Saturday, August 14, 2010

Pizza and a VERY Bad Movie

Al came back from Tampa today, so I decided to make him a home made pizza. We were both starving and it takes an hour for the dough to rise. I mixed up the yeast, flower and water, covered it up and set it outside to rise. We waited patiently and after an hour I went to check it.  It was as flat as it was when I started.  ???   I couldn't figure out what the problem was.

 I finally decided that I may have lost track of the number of cups of flour I put in and that may  be my problem.  It's supposed to be 4 cups but I kind of lost track on  my count.  At least I think that's what happened.  I didn't know how to fix the first batch and didn't want to ruin a perfectly good pizza, so I had to make another batch.  Of course I had to wait an hour again for the dough to rise.  In the meantime, we were still starving.

I decided to cheat, warm up the oven a little and then put the yeast in there. That worked and it  was ready to go after only about 40 minutes.  So we finally got our pizza.

Al had picked up  The Bad Lieutenant from Redbox and we decided to watch it while having our pizza.  I have to say that was probably the worst movie I have ever seen.  It was so poorly made that nothing made sense.  The acting was fine but the storyline was so bad, I decided to not waste any more of my time.  Al stuck it out till the end, but confirmed it
Al came back from Tampa today, so I decided to make him a home made pizza. We were both starving and it takes an hour for the dough to rise. I mixed up the yeast, flower and water, covered it up and set it outside to rise.

When I went to check on it, nothing had changed. It was just as flat as when I put it out.    I finally decided that I may have lost track of the number of cups of flour I put in and that may  be my problem.  It's supposed to be 4 but I kind of lost track and was the worst movie of all time.


If anyone wants to make home made pizza, here is the recipe.  My mother made pizza every Saturday night when I was growing up.  It was our family ritual.  She makes the best pizza and I am still trying to get the knack.  I'm improving (at least when I add the correct ingredients)

Homemade pizza dough


1 package Fleishmans dry yeast
1 1/2 cups hot water

mix the yeast and hot water together

2 tbls oil
mix in the yeast water

add 4 cups of flour, mix and set aside covered for about an hour until the yeast has doubled.

top with favorite ingredients and bake @ 450 for 20-25 minutes. 

Like I said, there is a knack to it, but it also seems to have a mind of it's own.  Sometimes my Mom's pizza is incredible, crispy and crunchy, and sometimes it's just good.  You never quite know how it will turn out, but it's always good.

5 comments:

Happytrails said... [Reply to comment]

That pizza sound delicious! In fact, Mike and I cheated yesterday and drove to Columbus to have pizza at the Mellow Mushroom. We love pizza. I will give this one a try. Thanks for the recipe!

Sorry the movie wasn't what you expected. Its disappointing when you are all set for a good movie and it just doesn't come through for you. Oh well....better luck next time.

Take care!
Mike & Gerri (happytrails)

Merikay said... [Reply to comment]

I use my bread maker to mix the dough, and let it do the first rise there. I try to make it before noon of the day we want to bake it. Then I use a trick I learned from a pizza shop. Put it into a plastic bag, and let it temper in the REFRIGERATOR for a few hours - overnight. This gives it more elasticity and you can make a much thinner crisp crust. We also always bake it directly on a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven, and put it onto a raised rack immediately after removing with a pizza pick and cutting.

I have some great toppings, including caramelized onions and walnuts, or feta cheese and dill. Of course the standard sauce, cheese, mushrooms and sausage are always a hit.

I do wonder about making homemade pizza once we are in a motor home.

Karen and Al said... [Reply to comment]

Merikay
Thanks for the tips. That sounds like a good idea. We love thin crust pizza and I tend to make it thicker than I want.

We use very nicely seasoned cast iron pans, but I might try the pizza stone next time.

www.travelwithkevinandruth.com said... [Reply to comment]

Sounds good, maybe one reason the dough didn't rise properly is that when using yeast you should use a small amount of sugar (1 tsp or so I believe) it actives the yeast to make it rise. Check out a few bread or dough recipes to see the correct amount.

Anyway sorry about the movie, we have had a couple like that and there are a few that we just couldn't bring ourselves to finish watching. I hate when that happens.

Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

ThE MidLiFe CrUiSeR said... [Reply to comment]

Oh, homemade pizza sounds heavenly! It's my favorite food! Sounds like you had an awesome mom growing up.