The Monday morning start of the week was just fine and rather un-inspired with our now typical Egg in a Hole breakfast, my favorite Seed Bread and of course coffee. Easy-peesy. Everyone walked away satisfied.
Next, we ended up at a playdate for Juliette’s new preschool that I had almost forgotten about. While there we met up with friends and decided to go out to lunch at Chipotle. This is no small feat with two moms, two babies, two three year old girls and just one five year old boy. But, we managed and had a fabulous time. My friend and I split one of the gigantic burritos stuffed with steak, pinto beans, dollops of guacamole and all those great veggies. Meanwhile, Juliette happily had a quesadilla with chicken, black beans, brown rice, and corn salsa. I ended up nibbling on her small bag of chips with her, dipping it in variation combinations of her half eaten treats: guac, corn salsa and black beans.
The day seemed nearly over when we got home, but with the garden showing off long zucchinis, bundles of basil and the occasional tomato, I decided it was clearly a pizza night. Making dough from scratch is another surprisingly easy task that makes one seem oh so impressive. I occasionally buy dough from time to time, but considering it is pennies to make on your own, I never know why I hesitate to do it myself.
I have to credit my brother for teaching me the art of pizza dough making. He often talks about the patience and intuition needed to perfect it, which basically means the more you do it the more confident you become and the better the pizza taste. Especially since he lived in Breckenridge (which was fabulous!) for a time at high-altitude and low-humidity he highly recommends starting with a low amount of flour and increasing the quantity if the dough is too, too sticky.
I burned out my food processor this past year, so my parents and siblings went in on a new one for my birthday. This means I have been pulling it out more than I did in the past. It was just too much of a headache to use my old one. Before the replacement, I was training Juliette to hold it in just the right way while it ran so that I could still multitask. Needless to say, I am grateful for the cuisinart upgrade.
To make enough dough for a couple of big pizzas or the four thin crust pizzas we eat around here, mix one cup of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar or drizzle of honey. Sprinkle on a packet of yeast (about 2 1/2 tablespoons, usually) and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes until the yeast has had a lovely snack on the sugar and starts to bubble up in delight.
Meanwhile, combine about 3 cups of flour (usually all-purpose white, white whole wheat or do half white and half whole wheat) with a 1 teaspoon of flaky sea salt (or a bit less if desired). Pulse it in a food processor or stand mixer with the dough hook, or keep it simple and toss it in a bowl together.
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Typically at this point I end up busy and ignore the dough for a bit, but once it is at least double, pound it down and knead for another couple of minutes. Shape into a ball and allow it to rise again.
While the dough rose I used my cuisinart for a quick homemade Pesto and then tossed in some canned roasted tomatoes with a generous helping of fresh herbs, garlic and sweet onion. The two sauces were ready for duty along with veggies, fresh slices of mozzarella, last night’s Homemade Ricotta, and shredded parmesan.
Xerxes typically likes to roll the dough out, top and cook it, which is fabulous, because the process often includes him tossing it in the air, since he was a pizza chef for awhile several years ago. When I found out he was coming home late, I realized I was a bit on the low-blood sugar side and decided to make Kale Chips for an appetizer, while piddling around getting the rest prepared. 
A few minutes before he was scheduled to arrive, I started the first pizza, while the grill slowly heated up. Xerxes came just in time to help me assemble the toppings and start the next one. As I sat there contemplating what to put on the next one, I realized the grill was much cooler than the 500 degrees it had been just moments before. Ack! The propane had run out. Our old place in Tucson had natural gas connected to the house (SWEET!) and so it has actually been a few years since I have run out of gas in the middle of cooking. By some odd coincidence, huge 1/4 cup drops of rain started falling as well. We cranked the heat on the oven and tossed the assembled pizza on the stone that was still warm from the Kale Chips. Once the oven seemed fully heated we added the next.
Four small, well topped pizzas in total, meant we were quite full, but with the garden fresh toppings of zucchini, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and herbs were exactly what we needed on this glorious stormy, summer evening.
May your dreams be sweet and delicious tonight!
