Foodie Friday: Homemade Pizza

First an update, then Pizza.  The flight to Florida went off without a hitch.  Our dear neighbor Susan drove us to the airport, you could set your watch by her timeliness.  She was an engineer for NASA for decades, precision is in her DNA.  The flight left and arrived on time, and was not one of the two American Airlines planes that clipped wingtips at National Airport today. Those two planes were taken out of service missing winglets.  I was on a plane once that backed into another plane on the ground and tore the winglets off. 

The hotel is a very predictable Hampton Inn, downtown.  Not a touristy part of town.  It is about a 5 mile taxi ride from here to the Port on Saturday morning.  

Florida feels a little like the twilight zone. Having lived here for two decades it feels like home, and at the same time it feels alien. South Florida is filled with immigrants and tRump voters at the same time and place.  How they can co-exist without spontaneously combusting I don't understand.  Traffic is horrible, and at the same time the Sun Rail high speed train station is a block away from the hotel.  (Not at the airport, cruise terminal or beach where people come and go, downtown near the Court House and library.)

Here are a few tips for making great pizza at home. 

If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, pizza dough is easy to make and better than store bought. You can mix and knead by hand, but it is a bit more work. 

Basic Pizza dough: 

3/4 cup warm water -between 100-110 degrees F

2 teaspoons sugar (more or less) 

2 teaspoons dry active yeast. I use rapid rise that I buy online in one-pound bags, and store in the freezer, it keeps for years. 

2 cups +/- bread flour (high protein flour - in Britain it is known as strong flour.) 

1 teaspoon salt +/-

Drizzle of Olive Oil 

Method: 

Dissolve sugar in warm water, stir in yeast, set aside for 5-10 minutes. It will start to get bubbly. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix flour, salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Stir in yeast mixture. Using the dough hook start stand mixer on low.  If needed sprinkle in additional flour one small spoon at a time until a dough ball forms and pulls away from sides of the bowl. If it is to dry and there is loose flour around the bowl, add water a teaspoon at a time. The flip from too wet or dry to just right is a matter of a tiny amount of water or flour.   

Set a timer for 5 minutes, and mixer to medium low and allow it the knead for 5 minutes.  The dough may still be sticky.  Just before you turn the mixer off, drizzle a little olive oil around the outside. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 1-3 hours.  The longer the rise the more flavor it will develop. 

Toppings: 

Top it with what you like.  There are no rules.  

I make a basic red sauce with a small can of tomato sauce and a heaping teaspoon or two of dried oregano, or mixed italian seasoning. 

Meat toppings should be pre-cooked.  If you are using italian sausage, or ground beef, cook them before using them.   

Top tip: Don't overdo the toppings. My most common failure is stacking the toppings thick and center fails to bake through before the outside edges are overcooked.  The one above was marginally too thick. 

Top tip #2: Get the oven very-very hot.  450 degrees F is a good temp.  I am using a pizza stone. This is a large flat ceramic block that heats with the oven and holds onto the heat.  I am struggling with things sticking to it.  So I stretch the dough and top it on a single sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, and then slide the foil on and off of a cutting board and the pizza stone.  The foil rapidly transfers heat to the bottom of the crust, especially in the center were I find I most need it.  

There is no correct cooking time.  It is done, when it is done.  No two pizzas are the same, the thickness of the toppings, the temperature of the oven, even the temperature of the toppings will change the cooking time.  I start checking at about 10-minutes.  The one above was in the oven about 17 minutes, with the oven door opened once to take a couple of photos.  

I made pizza last Friday for out monthly LGBTQ community gathering. It was a hit. 

What are your favorite pizza toppings?  

Have you made your own dough? 

 

 

Thursday Ramble: Can I write like Tony?

One of my favorite writers of the last 30 years was Tony Bourdain. He was the Hunter S Thompson, of food and travel writing. His style was descriptive and direct.  He seldom held back what he was thinking. He was gonzo journalism for food, travel and adventure.  If he liked something it was clear what he liked, why he liked it, and how he liked it.  If he hated something - he didn't mince words or say polite things, he let you know why he thought the thing, person or place was crap.  You didn't have to agree with him, to understand what he meant.  I think Rachael Ray was fun to watch, but I agree (and she would also) that she was not trained as a professional chef - despite the fact that she was a "Food Network Star."  

He recognized, in the words of Jimmy Buffett* that "we are all flawed individuals." Tony's writing echoed the human struggle for comfort, adventure, love and acceptance, in incredibly honest terms.  

I would like to write more like Tony did. With less restraint and more directness. I tend to be careful to protect people's feelings, to describe things politely. I tend to overlook the obvious details, that most people overlook, and we are surprised when we hear them.  Most of the time, as my grandfather would have described it, "I wouldn't say shit if my mouth was full of it."

It took me several years to forgive Tony for offing himself (he hung himself in a hotel room.) He had so much talent, and from the outside what looked like a great life. He was a romantic, whose life and work challenged normal relationships - he traveled about half of the year. Add in a couple of toxic relationships, and he felt unloved and outright rejected.  The object of his affection was glad to take his money, and tell him to go screw himself. It is sad, but he felt backed into a corner and he couldn't find a way out. His adoring fans, didn't fill the hole in his heart. 

While we are traveling this spring, I have a month of posts written ahead. This gives me time to work on writing in a different style. Morphing the Thursday Ramble or Freestyle Fridays into what do I really think when I lower the filters.  That month starts today. 

*Jimmy was another amazing writer, a little more restrained but he clearly understood how to find pleasure in the midst of hell. 

My World of Wonders aka the Wednesday Ws Pre-Cruise Edition

 

Where have I been this week? A bunch of errands, returned library books, filled my little car with gas, grocery store, bank for a little cash, and the luggage repair shop. Out for a short squirely haircut to make my hair (what's left of it) easy to deal with while we travel.  The Farmers Market, Saturday Morning Coffee, the pool, the gym, old Town Alexandria to visit a square rigged schooner, the Kennedy Center for an NSO performance, ran errands and had lunch. 

Who have I seen? The water aerobics crowd, including a nice conversation with Rene. My sweet bear. We had a record 8 people for our first Friday LGBTQ community gathering, Ana, Susan, Rafael, Mathew, Giuseppe, Larry, J and I. 

What surprised me?  The strap on my small messenger bag came unstitched when I was out walking at the Tidal Basin last week. The bag is not quite a year old, I bought it in Tenerife last spring. The size works really well, my camera fits in it well, and it holds my wallet and other essentials. The repair is costing slightly less than what I paid for the bag.  

When are we leaving on the next great adventure? Soon, worry not there are posts schedule for the next month. I have been a busy little blogger. 

Who deserves an Atta-Girl this week? A little girl, in a princess dress and cowboy boots that sat next to her father in the front row at the National Symphony Orchestra Sunday afternoon for almost two-hours, and listened and watched (while her father played on his phone.) She was a perfect princess. Hope for the future. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen this week? I made pizza for our First Friday LGBTQ gathering, and fried chicken on Saturday night. 

HoW are we lucky enough to have a community LGBTQ gathering each month?  We have it because J makes them happen.  He put up signs on the community notice boards, and replaced them when someone tore them down, inviting people to gather.  He plans activities. We send reminders every month. I have started cooking for the gatherings.  

What was the best 15 minutes on television this week? A CBS 60-Minutes story on barrels and whisky. 

Travel Tuesday: San Francisco May 2016

In May of 2016 I was invited to participate on a committee to set standards for health care decision making, for patients who lacked a legal representative, close family or friends. The meeting was in San Francisco. The medical society covered the travel arrangements, including a couple of nights at the Fairmont hotel on Nob Hill.  A hint, medical associations often meet at the nicest of hotels, if they are paying the bill, always say yes. 

I had speaking engagement at a conference in Chicago the day before. I flew to San Francisco, arriving close to midnight.  I took a taxi into the city.  I refer to it as Mr Toads Wild Ride, I never knew a Toyota Prius would do 100 miles an hour, but that was the ride I had into San Francisco that night. I arrived safe and sound.  

When I was leaving the hotel, Steve Wozniak - co-founder of Apple, stopped his car and waited while I crossed the drive.   

 

Moody Monday: Looking at the Past

A post on House Dust and Wanderlust made me think.  I have spent some time recently digging into my archive of old family bits and pieces. When I sorted through and cleared out Dad's house after he died, I gathered up old paperwork.  Birth certificates and marriage licenses back to my great-grandparents. I can put together the documentation from my great-grandmother in Swansea to myself, including my grandmother's naturalization certificate. I should have that framed someday. I have my parent's tax return from the year I was born, they made $4,694 that year - all from the farm mostly honey sales but also included a share of the grain that was raised on the farm.  

I have an archival box of old family photos, dating back the very early 1900s. Many of the photos are scanned and here, I also sent copies of the files to my siblings. I have my grandparents first camera, bought in a pawn shop in Detroit in the late 1920's. They gave it to me in the 1970s. No one has made film to fit it since the 1950s. 

Going through Dad's house I found things I never knew existed.  A wood box that a watch came in, probably in the late 1930s, that was as close to a jewelry box as he ever had. In it is an engraved silver identity bracelet, that I never knew he had, never saw him wear. Two brass insignias from his dress Army uniform, he was drafted near the end of World War II. And a tiny AOPA pin, from the 1950s.  AOPA is the aircraft owners and pilots association. He would have qualified for membership in the mid 50's. The pin is on the original card, in the tiny envelope it was in when he received it. I don't think it has ever been off the card, but I know it was precious to him. He begged his mother to consent to him joining the army-aircorp before he was old enough to be drafted, and she wouldn't do it. He so wanted to learn to fly.

Just little things, that bring a connection, a contact with the past.  

What connections are we leaving behind?

The Sunday Five: Bakery

1: Is there a really great bakery near where you live? 

2: What item or flavor do you select when it is available? 

3: Have you ever made anything like the pastry above? 

4: Describe one memorable bakery you have visited? 

5: When was the last time you baked? 

My answers:

1: Is there a really great bakery near where you live?  Not really, there are a couple of supermarket bakeries, but not a real stand alone bakery. 

2: What item or flavor do you select when it is available? Chocolate or mocha. 

3: Have you ever made anything like the pastry above? I have not, it would take patience, perhaps I should practice this as a skill building exercise. 

4: Describe one memorable bakery you have visited? The photo above was a tiny bakery on a dark pedestrian only street a few blocks from the Prada Museum in Madrid. All they did was fancy pastries. Everything was wonderful. 

5: When was the last time you baked? When I wrote this one, I had baked a cake the day before. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post- 50 States in 52 Weeks Indiana

 

My first visits to Indiana were on the trips to Arizona when I was 5 or 6 years old, my father had a cousin who lived in Michigan City Indiana, along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Then there was a long break before I started going back.  

When we lived in Lexington, I went to Indianapolis a couple of times in May, for qualifying weekend for the Indianapolis 500 race.  It is amazing to watch cars go by at 200+ miles per hour.  On qualifying weekend, you can get right down along the along pit lane fence.  

My sister and my oldest nephew live in Ft Wayne Indiana, in the north east of the state.  I have been there to visit a few times, and need to go back.  We have close friends living around South Bend in the northwest of the state, we have been there several times to see Kel, Bob, Jen, and Jay. 

The photo above is from the Auburn Cord Duesenberg car museum in Auburn Indiana. A great collection in the original Auburn design center and factory showroom.  

I need to get back to see my sister sometime this year. 

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I can't resist this one, Thank You Debra at She Who Seeks

Fantasy Friday: What if I won the Big One?

Am I the only one who thinks this tree looks like the head of a snake?

I almost never buy lottery tickets, or put more than a quarter in a slot machine, so the odds of me winning an unexpected fortune are slim and none.  But still what would I do, if? What fantasy could I fulfill? 

The program I directed is largely funded by outside funding, grants, contracts, consulting agreements, and donations. The program has an endowment, but it does not generate enough income to support one full time employee. I could fund their budget, give them financial independence. This would allow them to pursue the most important work, rather than the most funded work.  And free the director from the constant search for the next dollar.  

I am a strong believer in the transformative power of education. I know how hard it can be for someone from a modest background to pay for an education (I did it.) I could fund scholarships to help change people's lives.  That would be a good thing. (Much of whatever is left when the two of us are gone, goes to higher education.) 

Over the years I have thought about the amazing homes that could be bought with sudden wealth, and then I think about the work of maintaining them. Owning more than a couple of homes, becomes a full time job.  You can hire people, but then you have staff management issues.  I have been the boss. Been there, done that, and wouldn't really want to do it again.  Maybe bring in a housekeeping service, and have a second apartment in someplace like Florence or Rome where I could spend a couple of months now and then. 

Cars, I enjoy cars, I have owned a couple of head turners over the years.  But I don't think a Ferrari would be in my garage.  One fantasy car, a late 1970s Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible. And probably a nice reliable Toyota or Honda as a daily driver. 

At least once a week I look at an around the world cruise. It would take me places I have never been and probably will never go.  

I have always wanted to have a boat. Ten years ago when I was headed into surgery, the anesthesiologist asked me what I was thinking as he was inserting his lines. I said "how big of a boat I should buy if I survive this." He joked about it being better to rent than own if it floats, flies or f_ _ _s." Then he told me about his airplane.  All I would want is something slow and easy to handle to putter around the local waterways.  (Ultimately I bought the convertible instead of a boat, I reasoned that I would get more use out of the car than I would a boat.)  With unexpected wealth, I could have both. 

If I am slow in falling asleep, I let my mind drift into the fantasy world of what would I buy, if I won the big jackpot.  Building castles in the sky usually puts me to sleep. 

There is an old joke:

Neurotics build castles in their mind, 

Psychotics move in, 

and 

Psychiatrists collect the rent. 

 

The Thursday Ramble: Ideas for Something Positive

We can control what we see, hear, read, feel, We can control what we do, what we say, what we focus our minds on.  And yes these are times when sometimes we need to. 

What can I do for positive input: 

• Take a walk. Get up, get out, move.  Take a slow roll around the neighborhood. 
• Go to the gym, take a swim. You never know who you might see at the pool. 
• Read something reaffirming.  Not a depressing novel, or a book about end of life (I read a book recently about physician aid in dying in Canada) but something about finding goodness in life. 
• Be selective in YouTube. There is a channel that has a lot of content about finding happiness and self acceptance, Reflections of Life, it is produced in South Africa. Not all of the videos are positive, but most are. The Ted Talks are always educational and often positive. Many of the narrowboating channels that helped us through 2020-2022 have faded away.  There are a couple of ongoing renovation channels that I follow. A spin-off from one of those is Brian's Life In France, an Irish guy, living in rural France and working on Dan's renovation every couple of weeks. Sure beats watching Law and Order. 
• Set your sound track. Talk news is probably not a healthy thing to listen to right now.  Dig out your CDs or stream music in a place that allows you to set the mood by your selection of music.  
• Find something funny.  Ask Siri or Alexa or Google for the joke of the day, or to tell you a funny story. Do a quick search for jokes. If you can't remember the last time you laughed, it has been too long. 
• Practice any art.  You don't have to be good at it, for doing it to be good for you.  Escape and have fun in the focus. 

My World of Wonders, aka The Wednesday Ws April 2nd 2025

Where have I been this week?  Out to lunch in Old Town Alexandria, Aldi, the gym, the pool, a hanging in the community center, opening of the art exhibit that I helped hang, the farmers market - first time since December, the local bookstore, local cookware shop, into DC for a five mile walk around the cherry blossoms.  

What have I been up to in the kitchen this week?  Roast Sirloin of Pork with cipollini onions, mushrooms and roast potatoes, cheeseburgers and potato salad, chicken curry and rice, beef stir-fry with rice. 

Who have I traded messages with this week? My dear sister, Spo, Sean, Linda from the arts group - I traded emails with Paula. Mitchell and Sassy. I traded messages with a reader in Greenwich. I talked to Jason, who was one of my shuttle bus buddies - he is still working at DoD - at least today, 

When will things be normal again? A few years, be patient, we survived Reagan, Thatcher, Johnson, and two Bushes. 

What have I bought this week? Wine, chips, veggies and shrimp at Aldi,  broccoli, onions, rolls and pastries at the farmers market,  

Why am I happy? It is spring, and I am leaving on vacation soon. 

Travel Tuesday: 24 hours in Iceland August 2015

On our way home from Germany in 2015, we did a 24 hour stopover in Iceland. We rented a car, stayed in small hotel on the outskirts of Reykjavik. It broke up the trip home, into two 4 or 5 hour flights, and it was a great first taste of Iceland.  We wanted more, we have been back twice since. And probably will go again.  Icelandair has great off season and shoulder season travel packages, and they just entered a partnership with Southwest to expand the airports you can fly from.