It all started with a loaf of bread…

pizza dough, homemade crust

If you are a regular here, you might know that last Sunday I bought a breadmachine. Since then I’ve made two blueberry loaves (one a miserable failure), one loaf of white bread and one loaf of wheat.

This morning I made pizza dough, using a recipe from the Organizing Junkie. Once the dough was ready, I invited the rest of my family into the kitchen for fun: The kids took turns rolling the dough into the pan, and then they each got to “paint” the dough with olive oil.

While the dough rested for 15 minutes, I set out the pizza toppings, along with a few carrots and grapes for snacking. (We always snack on the pepperoni and cheese. I thought adding a few healthier options might be a good idea…. This way I didn’t have to try to convince them to put more veggies on their pizza. They could keep it meat-lovers and snack on the fruit and veggies.)

Soon everyone was preparing his or her spot on the big pizza. (We’ve made individual pizzas in the past. Today I opted for just one big one.) Then into the oven our family creation went.

pizza dough, homemade crust

We spent the 30 minutes bake time watching Olympic synchronized swimming. That was my first time ever to see it and WOW! I was amazed. How do those women do all that, in unison and hold their breath? Amazing!

But I digress…

The pizza was also pretty amazing. When we’ve made pizza in the past I either bought refrigerated dough or already-made crusts. This crust was so much better. I think I’ll try to add some herbs to it next time, or maybe we’ll try the Organizing Junkie’s recipe for beer bread, and maybe I’ll make my own tomato sauce. But wait, maybe I should plant a garden and grow my own tomatoes for that. Uh oh. Who have I become?

And on that note, there will be more about the braided loaf of bread that is rising on my counter later.


Comments

6 responses to “It all started with a loaf of bread…”

  1. […] My sister-in-law, who has just started making bread, recently asked me how I stored my loaves of bread. In the beginning I would purchase bread bags from Bread Beckers. I thought that was a bit expensive to do on a regular basis so I started using two ziploc bags or saran wrap. Neither of these ideas worked terribly well. Then I realized something that I am sure many of you have realized already…. store them in already used bread bags from the store. […]

  2. Oh I LOVE my bread machine… probably the most used small appliance in my house! If you ever need some great bread machine recipes, just let me know.

    I have to tell you, as soon as I left your site, I headed straight to our entryway closet “backpack station” and organized. It felt so much better to start the day off that way!

  3. Somebody's Mimi Avatar
    Somebody’s Mimi

    Wait a minute… you have always cooked and baked, maybe you are just taking it to another level. I mean who always takes cooking lessons when they go to conferences’ and vacations? Who has always won the girls Christmas Cookie prize? I mean your kitchen is better equiped than Rachel Rays tv kitchen!! I think the breadmaker has just added another dimension and hold on maybe the crockpot has added to it also. The pizza does look yummy and what a great idea to have everyone do their own “bite”. By the way how many smoothies and shakes have you made with your new vitamix?

    No Vitamix yet. I’ve gotta prove the new transformation by using the breadmaker a lot and then hope for a culinary Christmas!

    Thanks for the encouragement, by the way.
    –Amy

  4. Does this mean I have finally converted you? After years of baking you homemade goodies have you finally jumped on the bandwagon?
    YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Oh wait- I know what you are doing…. you are posting all these pictures of your delicious food so we have to come visit… you are a sly one for sure!
    Toni

  5. Woohoo! Way to go girl!

    I know the feeling. Just a few months ago I really didn’t care much for cooking/baking. But then I really tried it…with the RIGHT TOOLS…and discovered cooking was actually fun and rewarding.

    But the real key for me was: “with the right tools” (hence my new breadmaker *smile* )

  6. LOL, I had to laugh at your last paragraph because two years ago I would never have believed that I’d be making dinner from scratch every night, baking homemade cookies and walking around the house with my apron on :) I totally get your enthusiasm because I too still get excited every time I take cookies out of the oven. You’ll here me saying, wow would you look at that.

    Your pizza looks great!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *