I Bought A Cake

I bought a cake for My Kid.  Me.  The one who loves to bake and give birthday treats.  But, it’s good to know one’s limits and I chose to focus on dinner (lemon roasted chicken with gravy) and let Larson’s legendary Bavarian Banana Cake star under the 23 lit birthday candles.  It was a lovely gift for My Kid and me.

I can’t remember the last time that I bought a cake for someone.  It was fun to call and reserve it.  And a thrill to go pick it up in its pretty pink box while the cashier beamed at me.  Plus, it was delicious.  No fuss, no muss.  But of course, My (sweet, sweet) Kid said that he prefers my Bavarian Banana Cake.  “Next time”, I reassured him as I sent him home with leftovers for today, his actual birthday. 

Happy, happy birthday to My Kid! 

Missing

My kitchen sponge is missing. 

It’s been gone for over a week now.  Neither of the dogs have required emergency surgery.  Which is a good thing. At the end of the second day, The Assistant became suspicious that my belly rubs were a medical examination.  Yup, I was looking for a belly bloated from a sponge.

But where, oh, where is the kitchen sponge?

I’ve gone through the garbage.  Plenty of garbage, but no sponge.  How do two people and two dogs create so much trash?

I’ve looked through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.  Still no sponge.

The Assistant is my top suspect.  Did she tear up the sponge and devour it while I was out walking Barnaby?  Or did she tuck it away in one of my shoes for a rainy day?  As she used to do with her compressed rawhide bones.

Or did I, in all my sleep-deprived zaniness (Barnaby still has diarrhea at night), place the sponge someplace strange like in the flour bin?  Or behind the milk container in the fridge.  I do not know.

But, I’m beginning to suspect, that when and if I do find it, it will be hanging out with all of our missing socks.

Sharing Your Garden with Your Best Friends

As a dog owner, I accept that my garden will not be ‘perfect’.  In fact, I designed my backyard around my dogs’ needs.  The Assistant and I negotiated her pathways that I affectionately refer to as the Race Track.  The Assistant loves to blast out the back door and race around the yard while birds and squirrels scurry out of her way.  I planted plants that I like but won’t grieve about if she wipes them out.  And most of my backyard plants can rebound after being cut back down to ground if they are trampled too severely.  The Assistant turns 11 years old next month and as she has aged, I have slowly added a few treasures.

Now that we have Barnaby, our 3 month old Great Dane puppy, I’m reassessing the backyard.  What can I add for him to enjoy?  Perhaps a sandbox to dig in?  I don’t know yet, but I’m hoping to figure it out at the upcoming WSU Master Gardener sponsored workshop (that I helped plan!), Sharing Your Garden With Your Best Friend at Pacific Park, at Pacific Park on June 15^th at 10 am.  Garden Designers, Melinda Frey and Anne Taylor, will demonstrate how to grow a dog friendly garden.  The workshop is free with one hour of service in the demonstration gardens afterwards.  A great deal.  Please sign up at Brown Paper Tickets to reserve your spot.  I hope to see you there!

Grilled Pizzas For You

My Pirate and My Kid helped me taste-test grilled pizzas this afternoon after planting The Victory Garden.  Don’t be fooled, My Kid showed up after the planting, because he’s no dummy.  My Pirate and I smelled faintly like organic fertilizer, tomato leaves, and compost but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our lunch together. 

While My Pirate and My Kid were chatting on the front sidewalk, I rambled inside, cooed at the dogs, and washed my hands a couple of times.  Then, with a whoosh of flame I turned on My Girl Grill (Weber Q 300).  I threw some flour down on the counter and rolled out three dough rounds.  I grilled the dough rounds and then we had fun topping our pizzas while talking smack about our different pizza styles. I’m a purist and lightly top mine, while My Pirate employs the kitchen sink approach.  And My Kid claims to land somewhere in the middle, but he has a culinary flair for the dramatic and substituted pesto as his sauce, finding the red sauce derivative.  Or so I tease. 

We carefully and quickly slid our pizzas onto the grill. It was a tight fit.  I closed the lid, turned off the heat and waited for the cheese to melt. A very long six minutes. Then we pulled the pizzas out onto a peel and a cutting board.  I photographed them and we gasped in shock and then laughed when Barnaby almost succeeded in flipping over the peel with 2 pizzas on it.  My Pirate saved our lunch!  Then we rolled a pizza cutter over our pizzas and devoured them while commenting on our pizzas.  We all came to the conclusion that we need to make it again soon.  You know, just to perfect our topping combinations.  

Grilled Pizza

by Laura Heldreth

If you don’t have homemade pizza dough on hand, you can use a store bought dough, flat bread, tortilla, or even an English muffin.  Peter Reinhart recommends using a pizza stone, but I don’t.  Play with the ingredients and let your appetite guide you.  The fun of this meal is that everyone gets to make their very own creation, so no suggestions or complaints!

Pizza dough--I love using Peter Reinhart's recipe, but I use Trader Joe's dough in a pinch.

Sauce—spaghetti, Alfredo, pesto, olive oil, salad dressing…

Veggies—canned roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, olives…

Fresh herbs—basil, oregano, fennel…

Meats—salami, pepperoni, cooked sausage or hamburger, cooked chicken…

Cheese—parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar…

Red pepper flakes

Sit the defrosted pizza dough sit out of the fridge for up to two hours.  I prefer one hour. 

Preheat the gas grill on high while you roll out the pizza dough into individual rounds, about five to ten minutes.   

Spread the dough out on a floured cutting board with your flour coated fingertips.   Finish rolling it out with a rolling pin or toss it on your knuckles. Place the dough rounds on the grill and cook until brown grill marks appear and the dough bubbles.  Turn over.  Then cook until it is faintly browned.  Remove from the grill.  Place the top down on the grill and drop the heat to medium.

Take the cooked dough rounds and top the side with the grill marks.  Top the dough rounds sparingly with your favorite toppings. The trick is to not overload the pizza so that the dough remains crisp and the cheese melts evenly.  Place the pizza’s back on the grill.  Shut the lid.  And turn the heat off.  Wait five to ten minutes for the cheese to melt and then they are ready to devour.

Grilled Pizza Part 1: Amazing Pizza Dough

Grilled pizza is one of my specialties.

Six years ago, when My Pirate and My Kid left on tour with the Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps, I bought myself my first gas grill that I call My Girl Grill.  It was exactly what I wanted.  It was small, simple, and it had a cast iron grill.  I bought My Girl Grill to make my own grilled pizza.  And I spent that summer gardening during the day and the evenings were spent making pizza and sipping cocktails on my patio.  It was a memorable summer. And now whenever the weather warms, I begin to crave grilled pizza. 

The secret to a fantastic grilled pizza is the crust.   The crust is the star and I searched long and hard for a great pizza dough recipe until I read about Peter Reinhart’s brilliantbook, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice on 101 Cookbooks.  Peter takes 6 full pages to talk about his pizza dough and I felt an instant kinship with him.  Pizza is serious business and his recipe makes the perfect pizza crust. 

Peter’s recipe is also the easiest dough recipe that I’ve ever made because it utilizes the delayed-fermentation technique.  You mix the dough in a mixer and then it sits in the fridge overnight.  No rising and punching (and cursing).  Just mix and refrigerate.  Then the dough can be used or frozen up to three months.  I freeze my dough and move it to the fridge to thaw.  When you’re ready to use it, sit it out on the counter for two hours and then you are ready to make pizza.  Amazing pizza.

This crust turns out light, crisp, with a tender bite to it.  It is perfection.  It is a Naples style crust that is meant for a light topping of great ingredients.  So go splurge on your favorite cheese and meat and we’ll meet back up here to make our grilled pizza in the next post. 

  

Peter Reinhart’s Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

4 ½ cups unbleached high-gluten bread flour, chilled

1 ¾ tsp. salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

¼ cup olive oil

1 ¾ cups ice cold water

Semolina flour or corn meal for dusting

In the bowl of your electric mixer, add the flour, salt, and instant yeast.  Stir together with the paddle and then add the olive oil and ice water.  Stir until it absorbs the oil and water. 

Then switch out the paddle with the dough hook. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and sticky.  The dough should stick on the bottom of the bowl and clear the sides, if it lifts up add a teaspoon of water.  And if it doesn’t clear the sides of the bowl add a teaspoon of flour.

Oil a cutting board and move the dough to the board.  Cut the dough into six pieces.  Roll into balls with your oiled hands.  Then place on a cookie sheet topped with parchment paper and sprayed with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap or slide into a large food-grade plastic bag.

Place the dough in the fridge overnight and for up to three days.  I place the dough in freezer boxes or bags and tuck them in the freezer for later use.  You can freeze the dough for up to three months.