Pizza Pizzaz!

Hey all! So I've been getting into the cooking mode, after I bought Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman Cookbook (I love her! And the recipes are scrumptious and easily doable, especially for poseurs amateurs in the cooking department like yours truly).

To date, I've tried 18 of the recipes in her book (I've also tried her recipes found in her blog but not included in her cookbook). This woman is my hero (next to my mom, my sister, and my mom-in-law) ;)

So. Pizza.

I've never made pizza--homemade pizza--in my life before PWC (Pioneer Woman Cooks, get it?). I have used to have a deathly fear of anything that says dough and use active dry yeast. I mean, when I hear yeast, I think infection. Ok, sorry, grossing you out.

*clears throat

Back to Pizza. This is simply a no-brain-cells-needed, use-whatever-topping, and kid-approved pizza ever. And it's all because of the crust.

PIZZA CRUST

1 tsp or 1/2 packet active dry yeast (do not be afraid of dry yeast, people!)
4 cups all-purpose flour (if you're a health nut, I'd assume using whole wheat flour is okay, but since I'm not a health nut and therefore have never substituted any other kind of flour in lieu of all-purpose, I can't say if it's any good. But hey, experiment people! You just might discover something wonderful)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

See? 4 ingredients. How easy is that?

1. Pour 1-1/2 cups warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water.

How warm should the water be? Well, honestly, I don't really know. The first time I did this, I got extra cuckoo in the head, wishing I had a thermometer. I know, I know. Kooky, that's me. But with a shrug, and a what-the-heck, I turned the faucet to warmish hot, but not all the way hot, and settled for that. It worked great.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. With an electric mixer on low speed, drizzle in the olive oil.
4. Go back to your yeast mixture and gently stir it, then drizzle into the flour-oil mixture; mix until the dough forms into a ball. Pioneer Woman says you can also mix by hand until the dough comes together. I have carpal tunnel syndrome so I used the mixer.
5. Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl and toss your ball of dough in it, turning it over to coat in oil. Don't go overboard with the oil, just a little drizzle will do nicely.
6. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm place (not drafty) for 1 to 2 hours. (Or cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for up to 2 days).

This is the fun part where you pretend its magic and the kids ooh and aah over the dough being three times bigger than it was before.

And that's it, my good people who-are-kind-enough-to-read-my blog, you've got PIZZA DOUGH.

To make the pizza, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Divide the dough in half. Grab a cookie sheet or rimmed baking sheet or a pizza pan (whatever you have hiding in your drawers...er, kitchen drawers). Lightly drizzle olive oil on the pan. Plop that dough in the middle and start stretching (not you, the dough!) using your fingers. Press, press, press.

I usually use a plain cookie sheet (one that can stand up to 500 degrees F) and just press and stretch that dough to fit the whole pan. So I end up with a rectangular pizza, but I'm not much for accurate geometry. You are most welcome to make a circle if that's what you please. Heck, if you really really really are in the mood for some kookiness, you can shape it any way you want (like oddly-shaped pancakes the kids ask for on Sunday mornings), as long as you get the dough nice and thin. Thin crust is great, baby!

And then. And then, the moment of truth. Toppings!

Go crazy. Whatever satisfies your palate, I grant you permission. For my version, because my dear hubby is unkooky like me, I used store bought Pizza sauce (Ragu), pepperoni, mozarella cheese (not the grated ones; I got me a fresh one and I grated it myself. Makes a world of difference!), and diced green olives. The kids are all about plain sauce and cheese, and maybe a little bit of pepperoni. (Seriously, I need to get my gene pool checked. No adventure-seeking eaters here. *pout*)

Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes, until the edges turn into that yummy golden brown color.

Voila! You just made yourself a fresh, homemade pizza. Forget delivery, forget frozen freezer-burned versions. Grab some drinks. Line up your complete 1st, 2nd, and 3rd season Mad Men DVDs, and let the night roll away.

Someone obviously couldn't resist.

I was on H-I-A-T-U-S

This blog is not abandoned. I was on hiatus. Or, in other words:

( )I was too lazy to write.
( )I was too busy to write.
( )I was watching Lady Belle and Count Cannonball grow up.
( )I was in Cooking Mama mode (no, not the DS game), whipping up delectable, delicious, delightful gastronomical fares for my crew.
( )I was learning how to get into the Cooking Mama mode.
( )I was expanding my braincell-starved brain by diving into the well of imagined characters, settings, and scenarios; in other (plainer) words, I was reading books.
( )I was trying not to ignore the pile of dirty laundry crying "Wash Me!", or the pile of dirty dishes saying, "Scrub Me!", or...well, you get the idea.
( )I was living life and not missing one second of it.
( )All of the above.

Earnestly Praying

...for the people of Japan. My sis-in-law's family lives there. As far as I know they are currently safe. But with the magnitude of the disaster the whole country is facing, safe is a relative word.

Images here.

Oh Croup!

No, I didn't misspell 'crap'. Though I must say the two could be synonymous, in my world at least. As much as I was relieved to find that my little Count Cannonball did not have the swine flue (yay!), the *croup diagnosis was no cause for celebration (boo!). Add ear infection to the equation, and Voila! Instant crappy, sleep-deprivating, vomit-laden situation with a side of unending crankies.

True, I should be grateful it is not life-threatening.

True, I should be grateful it didn't turn into *RSV.

Still, after 3 days...or wait, is it 4?...of lugging my sweet 35-pounder up and down the stairs, of having only 2-hour increments of disrupted sleep, of having my ear drums beaten to an unrecognizable pulp (he has strong lungs, which is a good thing says the doc), of patiently waiting for his fits to subside while I kept myself from screaming and tearing my hair apart--

You can tell it's been a loooong 3 days (or 4; I don't know anymore). The dirty dishes scream 'Wash me!' in the sink, while piles of washed laundry wilt and wrinkle on the couch, silently bemoaning their forgotten state. See? See what I mean--my brain has ceased to function as evidenced by the purple prose written above.

So not good.

What's a mom to do? Even worse, what's a writer to do? Ah croup!


*croup: Accdg. to KidsHealth.org, Croup is a condition that causes an inflammation of the upper airways — the voice box (larynx) and windpipe (trachea). It often leads to a barking cough or hoarseness, especially when a child cries.

Most cases of croup are caused by viruses. Those involved are usually parainfluenza virus (which accounts for most cases), adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Croup is most common — and symptoms are most severe — in children 6 months to 3 years old, but can affect older kids, too.

*RSV:Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes infection of the lungs and breathing passages, is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children.

Embrace Life

Can't resist. I've got to post this. We all need to be reminded.



Embrace life. Please.

I really should...

...try to blog more often, but with only 24 hours in a day, and 8 of that spent sleeping (I wish!), there's only so much that one can do in 16 hours. Right? Right!

Since I've got one sick kid (poor Count Cannonball) at the moment, thought I'd let you guys amuse yourselves with this:



In two days' time, I assure you that song will be stuck in your head. Happy ticking! BTW, this is my little cannonball's fave...erm...puppet show. Thank heavens he doesn't understand why Dumbledore shows up naked later on. I won't have to explain that one for many years to come (I hope!).

Enjoy!

Dear Lucky Agent

For you writers out there--wait, let me make that, desperate aspiring writers--here's a contest that'll get you to quit your love affair with your bourbon, or whiskey, or heck, I don't know what you people drink.

For YA and Middle Grade only, here's the contest info:

BTW, this is from Chuck Sambuchino (an awesome guy--no, I haven't met him in person, but his pic looks cool!;)) He's an editor for the Writer's Digest Books. Oh, just click on the link, okay, cause I haven't got time to list all he's done (which is a LOT).

Welcome to the second "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest on the GLA blog. This will be a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here's the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you're writing a book-length kids novel, this second contest is for you!

HOW TO SUBMIT

E-mail entries to februaryagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments.

WHAT TO SUBMIT

The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of middle grade or young adult fiction. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.

Please note: To be eligible to submit, I ask that you do one of two things: 1) Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media - blogs, Twitter, Facebook; or 2) just mention this contest once and also add Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blogroll. Please provide link(s) so I can verify eligibility.

CONTEST DETAILS

1. This contest will be live for approximately fourteen days - from Feb. 7 through the end of Sunday, Feb. 21, EST. Winners notified by e-mail within seven days of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.
2. To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.
3. This contest is solely for completed book-length works of middle grade and young adult fiction (kids novels).
4. You can submit as many times as you wish.
5. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media.
6. There are more rules (most of them dealing with legal stuff) that you can find in the comments section of this post.
7. By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as the terms added by me at the beginning of the "Comments" section of this blog post.

PRIZES!!!

First place: 1) A critique of 25 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A query critique from your agent judge. 3) Two free books from Writer's Digest Books (I will give you several choices and you pick the books your want).

Runner-ups - second and third place: 1) A critique of 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) One free book from Writer's Digest Books (I will give you several choices and you pick the book your want).

Jennifer Laughran from Andrea Brown Lit Agency will be judging your ink-and-paper dreams. So polish, polish, polish that ms. And goodluck to everyone.