Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Take THAT Church potluck- ha!

Sunday, the chapel filled with the smell of garlic as people prepared food in the kitchen for our Italian "Break-the-Fast" potluck. It's pretty hard to focus when you're really hungry and the whole church smells like Olive Garden. Unfortunately, after church was over we had to wait for Stephen to run home and get our contribution (I can't manage 2 toddlers in a potluck line). By the time he got back, the stampede was over and so was most of the food. So when I got home I was still craving something Italian in a MAJOR way. I had all the stuff and saw a great recipe for pepperoni pan pizzas online a while ago. I whipped out these babies in less than a half hour and voila! my craving was satisfied. Nice that we had a frosty rootbeer in the fridge to go with. I love food.From America's Test Kitchen (I basically used their ideas, but little of the actual recipe : ) they take too long!!

Pepperoni Pan Pizza
from the Episode:
Pizza Party
Makes two 9-inch pizzas serving 4 to 6

Dough
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup skim milk plus 2 additional tablespoons, warmed to 110 degrees
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for counter
1 package instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Topping
1 (3.5-ounce) package sliced pepperoni
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce (see related recipe, "Basic Pizza Sauce")
3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese


1. To make the dough: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease large bowl with cooking spray. Coat each of two 9-inch cake pans with 3 tablespoons oil.

2. Mix milk, sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter, gently shape into ball, and place in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. To shape and top the dough: Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, divide in half, and lightly roll each half into ball. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll and shape dough into 9 1/2-inch round and press into oiled pan. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm spot (not in oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees.

4. While dough rises, put half of pepperoni in single layer on microwave-safe plate lined with 2 paper towels. Cover with 2 more paper towels and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Discard towels and set pepperoni aside; repeat with new paper towels and remaining pepperoni.

5. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Ladle 2/3 cup sauce on each round, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle each with 1 1/2 cups cheese and top with pepperoni. Bake until cheese is melted and pepperoni is browning around edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; let pizzas rest in pans for 1 minute. Using spatula, transfer pizzas to cutting board and cut each into 8 wedges. Serve.

Pizza Dough without a Mixer

In step 2, mix the flour, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, then pour the milk mixture into the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough becomes shaggy and difficult to stir. Turn out onto a heavily floured work surface and knead, incorporating any shaggy scraps. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and proceed as directed.
Step-by-Step: How to Make Pan Pizza

1. Roll the dough outward from the center in all directions to form a 7-inch circle.

2. With the dough draped over your knuckles, gently stretch it, using the weight of the dough to make a 9 1/2-inch circle that is slightly thinner at the center.

3. Place the dough in the oiled cake pan and gently push it to the edge, taking care not to let too much oil spill over the top.





Basic Pizza Sauce
from the Episode: Pizza Party

This recipe makes enough for four pan pizzas, so you will need only half when making Pepperoni Pan Pizza (see related recipe). Freeze the remaining sauce for future pizza making.

Makes 2 2/3 cups
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic , minced

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

Table salt and ground black pepper

Cook oil and garlic in medium saucepan over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, increase heat to medium, and cook until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

the Worst Day ever

Seattle gets a bad rap for it's weather I've decided. The only really crappy season we've experienced is SPRING. You think Winter is going to be all gray and wet. No, it's just gray and occasionally drizzly and sometimes cold (the freak snow was just that- freak). It's SPRING that is "overcookin' ma grits". It's freezin cold and tons of rain and wind! What the crap? We have the rare sunny day in the 50's and you think that Winter is wrapping up and WHAM- crappola day! Yesterday was one of those days.
And yet I decided to take the bus to the Seattle Center and take the girls to the Children's Museum. We have passes and we HAD to get out of the house since Dad was gone on a service project. Everyone had woke up so crabby that morning, no amount of Saturday morning cartoons would have gotten us out of that funk.
The girls whined and cried about the cold and rain the whole time waiting for the bus and walking to the museum. When we got there there was some sort of festival going on upstairs with kid's blow up toys and so the number of families at the Seattle Center pretty much quadrupled, especially since it is the first weekend of Spring Break!
The museum was nuts. I did my best keeping track of the girls (note the foreshadowing). Their favorite was the new play room of Curious George stuff and as always- the grocery store.

Note all the crackers and "junk food" Ada has in her cartAnd Odessa in the fruit and vegetables . . . hmmm

Just as I was getting Ada down from the fire engine, Odessa bolted and I wasn't sure in which direction. I scrambled frantically for a few minutes from room to room, not wanting to leave the main hall in case she moved again and I didn't see her. I finally went to the front desk and told them I had lost my child (a very hard confession for a mom to make). They did their standard procedure and started radioing to all the staff her description and forced me to wait at the entrance so they would know where to bring her and she would see me. Every 30 seconds the director radioed "We are looking for Odessa, 3 1/2 yr old girl, blonde hair, straight bangs, khaki and pink shirt with stripes . . . . " over and over for what seemed like 15 minutes (probably more like 5-6). I started to get anxious, when finally someone radioed that they had found her but she would not come with them. You're thinking "good girl Odessa" right? Nope. She was too busy having fun in the Curious George elevator to leave! Needless to say, we went home immediately after our reunion and I had 2 very teary and whiny girls to drag through the cold and rain and I thought "this is the worst day ever". At least we had been there such a short amount of time that I could still use my bus transfer. Ahh, silver linings on rainy Seattle clouds.

Friday, March 27, 2009

the Best Day ever

We've been promising Odessa a bike since . . . . well, a long time. Now that she regularly sees the kids at mom's group in the gym riding their bikes and trikes, she has really gotten interested in one. I started looking online and pretty soon Odessa was telling me every 5 minutes "Mom, I want a blue and purple bike with a Thomas the Tank Engine helmet". Don't ask me where she got the Thomas helmet idea. One of her best buds Aiden is into Thomas in a HUGE way, so that could have been the source of inspiration.
We found a really, really nice Specialized bike on Craigslist but it was little more than a new, (albeit cheaper brand) at the store. Plus it was pink- not blue and purple! After a lot of back and forth, Odessa finally decided she would be ok with the pink one (she got to ride one at mom's group and loved it). The Craiglist seller agreed to lower the price and so it was within $5 of the other bike.
We went to the store and they actually had a Thomas helmet! It was $25!! Holy crow- I had no idea that you paid half as much for a HELMET as you did the BIKE!! Sheesh. We were dismayed to say the least. Plus there was no talking her into the nondescript helmets that were only slightly cheaper.Yes Nic, she still wears "Josh pajamas"

Yesterday we drove to Tacoma where the bike was. Since I was all the way down there (40 minute drive), I decided to make the day of it and check out the mall or something. The Craigslist seller suggested the Zoo and Aquarium and gave me directions. I wasn't prepared for a full day of adventure, but took the plunge anyway. I had to rent a double stroller and buy lunch, but the girls had SO MUCH FUN and so did I!!! It was the best day we've had in a long, long time. The animals were all out and playing, we could see almost everything. I didn't have my camera, but stole some pics off the web. The underwater animals like the polar bears, walrus and beluga whale were SO INCREDIBLE. The bears were playing with each other, I could have sat there forever and watched them.
The girls LOVED the Aquarium. We also got to watch an animal show where some of the zoo animals did tricks and they brought them on stage and told us about them. The icing on the cake was the FREE carousel. It was one of the nicest carousels we've been on and the girls rode it 4 times. They loved it so much. It was almost worth the admission by itself.
When Dad got home, he adjusted Odessa's new bike and they went for a ride in the park. She probably would have had to say that yesterday was one of the best days ever! Carousel, animals, bike riding. What a fabulous life.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Back from Boise

Who knew a one hour and 15 minute flight could cause such upheaval in one's day? Next time I get the desire to drive to Boise, I think I will follow my instincts. Just kidding- those who talked me into flying were right about it being riskier to drive 8 hrs with 2 toddlers by myself. However, because I had been shifting between airlines and tickets so much on the day I purchased my ticket, I mixed up the departure times and showed up at the wrong time for my flight! The girls and I had to hang out for an extra 2 hrs and then had a LAYOVER in Spokane. I was supposed to get in at 8:55 am and instead came in after 1pm. Sweet, no? On the way back, we were at the Boise airport in plenty of time for the 10 minutes it took to go through security : ) and wait an hour and a half for our flight. But it was delayed almost an hour. Sweet, no? My almost 2 yr old had to sit on my lap (usually there is room and she gets her own free seat) and boy was she MAD about it. Not fun experiences, I am glad to be home and finished with it. It was good to see family, especially since my Dad's family does not get together often.My parents, Aunt Shirley and Uncle Curtis and his wife Chris- they live in FLFamily photo: Angie (ID), Mitzi (NJ), Alyssa (VA), me, my parentsOdessa and Ada had fun playing with their cousins, especially the running game with TaitlynCousins (Angie's kids): Garrett, Taitlyn, Odessa, Ada, Mason

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Good News, the Bad News and the Sad News

The good news is that after packing EVERYTHING up, including Ada, we had a successful move to our new apartment only because of the herculean efforts of 3 stalwart men from our church who helped us load AND unload. Do we owe them, or what?The good news is that we are pleasantly surprised by our apartment. Not only is it light and bright and looks onto the park and community center (these things we knew), it also has surprisingly more cupboard space and a wonderfully hot and forceful shower (always a perk).
The good news is that 5 years after returning home from a church mission in the Philippines, I am returning and hopefully get to see the Rice Terraces again! My brilliantly smart friend Briana is doing her post doctorate research on rice genetics and was awarded a scholarship to attend a three week class at the International Rice Research Institute south of Manila. She invited me to join her for a week before her class to tour around- hopefully to visit the Rice Terraces, aren't they beautiful? I took my parents there when they came and picked me up and I have never seen anything so amazing. Apparently it seemed worth it to her to offer to pay for half my ticket if I would go with her, so here's to hoping I make it worth her money! We go in May.The bad news is that for the week I was supposed to be cleaning out the old apartment, the girls got Croup. They entertained themselves on the balcony digging in the birdseed "sand"- one of the only things I could think of to keep them busy.I had to cancel all the babysitting I had lined up and just take them with me to the old apartment. They would curl up on the floor to sleep sometimes, exhausted from coughing all night the night before. Why couldn't I just walk away and pay for a cleaning service to finish? Ask my mother how many times she did INSANE things when she wasn't well and you will know why it never occurred to me to let someone else clean up after me. I have learned my lesson.Now the sad news: My Grandma Ruby died last night. What can I say about Grandma? She is the one who introduced me to green olives and Squirt and countless other foods I had never tried. She lived in the Bay area when I was little and that was very exotic to me. She loved cats and to strike up conversations with all kinds of complete strangers. We used to have "dates" when I lived in Boise, just to drive her to the mall and walk around. She wore red fake nails and had lots of dress up jewelry. She was one of a kind. I love and miss her. I am so glad she can see her precious Gene again, he's been gone for 18 years. That's a long time to be without your sweetheart. I am blessed I got to know them as well as I did. I love you grandma and grandpa.