Comments (21)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, July 9, 2010 7:57 am

Thanks for all the suggestions for my surplus of jalapenos! I think I’m going to freeze some and try to pickle the rest.

So, yesterday I was checking my emails and M was doing her normal laps around the house. You see, we have a bathroom with “Jack & Jill” doors, so she just cruises through the bathroom and makes a complete circle.

I noticed there was silence, and M didn’t come through the living room to complete her 13th lap. I quietly walked to the bathroom, and this is what I saw….

At first I wanted to put her in “time out”, but she looked so stinkin’ cute I had to grab my camera….

Sometimes I think babies are just like puppies…. when things get quiet and you don’t see them for a while… you know they are getting into trouble

Yesterday, Tim was getting home from a business trip. We have a little routine/tradition we do every time he comes home. The first thing involves making his favorite brownies. My husband LOVES his brownies… but he’s picky. I’ve tried over and over again to make fancy from scratch brownies… but he wants nothing of them. His favorite is good old Duncan Hines…

The brown stuff you see is coffee. Instead of using the water that the recipe calls for, I use coffee. It really brings out the chocolate flavor

And I always have to add extra chocolate chips for him…

And I always lick the bowl

Second part of our coming home routine…. Pizza! Tim loves pizza. We always order the same thing every time. Half cheese (for me) and half pepperoni & black olives for him.

I always eat the same thing… one slice of cheese, and half a slice of his pepperoni

And finally… my tradition. Daddy gets home and mommy opens up a box of wine…

Classy, I know…. But don’t hate on the box of Target wine until you’ve tried it. Its mighty tasty

I’m telling ya’ its heaven in a glass

In other news….

• I did get my 6 mile run in yesterday
• I was only able to clean the floors downstairs
• I started packing for our weekend trip!

On the agenda today:

• Bikram yoga class
• Buy a new pack-n-play for M
• Finish packing for our trip
• Go to mommy happy hour
• Go to our neighborhood happy hour
• Then we’re up early on Saturday and heading to PA!

Have a great weekend!!!

Comments (20)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, December 15, 2009 8:51 am

Part One.

My husband recently returned from a business trip in Denmark. He had his share of the local cuisine.

Here is an email I received from him late one night:

So, many lessons learned last night:

1. If you order bruschetta… it’s an english muffin pizza
2. If you order pizza with chicken… it may also come with peas, onions, mushrooms, and gravy on it, think pot pie pizza
3. One particular brand of local beer makes me violently ill

will call in morning. love, me

Hmmm, how many beers did he actually have?

Ok, let’s forget about the beer thing….

My husband loves pizza. If he could eat it everyday he would.

He’s from New York…I think it’s in their blood.

So… I decided to make some at home.

This was my first time ever making pizza dough from scratch.

Here’s the recipe I adapted from Sunset Magazine:

• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons salt

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir yeast into 1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110°). Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup oil, the flour, and salt. Mix with dough hook on low speed to blend, then mix on medium speed until dough is very smooth and stretchy, 8 to 10 minutes. Dough will feel tacky.

2. Cover dough and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. Punch down dough and let rise again until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

I pressed the dough out on a sheet pan and added sauce, mozzarella cheese, chicken, sauteed bell peppers and mushrooms, black olives, and cherry tomatoes.

I baked the pizza at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.


The result… not bad… but not good.
Everything was good but the crust
What I failed to realize what that the pizza dough actually make four pizzas… oops!
The pizza crust was almost 2 inches thick… like a deep dish pizza. This did not taste good with a whole wheat crust.

Lessons for next time:

1. Use either whole wheat pastry flour or white flour.
2. Divide the dough into fours so we’re not eating 10 pound pizza slices.
3. Buy a pizza stone.

Stay tuned for Part Two.