Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Pizza #3 - Bacon Hawaiian

Ah yes! Yet a third pizza in this series of delicious pizza! I used the same sauce and crust recipes as before. I still have enough sauce left for one more pizza! This pizza was way too tasty, so unfortunately I only have a pic of half the pizza.

Toppings:

Marinara Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 can Pineapple Chunks
6 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
2 Large Cloves Garlic, minced
Baby Spinach


I did get a picture of it raw in all it's bacony goodness!

Make Some Tasty Pizza Dough!

Making pizza dough is super quick, and you probably already have everything you need. You could be eating gourmet pizza in less than 2 hours! Use the dough to make pizzas, calzones, flatbreads, pizza pot pies, all kinds of stuff!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water (careful not to use hot water or you'll kill your yeast!)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil OR Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes


Mix together the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of the water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. While you're waiting, mix your flour, salt, and seasonings in a large bowl. Now lets check on the yeast again! If it's bubbly, you're ready to go! If not... get some new yeast. Sorry. Now assuming your yeast is active, mix your yeast/sugar mix back in with the rest of the water. Form a well in your flour, the pour in the water mixture. Go ahead and mix it with a wooden spoon until it starts to hurt your wrist. Now knead the dough for another 5 or so minutes. It should be much less sticky at the point, but it's okay if it's still a little sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough set for about an hour. It should double in size.

You're ready to go! Grease the pan and flour your hands. Time to make a pizza!

Super Fast Pizza Sauce

Make your own pizza sauce! It's way tastier, cheaper, and more delicious! Did I mention it's yummier? Not to mention quick!

Ingredients:
28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
14.5oz can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 packet Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning

Mix it all together, bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer for a few minutes. All done!

Makes about 4 1/2 cups, or enough for 3 pizzas. Freeze the extra sauce in 1 1/2 cup portions so it's ready to go next time you want to make a pizza!

Now make a delicious pizza!

Pizza #2 - Spinach Sausage Red




Alright, the pizza was WAY tastier than Pizza #1. I made the crust and the sauce from scratch. Both were super easy.

Toppings:
Marinara Sauce
Mozzerella Cheese
Baby Spinach
2 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 lb Spicy Italian Sausage
Fresh Basil on top after taking out of the oven.






Bonus raw pic! I should have taken a picture from the side, all that spinach made for a mighty tall pizza!

Pizza #1 - Spinach Sausage White


Mmmm... I made a tasty pizza! Sure looks pretty, doesn't it? For the crust I used an instant pizza crust mix by Betty Crocker. It came out pretty flat. Good thing it was only ten cents! Don't buy it!

Toppings:
Jarred Alfredo Sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Baby Spinach
3 Cloves Fresh Minced Garlic
1/2 lb Spicy Italian Sausage
Fresh Basil on top after it came out of the oven

Pretty tasty!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Baby Trekkie hats!


I was crocheting this blue and green hat when I noticed the cables looked just like the Star Trek insignia Starfleet Command patch. I immediately set this hat down and went to make a "red shirt hat." Then I realized I had no red yarn. None! Shocking, but true. So I instead made a pair of baby girl Trekkie hats! Adorable! First I made the one with six insignia, then I thought simpler might be better. I think it is. Next, baby boy, red shirt, blue shirt, and maybe a gold/tan Kirk shirt with the insignia sideways? CRAZY!

Look at all those cupcakes!


My friend and I made 45 cupcakes for her daughter to take to preschool for her birthday. And we put them all on the stacking rack! Yeah! Sadly, no picture of them frosted. :(

Quick and easy low fat (possibly lot sugar) cupcakes:
1 box cake mix
1 12 oz can soda (use diet for no added sugar!)

Mix together. Bake as normal!

Quick Comfort Dinner


Maybe not fancy or made from scratch, but sure yummy! And a pretty picture :)

Fish Sticks
Instant mashed potatoes
Birds Eye citrus veggies and noodle mix
Tartar sauce

Quick Tartar sauce recipe: Mayonnaise, dill or kosher pickle juice, black pepper. Mix it up. Chow it down.

Tasty Indian Curry! Yummy!


I made this delicious spicy curry last week. So god. Very spicy, though.

2 cans coconut milk
1 lb beef, sliced thin
4-5 green onions, cut in 1-2 inch long pieces
1/2 can baby corn, cut into thirds
1 -2 cups of snow peas
3 1/2 tablespoons of spicy Indian curry powder
all the bean sprouts you want!
cilantro to taste
1 box of couscous

Simmer everything except the cilantro, bean sprouts and the couscous until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Cook the couscous in a separate pan. Put your couscous in a bowl, top with bean sprouts, curry and cilantro. Eat it! Makes a LOT.

Blarg!



So I made like a zillion hats. Then I took pictures of them thinking I'd put them up in my etsy shop. But all the colors came out wrong! They all have lots of blues and greens in them, but you can't see it at all in the pictures! Now I must retake them all. :(

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Yeah, Gettin' Published!

Alright! I've sent in my final submissions for a BOOK! That's right, my patterns are gettin' published! Because I'm awesome. Completely and utterly awesome. The book's working title is "Doggie DIY" so that should give you a good idea of what it is! YAY! I'm very excited, can you tell? Probably. So, here are some crappy pics I took real quick before I sent everything out.







Squeaky popsicle plush toy! Damn, that's cute.















And a hand painted doggie t-shirt! Aw, so cute. I know this isn't a very good picture of the shirtness, but you all know what a shirt for a dog looks like, right? Sure. Kinda like one for a human. But for a dog. Zing!

Emma's Hat

So I was just sitting around today watching Degrassi when I noticed Emma's Hat. I'm sure I've noticed it before, but this time my first thought was, Hey! I could make that! So, here it is, from Degrassi The Next Generation, episode 50, "This Charming Man." You remember, the one where Emma goes out with Chris and then uses him to "frame" Sean for stealing from the school. I did however, make it in pink camo instead of plain white. What? It's pretty! Can you see the crossed dc's? Very time consuming.. but definitely more worth it with a variegated yarn! I've tried to do them before with a solid color, and they just didn't show up very well.




















I put it up on my etsy for $12. While I like to make hats, I really don't like wearing them. I can't stand flat hair.