Monday, February 23, 2009



I was making a fun fruit bouquet for Tammie, since it's her birthday today, and I decided to do bananas in melted butterfingers bars.... sounds yummy, right? So I made them, and left them to cool...then when I went back into the kitchen, I started laughing so hard the cat had to come check on me. They looked like poo! Not just crappy looking, but real poo looking!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Crazy Pizza Dough Recipe

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

Heidi notes: Peter's recipe says the olive (or vegetable oil) is optional. I use it every time - always olive oil, not vegetable oil. I love the moisture and suppleness it adds to the dough, and it makes your hands soft too.

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts.

from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed Press) - reprinted with permission

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Our Australian Friends

Volunteer Firefighters really DO, do it well. This picture is of a volunteer firefighter in Australia rescuing a koala.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Mega mega megamega Code

See, this is what you get when you are the only paramedic in an ACLS class full of nurses, and your instructors are paramedics. My patient walked in the station for a BP check, and died. He was in v-tach, went to v-fib, I converted him and hung a lidocaine drip, he went into PEA, had a medic alert bracelet that said DNR, no wait that was dia and there is a shunt, no wait that was diab...he was the most messed up patient evah! LOL. By the end we were all just thinking of things that could go wrong with this poor guy! And of course, I had to treat them all. He actually became diabetic because I couldn't remember what possible treatment I might have in my bag of tricks for a PEA dialysis patient. Score! LOL!

Now I have to look that up. :)

I passed, now I have a current CPR card and a current ACLS card again *phew!*. I need my criminal background check for Canada, and I need Dr. Ansohn to sign off for the US, and then I should be able to send everything off to both countries. I hope to get that done Friday - because I still feel poopy and want to rest tomorrow. In fact, I stopped at Wal-Mart for Nyquil/Dayquil and lotion tissues on my way to class, and have some Nyquil on board as we speak. Nice warm sleep.... yes....

I still can't taste anything, that makes eating so fun. But I was able to buy cheap hot chocolate at Wal-Mart, since I can't taste it anyways. My head is feeling rather...shall we say...cottony. Ready for bed.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Oh yeah

I believe that if I have a barn for God to fill he will fill it. And no, this isn't a reference to the crap in my barn. But God will fill my cup, or my barrel, or my barn, I just have to believe that he has the blessings to fill whatever vessel of praise I have to offer. I am increasing my capacity to receive. The praises go up, and grace like rain falls down to overflow my capacity to receive. Hooyah!

ook

I feel a little yucky, some kind of sinus thing. I took some kind of sinus decongestant, that has just upped my kleenex use so far. I am starting to look like that little kid on the commercial. Or Rudolph. Not cool. Off to do stuff, I swear.

Monday, February 02, 2009

YUP

Fully functional cooktop. Fully functional! Woohoo!

I will be making french onion soup tomorrow. I am so excited, I may start tiling tonight. Yee-haw! I think I need to TAPE newspaper to the counter first. Just in case, you know.
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And today we have...

A working range hood.
A working wall oven.
Gas lines and electrical done to the cooktop.
Got the sink working last night.
It's almost like a real kitchen.
Only took two more visits to Lowe's and one more to Home Depot. I also have a working flashlight, soon to be two, and I picked up some more microfiber cloths. Pink, this time.

Ah, life is good.

JOY walks here... PEACE follows... COMFORT saves...

This is where life should be lived