Sunday, January 25, 2009

Pizza


Mmmm . . . pizza!

Last year for Primary we interviewed each of the children for our birthday bulletin board. I didn't keep count, but I'm pretty sure about 50% or more of the kids said pizza was their favorite food. And, let's be honest, kids know what tastes good. Yeah, sometimes calamari, sushi, or escargot are appetizing, and sometimes, well . . . they're just "grown up food." Which isn't bad, I mean if I had to eat mac & cheese or pb&j all the time I'd go nuts. However, sometimes fancy food just doesn't make you feel good. Pizza always makes you feel good. Even cold. Even before (or for) breakfast.

That is good pizza is always good. See, for the first few years of our marriage I was not allowed to make homemade pizza because my first couple of tries were not so great (think doughy . . . or crunchy . . . or both--in the same pizza). The trick with pizza is the dough, and I was sucking at it, so for about 5 years we only had restaurant pizza, which is really good, but also less fun.

And then a couple of years ago, when I was a Young Women leader, we had a cooking activity, a pizza night. We made dinner pizza and dessert pizza. The advisor, Pauline Hansen, made this really great pizza dough, and since we were making recipe cards for all the girls, I made a couple extra for me. And I tried making the dough on my own. And it came out perfect. But since it could have been a fluke, I tried it again. And it worked again. And it worked every time.

Thank you, Pauline, I can now make homemade pizza!! And everyone likes it, especially the kids, who occasionally help me make it. And now you're family can like it, too:

Pizza Dough
(also good for scones, breadsticks, and Navajo tacos)

3 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup hot water

Mix ingredients in order listed. Use enough flour to make a soft dough that isn't sticky. Knead lightly for 4 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out dough on floured surface. Place on pizza pan. Add sauce and toppings and bake at 400 degrees until crust is brown and cheese is bubbly (10-15 minutes).

So, in case you were wondering why I'm always posting recipes, this story of the pizza is a good illustration of why. Early in our marriage I couldn't cook. I thought I was an okay cook, but after a couple of months (okay, probably in the first few days), it was discovered that most of what I cooked wasn't great. So, everything in my recipe box has come from trial and error, finding what works and what doesn't, what my husband, and now my kids like and what they don't, and learning new cooking techniques the hard way. I guess it's exciting to me now to be over the hump, so to speak, in learning to cook. I'm no longer just figuring out the basics. I can make pizza dough and have it work every time. And that inspires me to try exciting new things like Cake Balls, Fruit Salsa, or various varieties of pork, beef, and poultry that used to frighten me. So thanks for sticking with me as I share my many recipe finds.
PS If you want Adam's dessert pizza recipe, comment and I'll post it later in the week.

7 comments:

Colleen said...

That looks SO good. We made pizza yesterday, but I just bought a Boboli crust because I didn't want to deal with making it. It was good, but not great. I showed Pete this picture and he said, "that looks better than ours." I'll have to try your recipe!

Good job with the cooking by the way, you do make really yummy stuff now!

Suzy said...

Mmmm, thanks for the recipe. I've been trying a lot of dough recipes and haven't found one I really love. Can't wait to make pizza next week.

Woodstock Family said...

Thanks for the recipe, I've been needing a good pizza dough recipe! I'll try it tonight!

bladenfamily said...

Hey! Don't worry about mixing them up, I do it daily! Does Friday morning work for you? We have school tue and thurs and I know you have play group on wed. Maybe next monday? Or would you rather do an afternoon. My kids still nap until about 3 but we could do it after that.
p.s. I think you are a great cook! You find interesting things to make. I never would have tried Baked Alaska. I think I'd only heard of it from Annie!

bladenfamily said...

Me again. Or we could try at night with no children. Is that what you were thinking?

Crafty P said...

mmmm, that looks fabulous! i need a good recipe, but I need to know, do you really have to use margarine? I never buy it.

Suzy said...

Love the pizza dough recipe! We've had it a couple times and can't wait to have more.