Favorite day of the week, hands down, would have to be Thursday. Back when Marissa was still alive and Michael Scott's shenanigans would make anyone blush, we instituted our Thursday TV night. Thus easily making Thursdays the highlight of our week.
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| Fresh dough |
What goes best with a night of classic American television? Pizza, of course. At some point along the way, we aquired a yummy recipe for a fresh and homemade pizza dough...and the rest is history.
When we weren't making our own pies, those early days saw boxes from typical delivery chains like Sir Pizza, Pizza Hut and Donato's; and even a few carry out orders from Brooklyn Pizza and Bellachino's. Those tastes steadily gave way to some of our favorite local standbys like Slice of Chicago, Mellow Mushroom and of course, Goodfella's. These days, we find ourselves testing the waters at some throwback establishments (namely Dominos) and at new joints (like Naked Pizza). But through it all...our homemade pizzas have stood the test of time.
Sure, some might say that we are pizza fiends. But we wouldn't be Jacob and Kristin without a Thursday night pizza and TV night. (Much like we wouldn't be Jacob and Kristin without our Saturday night America's Most Wanted viewings--but that's another story.)
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| Pre-bake |
Anyway--on this pleasantly perfect Thursday evening, I wanted to share our recipe for pizza dough. It's from Betty Crocker's Big Red 10th Edition Cookbook. Add whatever sauce and toppings you want...and the result? The most amazing pizza you will ever place in your mouth. Seriously.
Ingredients:
- 1 packet of fast rise yeast
- Half cup hot water
- 1 and a half cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
How to:
Mix hot water and yeast in mixing bowl. Add one cup of the flour, olive oil, salt and sugar. Mix until dough forms. Mixture will be sticky. Continue adding flour until the dough is pliable and smooth. (You may need to put down the spoon and begin kneading the dough.) Continue kneading dough. Set aside. Rub Crisco on inside of another mixing bowl. Place dough ball into Crisco bowl, rubbing it to get Crisco on sides of ball. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Punch down, re-cover and place in fridge for a few hours until ready to use. I typically will make this dough during my lunch break and it is ready to go when I am off work around 5.
Other pizza making tips:
- If you have one, use a pizza stone! They are GREAT! We use the medium round stones from Pampered Chef.
- Rub a pastry brush drenched in olive oil along the outer ring of your dough. Sprinkle any Italian seasoning or spice of your choice for an extra POP!
- Use GOOD mozzarella cheese.
- If your grocery store carries Boar's Head products, their pepperoni is the BEST!
- Add fresh minced garlic for a little, as Emeril says, BAM!
- Once your sauce and toppings are on, add some spices (sprinkle on some basil, oregano, rosemary, a dash of salt and a shake of pepper) and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake your pizza at 400 degrees for 15 or so minutes.
My youngest sister Kimberly turned 23 today. In an instant, my sisters and I became true stairsteps: ages 23, 24 and 25...well, until early April anyway. To this day, I still question my parents' sanity.
I took the opportunity to make a cake for today's celebration. Kim's favorite kind of cake is funfetti. You know, the pre-made Pillsbury cake mix. It is basically white cake, but the "funfetti" part is a bunch of colored sprinkles that bake into the dough and form a confetti like appearance inside the cake. It's basically a party in a box.
As for icing, she likes white. I prefer chocolate myself, but if the girl wanted white on white, she was going to get white on white.
Instead of simply using a cake mix and can of frosting, I decided to kick it up a notch. I tried two new (well, new to me anyway) recipes from my Joy of Cooking cookbook: White Cake and Seven Minute White Icing. I followed the basic cake recipe but added quite a few rainbow sprinkles to the batter to give it that Funfetti appearance.
All in all, the cake turned out pretty delish, despite not being as moist as I typically like my cakes. It had a heavier texture and reminded me more of a wedding cake. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
The icing was really sweet; kind of had a marshmallow creme kind of consistency. Maybe I didn't beat it as long as I should have. But it tasted great just the same!
Cakes are not one of my favorites when it comes to baking and sweet making, but it was nice to get into the kitchen for a little baking session. Happy 23rd Birthday, Kimberly!
Nothing says the holidays like baking. And no holiday baking is complete without a batch of homemade butter cookies and frosting!
I came across the most delicious recipe a few weeks ago and finally got to try it out earlier this week at my first Christmas party of the season! This recipe is perfect for a cookie press (if you're an avid cookie maker and you do not have a press...you need one!) or a great excuse to pull out the rolling pin and cookie cutters.
To make these yummy butter cookies, you simply need:
- 1 pound of Land O Lakes butter (four sticks/one package)--make sure the butter is softened to room temperature
- 1 stick of margarine (yes...this recipe calls for both margarine and butter...not the healthiest of cookies, but they sure are tasty!)--the margarine should be softened to room temperature as well
- 5 cups of four
- Dash of salt
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 3 teaspoons of vanilla
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once you have your ingredients, cream the sugar, salt, butter and margarine. Slowly add the flour and vanilla. I used my trusty KitchenAid mixer for this process, but you can just easily use a hand mixer or a spoon--up to you.
Once combined, either load the dough into the cookie press or roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin and use your cookie cutters in the dough. Place the cookies on the pan of your choice (I prefer using Pampered Chef baking stones when making cookies, but that's just me!) and pop into the oven.
Pressed cookies only take between five and seven minutes to bake (cut-outs take closer to ten minutes). Of course, the cook time really comes down to your oven and your cookie preference (soft or crispy). These cookies are good at either consistency if you ask me!
While the cookies are baking, whip up frosting using powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Place powdered sugar in a bowl and add milk at one tablespoon at a time until you reach a thick spreading consistency. At that point, add some vanilla and food coloring if you wish.
Warning: these cookies are super addictive! But I hope that they add to your holiday cheer.
