Pizza

I made pizza for dinner tonight. It's just the kids and me and I wanted something easy. I always make my own pizzas. I never order out and I don't buy frozen pizzas (eeks).

I'm going to share some very easy ideas to make great homemade pizzas that your family will LOVE!

A lot of the time I make the crust. I use a simple recipe in one of my cookbooks. I don't have my cookbooks here at this house, so ....Click HERE for a great pizza crust recipe. Tonight I used pre-made crusts. They work great, too. You can even buy whole wheat pre-made crusts now, they taste great.

One pizza had the works (aka whatever I had available). First I added pizza sauce, around the edge of the crust I brushed on pesto sauce -this makes the crust taste so good! You can then sprinkle parmesan cheese on, it will stick to the pesto and make the crust even more tasty. Next I added cheddar and mozzarella cheese and then the toppings; pepperoni, bell pepper slices, onion slices, mushroom slices, black olives, bacon, and a little more cheese, then I topped it off with some Italian seasoning.

The second pizza I spread alfredo sauce on the crust, pesto around the edge of the crust, and canned spinach (drained), then topped it with mozzarella cheese and Italian seasoning.

I baked them in the oven at 450 for approx. 15-20 minutes and they were ready.

Here's a couple of additional ideas:

• 
  When making your own crust, shape dough 1" larger than pan or baking stone. Unwrap mozzarella cheese sticks and place around inside edge and roll extra dough over crust and press down to seal cheese sticks inside dough for cheese stuffed crusts!
• 
  Substitute 1/2 of flour with whole wheat flour for a healthier crust.

Karol

Are you cooking THE turkey?

Maybe you're hosting Thanksgiving at your home this year or you're in charge of cooking the turkey (this is for you, Kim). Maybe this is your first time cooking a turkey. Whatever the situation, no need to panic. I'll share a few simple steps and also links to some super recipes for the turkey and you'll be all set.

If you haven't purchase the bird, you'll need to do that soon before all the good ones are gone. A good guage is 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of turkey per guest. If you are serving another meat such as ham or pork loin, you can reduce to 1 lb. You'll probably still have some leftovers.

A fresh turkey is best, but if you are purchasing a frozen turkey, Martha Stewart says to thaw in coldest part of your refrigerator, allowing 5 hours defrosting time per lb of turkey. If you haven't purchased your turkey, don't wait too much longer!

Below I'll share a few sites with great tips and recipes. You can keep it as simple as you want, or go all out and brine your turkey with flavorful seasonings, either way -you'll be a hero for cooking the Thanksgiving turkey!

All Recipes- "A Simple Perfect Roast Turkey Recipe" as basic as you can get, just like grandma's simple, but delicious -has received 71 reviews and has 5 stars! I like All Recipes because you can scale up or down on the recipe to change the serving size instantly. You'll love this site. Search around, there's tons of turkey recipes.

Martha Stewart -Couldn't leave her out, could I? "Perfect Roast Turkey Recipe". Of course, you can browse her recipes and get as complex as you wish with your roasted turkey labor.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks -the who does what? Please tell me you've been to Confessions of Pioneer Woman's blog! If you haven't, you don't get out (on the web) much, do you? She would be so proud to be listed just below Martha Stewart on my list. I would put her above, but I'm listing these in order of simplicity. Ree (The Pioneer Woman) has a totally awesome recipe for Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey, but it is a little more complex than Martha's "Perfect Roast Turkey Recipe" so I had to list this one after. Ree's includes brining the turkey ahead of time and then next shows you how to roast it. In fact, you could plan your entire Thanksgiving menu from The Pioneer Woman Cooks because Ree has recipes for the turkey, the most sinful mashed potatoes I've EVER seen, green beans and tomatoes, and Butternut Sqaush. Visit The Pioneer Woman Cooks and you'll be hooked on her recipes. Just don't tell your cardiologist or your nutritionist!

Cooks Illustrated - Now we're talking. If you really want to get the low-down on everything there is to know about turkey then this is your place. You can read reviews on which brand of turkey to buy, step-by-step planning, even reviews on the best roasting pan to use! Just check out their "Thanksgiving Survival Guide".

Now, don't panic. You can do this!

Oh, and just for fun, check out these funny Jenny-O Turkey Commercials, too funny! Speaking of Jenny-O, they have a really easy turkey roasting alternative. I'm not recommending it though.

Be Inspired. -Karol :0)
photo courtesy of Microsoft clip art gallery

My Owl Cupcakes

Today I'll just share a photo of my Owl Cupcakes with you. They were quite easy to make. If you haven't visited my blog before, this recipe/idea was my very first blog post.

I could not find Butter Rum Lifesavers to save my life (pun intended). So I opted for Werther's candies. Don't use them unless you are going to serve them the same day. The Werther's seems to melt with the moister from the frosting and cupcakes and "weep" butterscotch liquid from around their eyes.

The kids in my daughter's class didn't care. There were only a few that didn't like Werther's or didn't like almonds, etc. But out of a class of 20, about 17 kids ate them and one boy ate someone else's they didn't want. :0D

The only tedious part is placing all the almond slices around the eyes. I was a little tired of it after about the 10th cupcake. But, they were a hit so that's all that matters.

Here's the link again to make them: http://www.landolakes.com/tips/Halloween-Hoot-Owls-demonstration.cfm

Be inspired! -Karol :0)

Cook's Illustrated

Since I've just shared a recipe I'll next share a fantastic Cooking Magazine. -Cooks Illustrated. The covers alone are worth framing. In fact, you can buy posters of their cover art right on their site. The cover is what caught my eye one day in the grocery store as I scanned the magazine section to see what looked interesting.

The recipes in Cook's Illustrated are not quick and easy. They are more in depth, but so worth it. I love this magazine because each issue teaches you about essential equipment they have tested in their test kitchen and highly recommend. They teach you cooking techniques. For example in this October, 2007 edition I have, they have a section titled "The Best Way to Cook Vegetables". I also like that each edition has a section called "Equipment Corner" where they will test toaster ovens to apple corers. They'll list several brands they tested, the cost of each, and how each rated and why. In fact, in this edition they have tested cast-iron skillets. They tested 8 types and brands. Very detailed tests of each and everything you'd want to know when shopping for a cast-iron skillet!

I also like that with each recipe they have facts about the foods in the recipe and proper ways to prepare certain ingredients in the recipe. I've learned so much from Cook's Illustrated. This October edition has a section on Perfecting Pear Crisp. Not only do they have an awesome recipe, they have info about a video on their website to make it, they have step by step illustrated instructions on preparing pears for the crisp, info on three different types of pears that they used in this recipe and how each one compared (talk about in depth!), and also how to get the crisp topping just right.

You can visit their website here, where there's a plethora of information, videos, recipes, and more. I really hope this inspires you to try new recipes and even if it looks difficult, give it a try! There might be a little gourmet in you and you didn't even know it!

Be Inspired! Karol :0)