Homemade Pizza

As some of you know, we've been working like crazy trying to finish the "reno" on our kitchen and right now cooking is next to impossible. Some of the cabinet doors are removed or set half-open because of wet paint. I'm finding paint splats on the floor, on my stove, on the countertops...it's driving me nuts!  So we have an extra day this weekend to really kick it into high gear and get the main work area done. After that we're on to the pantry around the corner and, other than the fact that I probably won't be able to find anything once everything is boxed up, I'm welcoming some improved organization there in the near future.

While we're in this phase, we've been missing our family dinners at the table and eating has been totally on the fly. (I'm sure we'll all need to detox by the time we're done.) For what it's worth though, I whipped up a homemade pizza yesterday, thanks in whole to R2D2--my beloved bread machine! He did all but stretch out the dough and put on the toppings. I figure a homemade one is a little better than frozen boxed.

If you are fortunate enough to have a bread machine, get it out and use it. The bread is healthier and nothing at all like the tasteless store bought stuff. Even pizza dough is quick and amazing tasting with a little Italian seasoning or Parmesan cheese added in when the machine beeps midway through the cycle. 

As I've said frequently, Grandma didn't consider herself a baker (and Lord knows, she wouldn't have cooked pizza!) but she sure enjoyed the loaves of fresh bread I brought her from the first R2D2 I got almost almost 20 years ago. She loved the big hunks toasted with a little honey or jam on them. 

I think if she'd had a bread machine many years earlier, she would have dove in feet first and tried all the recipes it had to offer. When you get to your 80s or 90s though, it takes a little more effort to be adventurous. I guess that's why we grandchildren have to step up and be adventurous on behalf of our older loved ones!

Homemade Pizza

1½ cups warm water
1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
3¾ cups bread flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ tsp active dry yeast

Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Choose the dough cycle.

When dough cycle is complete, preheat oven containing pizza stone to 400F.

Remove dough from bread machine pan and place on floured board or work surface. Split into two pieces and knead each to form a ball. Work each piece quickly, stretching out to desired size, allowing to rest for a few minutes if dough becomes resistant to stretching. Once desired size is achieved, pierce all over crusts with a fork to prevent bubbles when cooking. Place crusts on pizza peel and place in oven on preheated stone. Cook for 10-15 minutes.

Remove using pizza peel and top with desired toppings. Return to oven and cook until cheese is melted. Makes 2-3 12-inch pizzas, depending on crust thickness.

Chicken Soup with Dumplings

There is one thing Grandma made that had such wonderful flavor: Chicken Soup. Unfortunately, I've never been able to replicate it to Grandma's perfection...but I'm working on it. She may have thrown in some seasoning or herb that wasn't called for in the recipe and I have yet to discover what that was. When I do, you'll know. The result is still delicious though.

This particular one-pot soup can be made with or without the dumplings, but I recommend you use pastry flour as called for in the recipe and not all-purpose. Pastry flour is finer in texture and creates a more pliable dough which works perfectly for these dumplings. 

Grandma's dumplings were always fairly large (about 3 inches in diameter) and deliciously doughy and tasty. This particular dumpling recipe is versatile because you can use it in any kind of soup or stew (other recipes might contain the broth or meat of whatever soup you're cooking, but these babies are plain).

Also, serve them as soon as they are done. Adding in the dumplings was the last thing Grandma did right before serving it up. 

One-pot meals are just the ticket on a cold wintry day (or any day, for that matter). They are easy, filling, nutritious and delicious. 

Chicken Soup

2 Tbsp butter or oil

1 large onion, diced (reserve half)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 ribs celery, sliced (reserve half)

6 carrots, sliced or julienned (reserve half)

1 cube chicken bouillon

8 cups water

1 whole chicken 

salt and pepper
2 tsp sage
1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried sage

Melt butter in Dutch oven or large stockpot.  Saute onions for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for additional minute; add celery and carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Add in water and bouillon cube and bring to gentle boil. Meanwhile, thoroughly clean chicken, then salt and pepper it and add to pot. Add in parsley and sage.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours.

When done, remove chicken and strain broth. Remove all meat from chicken. Return broth to pot along with chicken meat and reserved vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer for additional 1/2 hour. Add in dumplings in last 15 minutes.

Dumplings

1 cups pastry flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 small egg

1/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp melted butter

Sift all dry ingredients and set aside. Beat egg slightly in large bowl and add milk and sifted dry ingredients. Beat thoroughly then add melted butter. Drop by spoonfuls on top of stew or soup then cover and cook until done. Serve immediately. Makes 4 large dumplings.

Anna Olson's Dough & Cinnamon Rolls

Anna Olson was one of Grandma's dearest friends and I first met her when I was about five years old. She was absolutely precious and I remember she had the skin of an angel--or at least what I imagined an angel to have--no wrinkles, no blemishes, just smooth as silk--even well into her 60s and beyond (and this was long before skin clinics were on our speed dial). She also had only one arm, but I guess I never really paid attention. She was such a beautiful soul.

Much later, I discovered that Anna had been injured on the job working at a local pickle factory. Not sure of the details, but she suffered that devastating injury and was given a prosthetic that looked like a mannequin arm. In spite of this, she was an amazing cook and in a church cookbook from 1973, Grandma kept her recipe for cinnamon rolls. You could probably add a glaze on top, but maybe not having it was the secret to her perfect skin. I can hear Grandma say, "Just be satisfied with the rolls. They're delicious without all that extra sugar on top!"

ANNA OLSON'S ROLLS

1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening

Put in a pan and heat. Stir until all is dis-
solved. Dissolve 1 pkg. yeast in 1/2 cup warm
water. Pour all in a mixing bowl and add 1 1/2 cup
more of water. Add flour gradually until a soft
sponge. Be sure your water is quite warm and beat
well. Add flour until a soft dough and knead well.
Knead dough well on floured board (kneading makes

a finer grained bread). Grease bowl and return
dough to bowl. Put in a warm place to rise and
cover with a warm towel. Dough should be kept

in a 105⁰ to 110⁰ temperature. This recipe makes
2 dozen rolls and 20 cinnamon rolls.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Melt 1 cube margarine or butter and pour into pan
13" X 9" X 2". Keep warm.

Rollout 20 pieces of dough to about size of bread
sticks. Put them in pan with the shortening and
douse them around until covered with the shortening.
Have ready 2 heaping tsp. cinnamon and 1 cup brown
sugar to 2 cups of white sugar. Mix well. Take 5
or 6 of the pieces of dough and roll them in the
cinnamon and sugar and tie them in a knot oblong
and place them 5 in each row in a pan at the end.
Take out 5 more, etc. until all is finished. If
there is cinnamon and sugar left put in a jar and
keep until next time.

Mrs. Arthur (Anna) Olson

I love the last line: "If there is cinnamon and sugar left, put in a jar and keep until next time." That was the attitude of this generation--good stewardship even with a little cinnamon and sugar.