Over the weekend my sister came down with the kids and we went strawberry picking.  We try to get together every year to do this and I’m pretty sure the kids quite enjoy themselves.

So, I decided that I’d make pizza for dinner.  I didn’t make this decision on the spot, I had prepped for this a few days in advance.  Since I had to work on Saturday, I got as much ready as I could on Friday.  This pizza dough recipe is pretty easy.  If you’ve never worked with yeast before it’s way less intimidating than you think.

Amy’s Tips:

1. Use warm water.  The warm water we’re talking here is anywhere from the same temp as your finger or a tiny bit warmer.  If you’ve over heated your water in the microwave, just pour some off and add some cold from the tap.  Always remember to STIR UP your water from the microwave to even out the hot spots before deciding that it’s too warm or cold.
2. You must feed the yeast.  This is built in to most recipes via a small amount of sugar.  However if you forget to add it and nothing really happened, go ahead and put it in.  Wait a bit for the yeast to activate and you’re good to go!
3. Wait for the yeast to activate. If you continue on with your recipe without waiting for the yeast to foam up, you’re setting yourself up for failure.  After waiting 5 to 10 minutes with nothing happening, recheck your steps.  Several things could be wrong:  Your water could have been too hot and killed the yeast, you forgot to feed it by adding sugar or the packet you used was expired and the yeast was dead before you started.  If you think the water was too warm or you check and see that the yeast was expired, this would be a good time to start over.

Here’s the recipe for my favorite pizza dough:

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups 00 flour, plus more for dusting

Directions

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer on low and add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium; stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it’s crumbly, add more water; if it’s sticky, add more flour – 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it’s smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. This is a good time to stick a pizza stone in the oven and preheat them to 500 degrees F.

Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.

Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top with your favorite flavors. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.

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This recipe will make one 14 to 15 inch pizza or three personal sized ones.  If you’re planning on having more than just pizza with your meal you could probably get away with 4 small ones out of this recipe. 

Now, if you just want to make one small pizza immediately what do you do with the rest of them?  Well, this tip is thanks to my mom.  She’d do this sometimes just to have a crust in the freezer for a quick dinner.  This is the method:

1. Make the dough as you usually would and press it out in the shape you’d like.
2. Place the naked crust in the oven and cook it for 5 minutes for smaller pizzas on a stone or 10 minutes for a 14 to 15 inch pizza.  There should be no brown on the crust at all.
3. Allow to cool and wrap well before stashing in the fridge (short term) or freezer (long term). 

I love doing this because it makes dinner happen SO fast when you need it.  Simply  thaw your crust, top and put in the oven.

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Now, what do we put on top of this crust that we worked hard on?  Here’s the answer, some homemade sauce.  It’s so much better than what you get in a jar.  It’s really worth the time to make yourself.  In fact it’s really just dump and simmer.  Here are the details:

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree (san marzano tomatoes if possible)
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Over medium heat, heat oil in a saucepan until hot. Add all ingredients, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

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I usually freeze whatever I don’t use.  In fact I usually make way more than I need and freeze it in ice cube trays.  This way I can pull as much or as little as I need to use and it melts fast because it’s in small pieces. 

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My favorite toppings?  Fresh mozzarella cheese, mini pepperonis and some fresh grated parmesan at the table.  What are yours?

 

Keep on cooking,

<3
Amy

… and here it is!

You can get yours, remember there are VERY limited quantities, on Wednesday May 2nd starting at 10am at Beach Scrapbooks.  Either call the store or go by!

<3
Amy

I’ve made this cake SO many times over the years and always had people begging me for the recipe.  This is one close to my heart because it’s from my mom’s collection and I remember her making it all the time.  BUT, now that it’s strawberry season and they go famously well with this cake I thought I’d share it with you guys so we could all enjoy some berries and cake!

PLEASE note that there are several tricks that are going to make or break your baking this thing.  Read them all and follow them so you won’t be upset later!

Amy’s Notes:

THE OVEN MUST BE COLD!  And how cold do I mean?  Like it hasn’t been heated up since yesterday cold.  Make it first thing in the morning if you have other plans with your oven that day.  If you don’t heed this your cake will fall.  Trust my mother she’s been there, and I witnessed it.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!  This will also make the cake fall.  My mother wouldn’t even let us jump in the kitchen if she was making this.  That was probably a bit of overkill but it’s the price you pay for incredible cake!

GREASE THE PAN WELL! I have given this recipe to several people and things haven’t gone well.  I’d recommend that if you don’t want/like to grease your pan with shortening heavily and then flour it you can also use Baker’s Joy (see below picture).  This stuff is amazing and I coat my pan well with it.  It’s always worked for me. 

 USE AN ANGEL FOOD CAKE PAN!  (as seen above) Seriously this makes a LOT of cake.  Your mom’s old bunt cake pan isn’t going to hold this ring of deliciousness! You’re going to have to invest in one of these if you don’t have one.  My mother’s was non-stick, but the one I have now isn’t.  They both work fine.

Finally, the recipe:

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Ingredients:
2 sticks of margarine (mom’s alteration, the recipe calls for butter)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
Cream together butter and shortening.  Add sugar and cream together.  Add eggs and blend well again.  Sift together dry ingredients and add the extracts and vanilla to the milk. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk mixture, blending well after each addition. Put into a greased and floured angel food cake pan.  Place in COLD oven.  Set temperature at 350 degrees and set your timer for 1 hour and 25 minutes.  DO NOT open door until timer sounds.

If you’d like to make a half recipe you’re allowed to use your mom’s bunt cake pan.  I’d also recommend using 3 eggs since you can’t really half them and cutting the cooking time to about 1 hour.  I just pulled mine out of the oven I made this way and it’s AWESOME!  (see above picture)

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This recipe is also GREAT with any berries you’d like to add in any combination.  Add some whipped cream to make it extra yummy or have it plain with some powdered sugar.  It’ll make anyone really happy!

Keep on strawberry pickin while you can!
<3
Amy

If any of you have been shopping for kids tableware lately I’m sure you’re as frustrated as I am.  What am I annoyed about?  Well, I want four simple things in my choice of dishes for Renee:  BPA free, diswasher safe, microwave safe and sensible design!  I’ve looked in all the usual places. Target has a limited selection as does Walmart. At Babies R Us they have variety, but sometimes it’s just for the sake of having variety.  I find it really, really hard to find plates and cups that are all four of my simple requests.  I could find some cute things, but if they were dishwasher safe, they weren’t microwaveable or they were both of those things but didn’t meet my needs (ie divided, too small, too expensive, or just ugly).

So, while Greg and I were coming home from a fun trip to DC with friends we decided to stop at IKEA in Woodbridge, VA.  I found some GREAT things there for Renee.  Here are the two I bought and I’m pretty sure I’ll go back for seconds.

 

First we found the cups which are SUPER cute and only $1.99 for 6!  Then we found the bowls which are the same price. These are REALLY something that I’ve been looking for.  I got two packs of them!  Renee can drink out of a cup, but not by herself so these will be great for other kids that come over for now.  Not only were these a great price but the colors make me happy.  There are also plates and flatware to match!

I’m sure all of you aren’t jumping into your cars and running to IKEA now, but if you could place a larger order by going in with some friends!

<3
Amy

So, there are a lot of recipes out there for this dish.  Most involve heavy cream and a rich thick sauce.  This recipe is what people make in Italy, not what you are served when you go to Olive Garden which is about as non-Italian as you can get.

When you’re making a dish with so few ingredients they really need to be of quality.  So here are my tips for making this taste great!

Amy’s Tips:
1. Buy fresh pasta from the refrigerator section at the grocery store, trust me it’s better.
2. ALWAYS use unsalted butter for your recipes!  This way you can really control the salt level in your dishes.
3.  Boil your pasta in a large pot with lots of salty water.  It’s your only chance to flavor the pasta, don’t miss it.
4.  Grate your own cheese.  It just tastes better!  Also, make the investment in a grater of some sort, you’ll thank me later.
5.  Buy Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese from Italy, not just any parm you find.  It’s the real deal!

Fettucine Alfredo
Ingredients:
3/4 lb. fettucine
1/2 cup butter cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
- Boil noodles according to the package.  Save a couple cups of the water boiling water before you drain the noodles.
-  Return noodles to your pot and place back on heat adding the cubed butter and cheese.
-  Toss until cheese and butter is melted, adding a splash of pasta water as needed to thin the sauce.
-  Taste and season with salt and pepper, serve immediately.

Yields 4 servings  (or 1 for a pasta crazy husband like mine) 

Original recipe can be found here.

 

Happy Cooking!
<3
Amy