Better than delivery. Better than Digiorno.

Friday is pizza night at our house, and nothing is better than homemade - although I must confess that we ate a number of Digiorno and Freschetta pizzas while I was pregnant...

But the kind we make now is way better. The secret: 5 minute artisan bread dough.

Here is how I make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone on the middle shelf. I know that's really hot, but the pizzas turn out so much better crisp and caramelized but still light and fluffy, and they take only 10 minutes to bake!

2. Prepare your toppings:

some of our favorites

the classic

pizza sauce, mozzarella, sliced olives, and choppped onion

make it Greek

pizza sauce, mozzarella, feta cheese, chopped red onion, sliced olives, and sliced pepperoncinis

pesto perfected

prepared pesto, goat cheese sliced thinly, a sprinkle of olive oil, garlic, and roasted red bell peppers

3. Scoop out about 1 pound (about the size of a grapefruit) of the 5 minute artisan bread dough from the container. For a smaller pizza, scoop less. For a bigger pizza, scoop more.

4. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough. Brush all over with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt, italian seasoning, or kosher salt. Or just leave it plain. Scatter on the toppings.

5. Transfer pizza (still on the parchment) to the hot stone. I use a large cutting board to get it from the counter and then a quick slide into the oven.

6. Bake for 8 -10 minutes, or until crust is golden, cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, and toppings are beginning to caramelize.

7. Wait a few minutes before slicing, if you can.

That's it! Start to finish, it only takes 25 minutes. Now, that's fast food.

Gabriel and Liam can hardly wait to dig in.

happy happy happy

Finally, his middle name isn't so ironic. He is now a very blythe baby (well, most of the time...)

5-minute artisan bread

I know that making homemade bread intimidates a lot of people: all of the kneading, various rising times, etc... It all gets a little overwhelming. The looming fear is that after investing all that time, the loaf just might not turn out.

This bread recipe is for you.

I found this recipe in a recent issue of Mother Earth News, which they reprinted from a book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking (Thomas Dunn Books, 2007).

The whole concept is to produce an artisan-style loaf of bread with a minimal amount of effort - only 5 minutes of hands-on time.

There is no kneading required. It only needs to rise 40 minutes before baking, and the recipe makes enough for 4 loaves, and the dough keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge!

It seems like a miracle.

So, here is what you need:

A large glass container to keep the dough in

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoon salt

6 1/2 cups flour

(the recipe calls for all-purpose, but I succesfully use whole wheat instead, or you could use a combo of the two...whatever your preference)

That's it!

Here's what to do with it:

1. Combine all ingredients in the container, just until combined. I use a rubber spatula. The dough is really thick, but it only needs to be stirred until combined - around 30 seconds.

2. Cover loosely (I use a plastic tupperware lid), and allow it to sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until the dough rises and then sags at the top.

3. Put it in the refrigerator, still loosely covered. Technically, you could bake a loaf now, but it is a lot better if you wait until the next day.

4. Scoop out a 1 pound size portion (1/4 of the dough). Shape it into a round ball and place it on a piece of parchment paper (or a baking sheet). Allow it to rise at room temperature for 40 minutes (no need to cover the loaf).

While it is rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the middle rack (if you don't have a baking stone, it is okay to cook the bread without one.) Place a cast iron pan on the floor of the oven (or a metal baking sheet/pan).

5. Cut 3 slash marks in the top of the dough, about 1/2 inch deep. Dust the surface with flour.

6. Transfer the loaf (still on the parchment paper) to the hot baking stone. Put a 1/2 cup of ice cubes into the cast iron pan (to create steam, which helps keep the crust soft while the loaf expands). Bake for 30 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Resist the urge to cut into the hot bread if you can. It continues to bake as it cools.

8. Keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

And that's all there is to it!

Of course, it still can't compare with the bread that does require more time and effort, but it is still better than anything you could get at the grocery store.

I always have a container of it in my fridge for those lazy days when we're needing more bread, and because it makes the BEST pizza dough ever.

Check back tomorrow for that recipe...

He's growing

At his 9 month apointment, we also discovered that Liam has slipped from the 25th percentile weight slot down to below the 5th percentile. Combined with his over-the-75th percentile height, the doctor was a tad bit concerned.

So today we went in for his monthly immunization (we space them out to one a month) and a mandatory weight check. But have no fear, this boy is growing!

9 months

17 pounds, 6 ounces

10 months

18 pounds, 11 ounces

That is over a pound of weight gain, which is a new record for our skinny little guy! It must be all that almond butter toast he's been having every morning :-)

No worries here.

Time is running out

We have a few more contenders for our photo of Liam to enter into Regis and Kelly's Beautiful Baby Contest.

#1

#2

Here are the favorites from the last batch.

#3



#4

Let us know what you think.

Fun in the snow (or..umm...ice)

Our neighbors across the street gave Liam this little boat. He thought it was great and really enjoyed shifting the gears and turning the wheel.

We discovered that this little boat also makes a great sled. Liam had a lot of fun touring the yard.

I'm glad this week is over

This has certainly been a crazy week.

On Tuesday, an ice storm crept through our area. All day long, ice fell from the sky, coating everything with a thick layer. Gabriel stayed home from work, and together we watched and listened as branches crashed down from surrounding trees. Luckily, we don't have any large trees hanging over our house, and all of our trees are properly pruned, so we didn't lose many branches at all.

Most of our neighbors weren't so lucky.

Trish had a number of branches fall around her house, narrowly missing her car and porch. She didn't have any damage, but she did lose power and camped out on our couch Tuesday night. Liam thought it was great, and Ozzy (Trish's dog) made himself right at home and even snuggled with Linda for part of the night. We're just glad we had electricity and a warm house to share.


Our next door neighbor Jo (who apparently now goes by Jennifer now that she has moved back into town), her house had a lot of big branches land on the roof, and one that fell on the garage burst through the roof.

The branches hanging over our carport leaned in low and scratched against the roof right above our bed all night long, but it was really more annoying than anything. That is how I know how lucky we were: the storm was just irritating.

I still can't get over the size of the icicles.

They covered everything.

Liam and I took it all in from the warmth of our living room.

Thanks to the warm 50 degrees weekend, most of the ice and snow is gone.

I know that there are still people in our area without power and faced with a lot of clean-up. Gabriel spent all day yesterday cleaning up our neighbor's yard and cutting fallen branches out of her tree. He's doing more of the same around town today with a few of our friends.

We have a lot to be grateful for: a warm and intact house, physical ability to help with the clean up, and a little boy who thinks ice storms mean a lot of extra time with Daddy.