Perfect Pizza Dough

A double batch makes 4 nice individual pizzas

This is my GO TO dough recipe. I like trying different recipes, but this is the one I love the best. One of the best things about this dough is how easily it rolls out. It doesn't 'bounce back' like most pizza doughs do when you're trying to roll it out. And it doesn't stick to the table. This is VERY good when you like your pizza crust nice and thin. Look at how thin this dough gets! When baked it is the perfect combo of thin and crisp, yet chewy inside.

You don't have to roll it out this thin, but it's nice having the option. :)

                         

I don't use the special pan they ask for in the recipe. I use a regular cookie sheet and take the pizzas off immediately to cool on a rack. One recipe makes one 12 inch pizza, or 4 mini pizzas (our favorite way to do it for lunch!). I usually have to double the recipe to feed the family. I included tripled and quadrupled measurements in the recipe for my own convenience, in case I need more for guests. ;)

Perfect Pizza Dough
(adapted from Shape Magazine)

                                              x 3                 x 4

1/2 c. bread flour                (1.5 c.)....         (2 c.)

1/2 c. whole wheat flour      (1.5 c.)....         (2 c.)

3/4 t. active dry yeast          (2 1/4 t.)...        (3 t.)

1/4 t. salt                             (3/4 t.)....         (1 t.)

1/2 t. sugar                          (1 t.)...             (1 1/2 t.)
6 T. cold water                    (1 c. + 2 T.)... (1 1/2 c.)
1 T. olive oil (optional, but I really love adding it)

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, then create a well in the center and add the water. Using your hands, gently combine dough for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until it comes together.

Move dough to a lightly floured surface; knead for 10 minutes of until firm and smooth. Form into a ball. Cover with a clean dish towel; let rest for 5 minutes.

Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to form an 11 inch circle; place on a round metal pizza pan with small holes so the dough just reaches but doesn't overlap the edges. Let rest for 45 minutes before adding toppings.

Add your toppings and bake at 450 degrees for 7-10 minutes.

Potato Leek Soup

I have discovered, at long last, the secret to super LEEKY potato soup!

The Reading Corner-- Organic Gardening for Kids

Geared more toward the older kids (ages 6 and up), but with great pictures the little ones will also enjoy, this book gives the basics of organic gardening: taking care of the soil, watering, weeding, pest control, and lots of tips on mapping out plants. My favorite part of the book is the recipe for natural insect repellent. During our first summer of gardening, we never did have insect problems bad enough to warrant a spray, but we copied the recipe down for future reference!

Run to your local library and check it out!
Or click below to find your own copy.

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20 Weeks of CSA

I cannot believe how quickly my first CSA (Coummunity Supported Agriculture) share passed me by! Back in April, when I paid for a twenty-week share of produce, the weeks seems to stretch out in front of me like a lovely dream. I looked forward to almost half a YEAR of weekly pickups of fresh, local, organically grown food.

Just like all things in life, the time slipped through my fingers, and my 'summer share' came to an end. All through the summer months and early fall we had some amazing food! I have long prided myself in being a true veggie lover, but there were things I tasted that I had never even heard of before my CSA experience. Daikon radish, sorrel, and lemon balm, for example. I scoured the internet and the CSA cookbook the farmer gave me for tips and recipes. As a family we learned to love some new flavors, and as a daycare teacher I was able to share some new foods. (The biggest success by far was the kohlrabi...no one around here can resist the unique crunch!)

Each Thursday night when I got home with my goodies, I set them up on the kitchen table and snapped a photo. Which, to anyone in my family, doesn't seem the slightest bit odd. I do love my photos. "Oh, mom is standing on a chair taking photos of strategically placed vegetables? Yeah, what else is new?"

So, here are the photos of our 20 weeks of colorful, tasty produce. I can't wait to buy a share next spring!

Our Own Pumpkin Patch

I have a confession to make. This adorable pumpkin patch, with 4 round, tiny, orange pumpkins? Cute, right? And so perfectly coincidental that 4 pumpkins grew when we have exactly FOUR preschool kids enrolled right now, right?

You have to know where this is going. YES, I snuck in a couple pumpkins! Now, two of them are officially, ligitimately OUR pumpkins, grown from last year's jack-o-lanterns. But, we needed four. There really is no good way to divide 2 tiny, adorable pumpkins among 4 children (unless making soup, but these pumpkins were not destined for soup...they were destined to go home with each child). I wanted each preschooler to have a hand in harvesting the 'fruit' of our summer's effort in the garden...especially the pumpkins, since they brought so much excitement as we watched them grow. On one of my grocery trips, I just so happened to find two little pumpkins that I really could not distinguish from those that we grew. I snuck the imposters in, and made a plan with the preschoolers that we were going on a little walk to our 'pumpkin patch'. I was worried that they would notice (since we've been monitoring those babies for months)...but we were all caught up in the exictement and no one said a word...except WOW! YAY! AWESOME! What is it with kids and pumpkin patches anyway? Oh wait a minute...that was ME yelling WOW! It was contagious; the kids easily caught on.

Here we are on our 'journey' to the pumkpin patch, on a slightly drizzly day. I could not have asked for more animated, excited reactions as we finally cut the pumpkins from their vine.

Book Review: Plenty

Here is a great read, chronicling one couple's attempt at eating locally!

Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of several books I've read already that start out with a similar mission: the author sets out on an experimental journey (usually of one year), vowing to eat only foods that come from a certain radius of their home. In other words, to plunge headfirst into the locavore movement to see if it is a feasible goal. Of those that I've read (including my beloved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle), each has its own flavor and personality to add to the genre.

Plenty is definitely worth reading. Written by both Alisa Smith and her partner, James, there are tender moments between the two...and not-so-tender moments as their relationship centers around their eating. They add plenty of personal background stories, and have some great, well researched pages about the history of human beings and food. There are even some deep moments in which James and Alisa question everything about their very lives, which resonates with anyone who is...well, human. I enjoyed the humor, wit, and pure emotion these two willingly expose along their journey.

What I really like about Plenty is that Alisa and James live in a city apartment, with literally just a balcony. After years of waiting, they have a tiny plot in the community garden, but not enough room to grow a significant portion of their own food. It was inspiring to read about their dedication to finding sources of food within their 100 mile limit. Even if, at times, I wondered about all that driving they were doing (trips to the outermost limit of 99 or 100 miles to find food started to become routine). They did make sure to mention that they had a 'tiny' car with great gas mileage.

One of the challenges that really resonated with me was the difficulty they had procuring rice and flour. Lack of local rice was not a huge shock, but not having access to wheat? I commend them for their commitment to their project even when facing this staple loss! While trying to work with other carb sources, and eating LOTS of potatoes, the theme of searching for wheat was recurring. They were close to victory a couple of times: once getting a tubful of wheat from a nearby farmer who had grown a small amount but found it unprofitable. Their precious tub of wheat quickly became an elephant in the room as they began sorting it...and finding they had to separate almost equal parts mouse poop from the wheat berries (which smelled like mouse urine even after being sorted). What a huge effort filled with disappointment! Once Alisa and James finally find a local wheat source, near the end of the book, I nearly cried with joy with them as they baked and feasted.

When not driving to obscure locations, they walked to farmers markets, or, shockingly, rowed to the sea to collect saltwater in order to make their own salt. Yeah, they did that. Everything else in the book was pretty mainstream for collecting/foraging/seeking out local food, but by adding the saltwater story at the end, I saw that they were willing to take great pains to truly obtain their own food in the future, if they suddenly were no longer able to put gas in that tiny car. Which is a skill that I think we should all be thinking about obtaining!

Book Review: Grow Great Grub

This is a sweet little book that I wouldn't mind having a copy of!

Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With gorgeous photos, delicious-sounding recipes, and hundreds of handy tips, Gayla Trail leads the reader through a fantastic guidebook on growing food when space is very limited.

What I am most impressed by in this book is that Trail goes into detail about every common vegetable plant you might want to try to grow, and gives specific tips for growing each in containers. Many gardening books are loaded with ideas on helping different plants thrive, but on a big scale. This is a super reference for those whose only option is container or tiny-plot gardening.

At the end of the book she gives a simple tutorial on canning, even including reproducible canning labels, which can be copied from the book, or downloaded from her website, www.growgreatgrub.com. She also offers tips on on drying, freezing and pickling your home-grown food.

Gayla's other website is www.yougrowgirl.com. Love it!

Hasty Harvest

We may have been a little too hasty with our harvest.

A week ago, on a FRIGID Monday morning, which followed a very cold and windy weekend, we headed out to the garden and harvested ALL the tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were mostly green. I was convinced that only cold winds, maybe rain, and lots of frost was going to follow the next few days. Did I check the weather forecast? No. I was going by...intuition? I felt an urgent need to go and rescue our beloved veggies. I imagined that if we did not get the peppers and tomatoes inside, they would succomb to disease, blossom end rot..or maybe even get eaten by hungry animals. I was determined to save the harvest!

I was wrong. A week (and counting) of gorgeous, 80 degree, sunny weather followed. All the tomatoes may have had a fighting chance to ripen on the vine! But instead, Lily and I harvested every single last green fruit while the others were at preschool.

All the tomatoes went into a brown paper bag, with an apple for company. I had read that tomatoes will ripen indoors with this method.

We moved on to every last green pepper, habenero, and jalepeno. The habeneros never got hot, which is one of our garden mysteries (any advice???). They will definitely not go to waste, hot or not. We will use them up like we would red or yellow peppers.

The onions, peas, pumpkins, and kohlrabi were spared our hasty Monday-morning harvest. They continue to do well, and have not seemed to miss their tomato and pepper neighbors as they've basked in the gorgeous sun every day since.

Another Dead One!

Okay, I should not be so excited about this. But look!!!

I would not even have seen that hornworm were it not for the many wasp caccoons on it. Another wasp nursery, yay! Yes, it's gross. Weird. Gives me the heeby-jeebies. But hey, I won't complain about the help these wasps will give me in protecting the tomatoes, this year and next.

Once again, we will LEAVE IT BE! We'll work around this macabre dead beast as we harvest our tomatoes. We want those cacoons to hatch and boost the population of braconid wasps. If only I didn't feel so queasy after looking at it...

Hanging on the The Harvest: Fall Planting

Summer is definitely on its way out. Technically, it IS fall, but I've been hanging on and calling it 'late summer'. Today is the first day that it's truly hit me, with temps in the mid-50s, that fall has crept in to stay. My flipflops are soon to be replaced with socks and shoes--a switch that, to anyone who knows me, marks my final farewell to summer. And believe me, I don't ditch those flip-flops until it's so cold I can't feel my toes while wearing them. My goodbye is long and lingering.

We have had so much fun this summer--swimming, swinging, climbing, running--all the typical outdoor activity. We have also loved checking on the garden every single day. The kids took such an interest in everything about the garden, just as I had hoped; in fact, they would not let a day go by without reminding ME that we should go and check on things. So many potential blog posts came and went without being written--but being outside with the garden often trumped coming in to the computer to actually write about it. . We learned an incredible amount for our first year in the garden!

The summer harvest was meager, but not bad for our first year. These are just estimates from memory:

6 or 7 green peppers

8 zucchini

untold dozens of yellow pear tomatoes

10 beefsteak tomatoes

3 cilantro plants

dozen or so jalepeno

3 or 4 pounds of green beans

a few cupfuls of peas

And some things that are still in the garden, finishing up:

2 pumpkins

2 kohlrabi

dozens of habenero (which are mysteriously NOT hot)

16 onions

at least 12 beefsteak and 20 pear tomatoes that are refusing to ripen

When it's all written out, it seems impressive! I'm proud of the efforts the kids made to keep the garden thriving, giving us all this food!

BUT HEY! We are not quitting for the season, yet.

According to several sources I've checked, including an article I just finished reading in this regional gardening publication, right now is the perfect time to be growing beets, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and turnips.

Last week we tore out the spent green bean plants and pushed a bunch of peas into the soil, hoping for a fall harvest. We put some lettuce seeds, which, like the peas, we had leftover from our spring planting (our spring lettuce never succeeded), into the garden as well.

A couple weeks ago, we took out our trusty mini-greenhouse and got some caggabe and radish seeds planted. I wanted to have them established so that we could transplant them into the garden, perhpas giving them a headstart, a hardier beginning. Peas and lettuce supposedly do better NOT being tranplanted, which is why they went straight to the garden soil. Cabbage and radish (along with some various flowers) were the only seeds I could find, after searching at least 5 stores...apparently the gardeners who plant fall crops plan ahead and buy the seeds in the spring! I was so disappointed, especially after reading about all that variety we COULD be attempting to grow for fall. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I suppose the cabbage and radishes will be our perfect first attempt!

Here we are, planting seeds to hopefully tranplant to the garden soon:

Only a few days later, we had the excitement of green popping out! Here are the fall babies, just a week after sowing them in the greenhouse!

As the temps continue to lower and fall becomes more bitter, we will have to learn ways to keep our fall harvest safe and thriving. I am already in the process of figuring out some sort of cold frame (like a winter greenhouse) for the garden. I am eager to see if we can have some success at growing food before heavy frosts and blankets of snow replace the all the green that is still hanging on in the garden!