Pizza made @home, almost like the original!

I kept reading these articles about making pizza at home under the broiler on one of my fave websites. Yes, you read correctly, in the oven under the broiler!

I decided I had enough of lusting after other people's photos of pizza on the internet. After work I called Elizabeth and asked her what she had planned for dinner. Once I told her my plan, she was up for it. I stopped by Walmart and picked up a cast-iron skilled for under $20 and a pizza stone for under $10. We have both at home, but Elizabeth would never let me use your treasured cookware under the broiler under +500 degrees. Also picked up some other ingredients (Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough, Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Shredded Mozzarella Cheese but also Queso Fresco in lieu of "real" Mozzarella).

On the way home I decided I would try the pizza stone tonight, rather than the skillet. I made a round pizza first, but quickly realized that the pre-made dough cutoffs are not easily reshaped. So the next package I simply cut into 4 rectangles. Using the broiler method it only takes about 1.5 to 2 minutes per pizza, so you can quickly whip up the next fresh pizza while everybody is eating the first one.

So here are the simple steps:
- Place pizza stone under the broiler on high for at least 20 minutes before you place your first pizza on it.
- Puree the diced tomatoes. Place in a small pot on medium heat and add oregano, some salt, a pinch of sugar and some garlic powder. Let it simmer.
- Cut dough in rectangles and stretch it out as thin as you can on your floured counter. Place the dough on a floured sheet or even just a piece of cardboard (you want it to easily slide off right onto the stone).
- Add some tomato sauce, some other toppings, we used shredded ham and some cheese. Important: Less is more! This is Italian pizza, not American! Use less sauce and toppings than you think you need.
- Sprinkle a little olive oil and oregano on top to finish it off.
- Now quickly open the oven, use two oven mits in one hand to pull the stone out a tad and slide the pizza pie on it. Push it back in and watch closely. The pie will cook in less than 2 minutes and it will burn if you don't keep an eye on it.
- Once the cheese is bubbling and the crust is just beginning to char, pull the stone out quickly using two oven mits in each hand and slide the pizza off onto the counter. Place the stone back into the oven to reheat.
- Leave the pizza sitting for about a minute or two to cool off just enough. Add some basil and Parmesan cheese if you want. Cut into slices and enjoy!
- Start on your next pizza!

Next time I will try some different toppings. I fondly remember eating Tuna and Onion pizza in Italy, but there are also just freshly cut tomatoes and real mozzarella, topped with olive oil and oregano. I'm also still eager to try out the skillet method, although I don't think it will be vastly different from using the pizza stone.

Sophie called it the ugliest pizza she has ever seen, but everybody agreed that it was also the best tasting pizza we've ever made at home! To me it was the closest to real Italian pizza I've had in a long time.

Just another Saturday

In the morning all three boys had a birthday party to go to. It was Adam, their playgroup buddy. Max insisted on helping Elizabeth wrap up the presents, but he didn't want her to write his name on them and who they were from. Somehow he was hoping that way he could keep them.... Of course his Mommy tried to make him feel better by telling him the best presents to give are the ones you'd like to keep.

I don't think it worked.

I had bought the boys some Disney shirts. They were so excited when they came in yesterday. They wore some of them all afternoon and insisted to wear some of them to the party today. As you can see they are much better than I in naming all the characters, well at least Henry is:

While the boys were at the party, Elizabeth, Sophie and I went to the Avenue for some shopping. We didn't really find anything, except for Sophie who scored several nice clip-on earrings. We did enjoy some delicious pizza at the new pizzeria in town, called Bia's Pizza Kitchen. It was scrumptdeliciousus (my spell checker just went crazy). So far that's about the closest we have found to real Italian pizza here in the US. If you haven't been there yet, you need to check them out. They are in the Avenues in Peachtree City, where the Atlanta Fish Company used to be. I even have to admit that was my second time this week! ;)

Don't tell my cardiologist, but it was actually my second time this week! I had a Chicken BBQ Calzone on Wednesday for lunch and today Elizabeth and I shared a Steak Fajita pizza. Sophie had a little Cheese Calzone. We all walked out with smiles on our faces and full tummies!

In the afternoon I took the boys for a golf-cart ride, one of our favorite past-times here in Peachtree City. Of course we made a pit stop at one of the playgrounds. The boys had a fun time and naturally little Alex just had to follow wherever his two brothers went.

That little guy is scared of nothing!

Here he is climbing up (by himself of course, as he insisted stubbornly on me not helping him at all) a six foot tall slide. This was after he almost fell of while sliding down and landing kind of hard sidewas at the bottom of the slide, after one of his shoes caught one of the sides. Undeterred he went right back for another slide:

For dinner Elizabeth made her delicious German pancakes and some homemade biscuits. We all love them, but as you can see Alex truly enjoyed them to his little hearts content. I want to make sure though that I point out though that they started out looking much more enticing before Alex got his hands on them (literally)!

Food is so much more of an experience involving all your senses when you're a toddler. Who needs silverware when you have two fully functioning little hands to use? Luckily it was bath night anyways.

Day 4 - Pool and the Beach

In the morning the kids and I jumped in the pool for a few hours. To my surprise even Max enjoyed it, he usually doesn't care much to get in the pool. Afterwards I bought them some icecream. I figured how terribly messy can it get, they are already soaking wet to begin with!



Then we went on our long treck to the beach. We usually just take Hwy 192 out of Kissimmee all the way to the Beach. When you get to the last red light, you go across, make a left and you're right at Bizarro's, the best NY style Pizza I have found so far!

We went on the Beach, trying our best to get some nice Beach photos, but unlike the Schaefer's our "harvest" of photos, even at over 300 shots, was lacking in quality. Luckily the pizzas still tasted delicious in the dark sitting on benches on the beach.

PS: When Bizzaro calls it an Extra Large, it really is EXTRA Large!