I made my own BBQ sauce.  And finally, we used green peppers instead of red, mostly because our red pepper plants barely produced one fruit, we haven't seen any at the farmers market, and the grocery store feels the need to charge up the wazoo for red peppers.  But I digress...  Here is the recipe.  Feel free to buy your own crust and BBQ sauce, and to cook your own chicken.
Aloha Chicken Pizza

Crust (from Betty Crocker, aka "Big Red") >>>>If you are using refrigerated pizza crust, it takes 2 of them.
1 package yeast (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
2 1/2 C flour
2 Tbls olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (Note: when I am making for a red sauce pizza, I add a sprinkling of Italian seasoning into the crust mixture)
Combine yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and mix until yeast dissolves.  Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes (don't ask me why 20).  Let rest 5 minutes.  Roll out onto warmed pizza stone (or of course you can use another type of pizza pan or other flat pan - I always use my stone and I always preheat it with the oven when making this crust). 

BBQ Sauce (from Pampered Chef Casual Cooking)
Cook 1/4 C finely chopped onion in 2 tsp vegetable oil over medium heat (I always skip this step because someone doesn't like onions - the sauce turns out fine without onions).
Stir together in medium saucepan:
1 1/2 C ketchup
3 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbls cider vinegar
1/2 C honey
2 Tbls BBQ seasoning mix (I use the Pampered Chef BBQ rub)
1 tsp prepared mustard
(You will end up with about 2 1/3 C BBQ sauce - you only need about 3/4 C for the pizza.  The rest will refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 weeks.)

To make the pizza (as I made it - we like a thicker crust so we use the pizza stone instead of a larger pan like a cookie sheet)
Preheat oven to 425F.  Roll crust onto warmed pizza stone.  Spread 1/2 to 3/4 C BBQ sauce onto crust.  Sprinkle 2 C shredded rotisserie chicken, and 2 C well-drained pineapple tidbits over pizza (you can of course use fresh pineapple instead - it calls for 1 medium pineapple).  Top with 2 C grated mozzarella and 1/2 of a red (or yellow or green) pepper, chopped.  Bake 20minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is to your desired melted-ness and color (I like mine to be golden brown.).  YUM!  We served with Blue Hawaii drinks but would also work with Mai Tais!

Weeding: Today is the day of my plant swap and garden party.  So of course it is raining.  Sprinkling on and off, in the 60s and cloudy.  Good thing we cleaned out the garage and picked up the house too!  When I started planning this, it was August, hot and sunny.  I was thinking of summery snacks and dessert, summery drinks.  Now we are baking apple crisp and warming some cider.  We'll swap in the garage if we need to and retire to house for refreshments.  I am still looking forward to it and already thinking how I will do it differently in the spring.  Ready to swap monarda, black-eyed Susans, lambs ear, and ajuga.  And could be persuaded to dig up a few others on request.

Until we weed again,
Hallie

Eating: The ratatouille was good.  I ate a bunch of it and froze 3 quart bags of it for later when I am craving summer veggies in the fall or winter.  I have another 1/2 an eggplant this week from the CSA (the other 1/2 goes to my in-laws) so am looking for another good eggplant recipe.
This is the recipe I used last week.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ratatouille/detail.aspx  The chopping took a while but I like to chop, so that was okay.  Left out the 'shrooms because I am not a huge fan and also because they didn't speak "summer" to me.  And I used fresh parsley instead of dried because I have some growing on the deck.

We are on a pizza kick this month.  I have made home-made pizza (or 'Ho-made' as we call it, after a sign we saw in Door County advertising ho-made jams) for a number of years.  Simple Betty Crocker crust and sauce recipe, to which we usually add Canadian bacon and sometimes peppers if we have some.  Bake on the pizza stone from Pampered Chef (of course!) until the cheese is brown and bubbly.  A couple weeks ago, we made the pizza and E added red pepper slices from the pepper he grew, harvested and sliced thin (he has mad knife skilz).  It was perfection.  The next week (happened to be a Thursday again), we decided to try a BBQ chicken 'za since we had some leftover rotisserie chicken.  I made the BBQ sauce (with a little help from Pampered Chef for recipe and the BBQ rub) while E shredded the chicken.  A little green pepper, some red onion (on my half) and then fresh cilantro (added after it came out of the oven - otherwise it is just little burnt leaves - ask me how I know).  So tasty!  The best one yet.  This week was a Mexican pizza - instead of the red sauce we used E's fresh blender salsa, topped it with leftover taco meat, "Mexican-blend" cheese, and peppers. Fresh cilantro and crushed tortilla chips on top after baking.  Also very tasty, but not quite up there with the BBQ chicken.  Thinking of more creative ideas for the next pizza - suggestions??

Reading: I finished A Wrinkle in Time. I didn't like it as much as I remembered liking it before.  I need to think about it a little more before I discuss it.  Good thing bookclub isn't coming up real soon. 
Now I am reading Rhoda: A Life in Stories by Ellen Gilchrist.  It is a good sized volume of short stories, some of which are autobiographical, starting when Rhoda is about 7 or 8, in the '40s.  Love Rhoda's attitude and spunk.  And Gilchrist's writing style is engaging and descriptive.  I really feel like I am getting to know this character and her family.
I still need to pick a book for the Saturday bookclub.  What shall I pick for a bookclub that doesn't usually read the selection? Hmmmm....

Weeding: Date for the plant swap has been set.  I am very excited for this!  Swapping plants with my friends, snacks and beverages (of course! Can there be a gathering with out food??), tours of my garden.  I am enjoying the planning stages for that.  Also in the planning stages: E and I are hoping to build the second raised veggie garden bed on Labor Day weekend, get it filled with compost and then leaves to "cook" over the winter and be ready for spring planting.  And the gi-normous stump will hopefully be getting removed soon so we can get going on that area behing the house (plans percolating in my brain, not yet on paper though - a hedge for privacy, a fire pit, seating in the secluded area in addition to the half-log bench E made from the trunk of the tree, expanding the plants to all sides of the area, maybe a small water feature like one of those fountains that bubbles up out of a large rock, etc., etc.).  I have dubbed this "stump garden". 

Time to go cut back some of those tall flower stems on the daylilies and tie back some flopping plants. 

Until next time, happy reading, eating and weeding!

Hello! did anyone miss me?

Reading: I had to return Hillary's book unfinished. Someday, perhaps, I will pick it up again. Since we were in Chicago this weekend and have been busy since then, the only thing I have read in the last week is a map.

Eating: We had some really good pizza in Chicago at Gino's East. It seems to be a chain, at least within Chicago. Yummy deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza. If you are ever in the Windy City, be sure to check it out. Speaking of the Windy City, did you know that nickname has nothing to do with the weather? Seems it refers to some blowhard politicians. I can't remember what they were campaigning for (maybe to get the World's Fair to be in Chicago?) but they talked and talked until finally the committee (or whoever) said, "Fine!" and let them have whatever it was they were asking for. Thus, the Windy City. I learned that on the audio tour we had at "Big John"--John Hancock Building, that is.

Gardening: Oh, how they wither and fade! Some of the plants are doing okay (the hanging geraniums, for example) but others, like the impatiens are not liking this dry dry weather. I got a few more berries on my strawberries, though someone, or something, ate them while I waited for them to fully ripen. Same thing always happens with my apple tree too.

Yesterday, I had a garage sale. Today, I am not. Tomorrow I will again. I didn't want to be out there alone today. I made $18.80 yesterday. Considering the most expensive item I sold was $2, I would say that is not too bad. I am just glad to be rid of some of this stuff!

Today, I am painting. Over the weekend, we purchased bookshelves, CD shelves and a TV stand (they call it a TV bench) at Ikea. There are 5 bookcases, including a corner unit so it will fill up the area in our TV room downstairs where there was a hodge-podge, mismatch of shelves and other things to store our books, games, CDs and videos. So Monday, I took all the stuff out of the old shelves. Then we decided we should paint that wall now, before we get all the shelves in there. It has never been painted since we moved in and is kind of scuffed and scribbled and dirty from the previous owners. So Tuesday I painted the slanty wall under the stairs and that night, we moved the other shelves out of the area. Wednesday I was busy with garage sale stuff, Thursday was the sale. So today, I will paint that area. Hopefully then over the weekend, we can set up the shelves and fill them. We will paint the rest of the room later. I always love how these projects multiply.

Reading: No reading this weekend. Proceed to "Gardening" to find out why.

Eating: Home-made (or "Ho-made" as they say in Door County WI) Pizza. Betty Crocker once again! Crust: disolve 1 pkg yeast in 1 C. warm water. Stir in 2 1/2 C. flour, 2 T. olive oil, 1 t. sugar and 1 t. salt. Also I like to sprinkle in a little Italian Seasoning (I have some from Pampered Chef but I think other companies make it too). Beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let it rest after the beating for 5 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven and pizza stone (you do have a pizza stone, don't you?) to 425 degrees. Knead dough slightly and roll out onto pizza stone. Sauce: 1 can tomato sauce (the little one, however many ounces that is) mixed with 2 T. Italian Seasoning. Top with your favorite toppings and lots of mozzarella. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. Yum!

Gardening: We spent all day Saturday (10am until 9pm) outside working. Eric hauled another load of rocks to the compost/yard waste site. We removed the top layer of sand/clay from along the house, between driveway and steps. We "garden clawed" the compacted soil and removed stray stones. We weeded. We purchased and planted 3 shrubs (2 Ivory Halo Dogwood and 1 Bird's Nest Spruce). We topped it all off with good black dirt. We watered. We purchased and placed 5 bags of cypress mulch. Eric covered the remaining pile of dirt with tarps (it was supposed to rain). We took much needed showers and collapsed into bed.

Sunday, we went to a movie.