Pizza

Growing up, we were allowed to pick what we wanted for dinner on our birthday. I don't remember having a lot of friend parties, and I don't feel deprived, I remember loving being able to pick what we had for dinner that night. Over the years, it became tradition to request homemade pizza, and to me, that has become THE birthday dinner. (The only time I ever remember requesting something else was when I was 8 or 9, and I requested spaghetti with little fish (maybe fresh sardines?) and some kind of greens, like beet greens. (Mom, help me out with the details if you remember!) I've tried to continue this tradition with our kids, but imagine my dismay when their favorite birthday dinner has turned out to be..............RAMEN NOODLES! Oh, where did I go wrong?!? Just kidding. I still get to pick my and Rusty's and Katie's birthday dinners, and we all choose pizza! :)

The way I make pizza is my classic way of cooking. I don't use a recipe. My pizza dough is very, very basic. It's not soft and bready, it's just water, salt, yeast and water. I start by making the dough. I let it sit for about 20 minutes, just to rest, it doesn't really need to rise. In the above picture, I had tried prebaking my crust. I don't really like that method. I prefer to spread the dough in the pan, then put the sauce and cheese on it, and then our favorite toppings. Some of our favorite toppings include:

Barbecue chicken

Mushrooms

Pineapple

Olives

Turkey

Broccoli

Liz has decided that she prefers just plain cheese. No one really likes pepperoni, so I never make it anymore. I prefer veggie, so I always makes a small part veggie for me, with tomatoes, broccoli, onions, feta, artichoke hearts, and kalamata olives.

When my mom was here in the summer, we made a really good white cheese pizza by putting some garlic on the dough (no tomato sauce), then feta cheese, parmesan, blue cheese, queso fresco, and chevre. Seriously, so yummy.