Grilled pizza

There’s a buzz in the air today because of a cool front that blew into Boca last night.  It is so beautiful today.  It’s about 68 degrees this afternoon (50’s this morning).  As a result, it’s a perfect backyard day and evening.  Tonight we are going to grill pizzas and continue enjoying this cool weather.  You see, we have summer and fall and that’s about it here.  So today, fall arrived (even though it’s November 15th!).

We’ve grilled pizzas on a couple of occasions recently.  Our pizzas have gotten better with practice so here are some tips if you are interested in trying your hand at pizzas on the grill! 

                                                                   

We purchase our pizza dough at Publix.  However, not all stores carry the dough.  Of course, you can make your own.  I am just not very good at “rising” the dough so the premade dough is a better choice for me. 

When you are ready to make the pizzas, let the dough sit at room temperature (that means about 70 degrees) for at least an hour so it will be easier to work with.  I use a large cutting board when I am ready to roll it out.  (First, sprinkle some flour on the board and I use cooking spray on my hands so the dough isn’t so sticky).  Roll it out to the desired thickness.  Dear is good at tossing it a bit (he worked in a pizza parlor in college!) so I let him do that part.  I like to sprinkle the dough with garlic powder and minced onion just for an added bit of flavor.

The grill has been preheated.  Now, take a large piece of foil and spray one side with cooking spray (away from the grill, please!!!! …unless you want an explosion!).  Place it on the grate and then place your pizza dough directly on the foil (on the sprayed side).  I know you should be able to place the dough directly on the grate, but I just don’t trust it to not stick.  Let the dough cook until it is slightly light brown on bottom then flip over (tongs work well for this task).  Repeat.  Remove the pizzas and then add your toppings.  Return the pizzas to the grill (on a low heat) – do not place directly over flames.  You want the toppings / cheese to slowly heat through while not burning the crust. 

Need some ideas for something besides a cheese pizza?  What about fresh basil, mozzarella, and thinly sliced tomatoes?  For the sauce, I like to mix a little pesto sauce with my favorite jar of pasta sauce.  We also like a veggie pizza so we top ours with mushrooms, olives, onions, and black olives.  Try a “new” cheese such as fontina, gruyere, or feta for a switcheroo.  The possibilities are endless. 

For more information on grilling pizzas, check out http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/grilled-pizza-recipe.html 

and

http://www.donosborn.com/pizza.htm

 

An autumn wine tasting party

Even though it doesn’t really feel like autumn here in south Florida yet, the temperatures are dropping from a warm 90 degrees to the upper 80’s.  I also saw one tree changing from green to a pretty gold just yesterday….ahh!  It’s Fall at last. 

A few years ago while living in Fort Worth, Dear and I hosted one of many wine tasting parties.  My favorite one was in October which we set up in the back yard.  My friend Denise came into town to help with all the preparations including cleaning the house and setting up the back yard.  Of course, we hung little white lights in the trees  and all around the deck – right after cleaning up all the lovely dog poop!  That’s what good hosts do… We were very lucky since a cool front blew in the morning of the scheduled party day.  It was perfect outside.  We set up two long tables with white table cloths (which is always a requirement at a wine tasting so you can see the actual color of the wine when held next to the white cloth), lots of white candles, and a table full of sparkling stemware.  For dinner, we grilled freshly made pizzas (think mozzarella, basil, etc) for everyone right on the deck.  What a great party! 

 

If you are interested in having your own wine tasting party, here is a great website to get you started. 

http://celebrations.com/article/sensuous-wine-tasting-party

Cheers and Happy Autumn!

 

Busy as a bee in a new hive

Good morning.  Yes, I know it’s been a while since I last posted and I’m sure you have been wondering what’s been going on.  Well, let me share…

During the past 7 weeks or so, we have been busy preparing to move! Actually, I should say I have been busily preparing to move.  Although we didn’t move far (about 5 minutes from our previous house), there was lots to do.  I am taking this opportunity to pat myself on the back since I did just about everything in terms of getting things transferred (utilities, mail, etc.) and packing up the house.  I also handled most of the mortgage and insurance stuff, not to mention all the questions and excitement shared by the kids!  While Dear toiled away at work, I persevered like a busy bee around the house.   I must say, it all started to get to me about 2 days before the movers were scheduled to come.  You could say I finally “hit a wall.”  That’s when Dear reconsidered his priorities and put work aside for a few days to pitch in.  Thank goodness he did – I was beginning to lose it.  Well, it’s all behind us now – at least that part of it.  We moved into our new house a few days ago and now,  I am sitting here successfully avoiding unpacking the multiple boxes that still surround me.  I can’t count how many boxes we have already unpacked – nor do I care to.  It would be nice to have a moving fairy but since those don’t exist, I will continue to move forward – one box at a time. 

 

Questions about husbands

Yes, I have been remiss over the past couple of weeks in posting to my blog.  I hope you can accept my apologies since I have been a bit out of pocket.   I underwent surgery myself and am currently recuperating.  I, unfortunately, had to have my gall bladder removed!  (Remember my earlier posts about feeling so old in regard to my other physical ailments…well, forget all of that.  NOW, I really do feel old!).  I won’t bore you with the gory details but lets just say I am very glad that’s over.  

Here’s a question I have:  Why is it that when you most need your dear husband to help out (while you recuperate from surgery) his back goes out?  Isn’t that ironic?  That’s exactly what happened here.  After surgery, it’s generally not recommended that you lift heavy objects AND you tend to be rather sore…AND medicated.  So, you need a little help.  Well, Dear did what he could given his aching back and actually did a nice job of taking care of me, the kids, and things around the house for a few days.   I think it was just the thing, however, to get him to see a doctor – finally. 

Here’s another question I have:  Why do men postpone seeing a doctor until they are in dire straits?  I have been trying to get Dear to schedule a physical for about 2 years now.  I even gave him the name and phone numbers of 3 doctors about 2 months ago so he could schedule an appointment.  He swears they were all “wrong numbers!”  Well, during this past week, even though I am technically recuperating, I scheduled 2 medical appointments for him – 1 at a doc-in-the-box so he could get seen quickly for his back and then 1 at a doctor who can see him regularly.  I am happy to announce, he went to both appointments and will be getting an MRI soon (for his back). 

Ahh…the beauty of aging.  Ain’t it grand?  …at least it’s nice to do it with someone you love.

 

Just for the fun of it…

Top 5 things I like about being in the hospital:

5.  Being served food I didn’t have to prepare.

4.  Pain management!

3.  I don’t ever hear, “Mom…can you…for me?”

2.  You get flowers!

1.  You get to sleep a lot (especially with pain medication).

  Top 5 things I don’t like about being in the hospital:

5.  The hospital gown (it never closes in the back!)

4.  Steady nursing care throughout the night – even though you are asleep!

3.  Semi-private rooms.

2.  Needles and blood.

1.  Being a patient!

 

 

100% or 60/40?

This week was Dear’s birthday.  It is a very difficult task to find a gift for him.  He tends to be quite picky, especially about electronics and cameras.  I have tried many times to select gifts I thought he would like.  I made a very big mistake one year.   I don’t recall which birthday is was but it was early in our marriage – when we didn’t have a lot of money.   I decided to buy him a dress shirt since he only had a couple and he had just begun a management job.  Clothing is one area where Dear is very picky so I knew I had to buy him a dress shirt made of 100% cotton.  No polyester, no rayon, no lycra, etc.  So, I found a nice white shirt with a thin blue stripe that I thought would be perfect.  I checked the tag to make sure it was 100% cotton – and it was.  From selecting the perfect dress shirt to the time the gift was unwrapped by Dear, something uncanny happened.  That 100% cotton tag morphed into a 60% cotton, 40% polyester tag! (I still don’t really know what happened.  I KNOW that tag said “100% cotton”).  So, Dear opened his gift and politely thanked me and so forth. 

He then said, “Did you forget that I only wear 100% cotton?” 

I said, “Of course not!  Did you read the tag?” 

Him:  “Yes, did you?

Me:  “Of course!  100% cotton.”

Him: “You may want to check it again.” 

Me:  “Why?  …you are kidding me… aren’t you?” 

Him:  “Take a look…” (as he handed me the shirt)

Me:  “Agh!  How did that happen.” 

So ends the 60/40 shirt mystery.  However, the 60/40 is still a part of our gift giving vernacular.  Now when Dear tells me something he would like for a gift, he often adds, “…but make sure it’s not a 60/40.” 

I didn’t get Dear a shirt this year.  Instead, I got him a converter – to convert slides to digital images.  He has tons of slides (of pictures he has taken over the years) that no one can really enjoy because they …are slides!  So, what was the first question he asked after opening the gift and saying thanks?  “Where did you get it.”  I refuse to answer that question on ground that I might be incriminated.

 

Padu and the blob

A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store today. Dear called his parents as we were driving to see how their trip back from New Mexico (to Texas) went this weekend.  Padu (“Pa” (as in paddle) – “do” (as in “Do what?”) – which is what my kids call their grandpa – that’s another story) and Grandma spend their summers RV’ing in northern New Mexico.  Padu had heard from Aunt Mindy and Aunt Judy about my blog, so he asked:

Padu:  How’s Pop’s blob?
Dear:  What?Padu:  Judy and Mindy said Pop has a blob – I think they said it’s on her neck. 

Dear:  One more time…?

Padu:  I don’t know – they said she had some kinda blob on her neck? 

Dear:  ….Are you talking about her blog?

Padu:  Yea, they said she had a blob on her neck but they didn’t say anything else about it

Dear:  Uhh…It’s actually a BLOG …on the NET….and it’s not contagious OR malignant…   …. she’s good.

Padu:  Well, as long as it’s nothing bad….that’s good. 

Dear:  You bet.

…and so it goes. 

For those of you like Padu, who aren’t clear about the difference, here are some definitions:

blob (blŏb)
noun
1. A soft, amorphous mass.
2. A daub, as of color.
3. To splash or daub with blotches; splotch.

 

blog (blŏg)
noun
1. A weblog.
2. To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

 

A bedtime story

As the kids were getting ready for bed the other night, they both begged Dear to come to their rooms to tell a funny story before bed.  This is something they do on most nights but that night’s story was particularly funny, at least in my opinion.   Earlier in the evening, Dear had been talking with Cubs about his hesitant plunge into middle school thus far this school year.  So, in honor of Cubs’ current life situation, Dear told this story.   Dear:  When I was in 7^th grade, I was a new kid at my school.  I was a little nervous about meeting new people, but for me, the real problem was that I was very short…and balding.  Plus, people just didn’t like me.  So, you know what I did?  I made friends despite my problems – with Lolita, the cafeteria employee, and Carlos, the custodian.  They were both sweet people.  I can remember them coming to my house after school.  We played chess and Parcheesi together.  There was a little problem though.  My mom didn’t care much for Lolita’s chain smoking in the house.  One day, my mom asked Lolita, “Would you please not smoke in the house?”  Lolita said, “Hey! I don’t work for you lady.”  She had a bit of an attitude – but she also had my back.  One day at school…at lunch…this kid was picking on me and was about to beat me up.  Before I knew it, Lolita came out of nowhere and pulled a knife on that kid.  He never bothered me again after that.  She was a good friend.  She taught me how to make mediocre-to-very-bad food for 600 people.  Carlos was a good friend too.  I learned how to persevere from him.  He was a hard worker and he let nothing get in his way – not even the fact that he had only one leg.  Actually, he had only one eye as well – he was, in fact, a Cyclops.  …Good times…. ME:  (After laughing so hard I cried – in regard to Lolita teaching Dear how to make “mediocre to very bad food for 600 people”…) “So tell us what happened to Lolita and Carlos, Dear.” Dear:  Well, they were both terminated after the principal found out they were hanging out with a student.  The principal frowned on that sort of thing.  So, I went back to having no friends– but that was okay, because I had me…and I liked me.Me:  Nice story Dear.Dear:  Okay kids.  What’s the moral of the story? (This is how he ends the bedtime story every time).Cubs:  Don’t make friends with the employees or they will be fired.  Dear:  Good job – and goodnight.

    

In case you were wondering, nothing in Dear’s story was true – as is usually the case.