"Cooking with [Winnie the] Pooh - Yummy Tummy Cookie Cutter Treats" - Piglet's No-Haycorn Pizzas - for my Aunt Mary's 96th birthday

Date I made this recipe:  October 10, 2017 – my Aunt Mary's 96^th birthday!

Cooking with Pooh – Yummy Tummy Cookie Cutter Treats by Marlene Brown

Published by Disney Enterprises, Inc.

© 1995

Purchased at:  BPCA (Bloomington Crime Prevention Association) Annual Sale

Recipe:  Piglet's No-Haycorn Pizzas ('Haycorn' is Piglet's word for acorns)

"I'm planting a haycorn, Pooh, so that it can grow....up into an oak tree, and have lots of haycorns just outside the front door instead of having to walk miles and miles, do you see Pooh?"

I love Winnie the Pooh and his friends and his stories and his adventures.  I always have, always will. 

These characters, brought to life by A. A. Milne, informed my childhood as I read and re-read many a Pooh story.  I remember being particularly confused and scared about the "heffalumps" until I got old enough to realize that is what Pooh called "elephants."  Ah.  Makes a difference, it does!

The main character (besides Pooh), and the subject of an upcoming movie, "Goodbye Christopher Robin," was Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh's young owner. Christopher Robin was the real-life son of A.A. Milne, Pooh's creator and the movie preview looks great.

In fiction and in real life, Christopher Robin and his bear, Winnie the Pooh had many adventures and were the very best of friends.  When I was a kid, there was a song about Christopher Robin called "They're Changing Guards at Buckingham Palace," that played on Captain Kangaroo.  The main refrain is "They're changing guards at Buckingham Palace, Chris-to-pher Robin went down with Alice..." and even though I heard it as a young child, that song always stuck with me. I loved the Captain, loved the show, loved the song – loved

So speaking of "love," just before Andy and I got married, we bought a greeting card for someone with a quote from Pooh and Christopher Robin.  We loved it so much that we tracked down a second card, found the full quote, and decided to have it be one of our wedding readings. I asked my Aunt Mary to do the honors and  I believe I've written in a pervious blog that she got up in front of everyone, said very solemnly "This is a reading from Winnie the Pooh," and then cracked up laughing.  We did too!

Twenty six years later, my aunt is still with us and in fact, just turned 96 which is a major accomplishment.  We were always close (my birthday is the day before hers) and ever since the wedding, we have grown even closer over our love of Pooh.  Thanks to Hallmark, I am able to find a Winnie the Pooh (original illustration) for about every occasion including this year's birthday card.

The Winnie the Pooh characters in this cookbook/booklet are the more contemporary ones from Disney Enterprises. I have vague recollections of a Winnie the Pooh TV show from my earlier years and these more contemporary renderings were the one in that show.  I must confess though, that I have a fondness for the "original" characters are drawn by E. H. Shepard, and I hope I'm not the only one who found it amusing that both the author and the illustrator went by initials instead of full names.

Unlike the mega-paged The Playboy Gourmet cookbook that I used last week, this booklet contains 10 and only 10 recipes, all of which are intended to be made by kids with adult supervision. Each recipe has the name of a Pooh character and of course, all of Pooh's recipes contained honey, or "hunny" as he liked to spell it.

Since there are only 10 recipes, here's the list:

• Pooh's Honey Cookies on a Stick
• Eeyore's Rainy Day Cinnamon Crisps
• Christopher Robin's Gingerbread Friends
• Pooh's Best Lunch-Wiches
• Piglet's No-Haycorn Pizzas
• Rabbit's Double-Double Chocolate Cookies
• Tigger's Bouncing Rainbow Animals
• Pooh's Holiday Ornament Cookies
• Kanga's Animal Biscuit Surprises
• Roo's Painted Cookie Friends

As good as all these recipes sounded, I tend to favor savory over sweet and so made "Piglet's No-Haycorn Pizzas." Piglet calls acorns "haycorns," and I wish I could elaborate further on why it's important that this is a no "haycorn" recipe but I can't so I won't!

The pizza recipe is simple and delicious although I did not do two things called for in the recipe:  I did not use "grown-up" help to turn on my oven, and I did not cut out little pizzas with cookie cutters.  I also added an ingredient that wasn't called for in the recipe – Cipollini Onion that were marinated in balsamic vinegar – yum!  They were in the same olive bar from which I got my "ripe olive slices" and figured why not?  I cut them up in small pieces and they were a tasty addition.

Okay, true confession #4:  I did not roll out the dough as directed.  I tried it and it kept sticking to my non-stick rolling pin (How did that happen?) and still got stuck when I tried flouring first the rolling pin and then the dough.  I finally gave up and just pulled the dough into the rectangle desired and then added my toppings.  I'm just going to say again that I do not enjoy rolling out pie or pizza dough but my husband does which is why he is known as the "Pie Guy" and I am not!

I have always wished that my aunt lived closer as we have so much fun when we are together ("You're the best Pooh reader, ever, Auntie Mare!") but I'm pretty sure she would have enjoyed her Piglet Pizza as well as this charming Winnie the Pooh children's cookbook.

Piglet's No-Haycorn Pizzas – makes 12 to 14 mini pizzas or 1 large cookie sheet

1 8-ounce can refrigerated crescent roll dough

A few tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 cup pizza sauce

12 top 14 pepperoni slices, cut in half

12 to 14 ripe olive slices

½ cup pre-shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

With grown-up help, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Sprinkle flour on the countertop or a large cutting board.  Remove the dough carefully from the can in two sections.  Unroll one section of the dough on the board; unroll the second section of dough next to it to make a square.  With your fingers press the edges together to make one large piece of dough.  Ann's Note:  The tricky part will be pressing the edges of each crescent roll triangle and then keeping them pressed together.

Put some flour on the rolling pin.  Roll the dough carefully to make an 11x10-inch rectangle.  Dip your cookie cutters in some flour, then cut out shapes from dough.  Ann's Note:  I skipped this part but for those of you who want to use cookie cutters, follow the next steps below.

With a metal spatula, put your pizza cut-outs on the cookie sheet.  Shape the dough scraps into a ball.  Roll it out and cut more pizzas.  Put them on the cookie sheet.

With a small spoon spread some pizza sauce on each pizza.  Put two half-slices of pepperoni on top.  Put one slice of olive on each pizza.  Sprinkle each pizza with some cheese.  Try not to get any cheese on the cookie sheet.

With grown-up help, bake your pizzas for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is melted.  With help, take them out of the oven.  Cool them for 2 minutes.  With the metal spatula, take the pizzas off the cookie sheet to serve to your friends.

"TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus," & "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Cookbook" - Pizza and Pasta for Oscar Night 2017!

Date I made these recipes:  February 26, 2017 – Academy Awards (Oscars) 2017

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus – Dinner and Drink Recipes Inspired by Films We Love by Tenaya Darlington and Andre Darlington

Published by Running Press

ISBN: 978-0-7624-6093-9/© 2016

Recipe:  Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce – p. 35 (Menu intended for the 1933 movie, "Female" along with a Vodka Tonic and Boozy Olives, the last two recipes not listed here.)

The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous™ Cookbook – Recipes and Entertaining Secrets from the Most Extraordinary People in the World by Robin Leach

Published by Viking Studio Books

ISBN: 0-670-84245-1; © 1992

Purchased at Barnes and Noble (Used) – Roseville, MN

Recipe:  [Wolfgang Puck's] Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant – p. 117

Sometimes it is a good thing to be woefully behind with these posts because it gave me the opportunity to talk about the kerfuffle at the end of this year's Oscars when the Best Picture winner was announced.

In case you missed it, here's what went down:  Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (a/k/a Bonnie and Clyde, the movie of which is now 50 years old), came on stage to announce the winner of the Best Picture.  They read the list of nominees, then Warren opened the envelope but appeared puzzled by the envelope's contents.  After turning the envelope practically inside out, he showed it to Faye.  She thought he was stalling, said "You're impossible," and announced the "winner," the film La La Land.

And so there was much rejoicing and the La La Land crew came up to give thanks and a couple of them started their acceptance speeches.  Suddenly, the stage was filled with other people all looking at the envelope as well as some of the show's staff talking into headsets, and then the third speaker from the film finished up his speech by saying "We lost by the way."

What?  What was he talking about?  Turns out, there was an envelope mix up and the Best Picture went to Moonlight, not La La Land.  So the La La people cleared the stage, the Moonlight people took the stage, gave short and stunned acceptance speeches and then the program ended.

Immediately, people went to work figuring out what went down and it wasn't long before we learned that Warren and Faye were given the wrong envelope by the team representing the accounting firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the firm that has been tabulating the Oscar votes for the past 83 years.  Oops.  Turns out PwC keeps two sets of each "winning" envelope on hand which is a good idea, unless the envelope handed to Warren and Faye was the envelope of an already-announced award (Best Actress, Emma Stone), in which case it was a bad idea.

So okay, to recap:  Warren and Faye did not read the right name, PwC goofed with the envelope, the producer for La La Land took the bull by the horns and practically shoved the correct envelope into the camera showing that Moonlight won (way to take control of the situ, dude), the show ended, everyone went to the after-parties and so the end, right? 

Wrong.  Within hours, there was call for an "investigation" and I'm sorry, what?  This was not Watergate.  This was not a matter of national security, this is the Oscars folks. Oscars are about films.  And in the end, this incident, unintentional as it was, likely helped Moonlight more than it hurt.  Historically, most people have a hard time remembering who won Oscar's most prestigious award, but not this year.  This is the year that Moonlight made history on many levels (African-American picture, African-American cast and director of a movie about African Americans and LGBT issues), and to me, this boo-boo only ensured we will remember this film and so it's a win-win all around.

Still, this was not my favorite award show snafu moment, not by a long shot. In 2010, a very stoned (drunk? other?)  Elizabeth Taylor (she had trouble with pain meds and, apparently, alcohol) was selected to present the 2001 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and to this day, that debacle is my absolute favorite award-announcement-gone-wrong moment.

First, she thought the nominees were listed inside the envelope and so started to open it (the winner is inside the envelope).  When the audience clued her in, she said "Whaaaat?  I don't open this?" and then "I'm new at this.  I usually like to get them [awards]!"  Ha!

Then host Dick Clark stepped in to help her out saying "read the nominees first."   Then she said "What is this [envelope] for?  Oh I see."  Oh dear God.

So then she read the nominees (finally) and then opened the envelope and started pulling it apart looking for the name.  (I am laughing as I write this).  And finally, she said "And the winner is...and it's flashing 'envelope'." Yes, Virginia, she read the message on the teleprompter, the message that said "envelope" as in "Read it already" and seriously, I about slid out of my chair.

Finally – finally, she read the winner's name and the way she said "Gladiator" (Best Motion Picture – Drama) was hilarious. She sounded half surprised, half delighted and again, half out of it.  And as if that wasn't enough, she tried to close out the show, thanking everybody for coming and Holy Snort-able Moment, Batman, can someone get this woman offstage and quickly? Here's the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGT-NUBNTZc

Naturally, and just like this year's Oscar debacle, this video went viral.  Saturday Night Live did a spoof of it as did an actor friend of mine who used to throw his arms out dramatically while at the same time saying "Glaaaaaaadiator."  You might have had to be there but it was hilarious.  Poor Elizabeth.  Still, every year without fail, I not only re-watch the clip, but I do my own imitation of her presenting the award.  Priceless!

So sorry, Warren and Faye, as good as this moment was, Elizabeth takes the day!

And now on with our story, (already in progress) - the 2017 Oscars and what I made on movie night.  Actually, we need to take another slight detour because one of the books I used on Oscar night was TCM Turner Classic Movies Movie Night Menus and Robert Osborne, long-time host of the TCM channel passed away last week at age 84. 

Turner Classic Movies was a start-up cable station that was owned originally by media mogul Ted Turner (thus, the name).  If memory serves, Ted initially wanted to colorize classic  black & white films, something that had the film community up in arms in two seconds flat.  You think this year's Oscar kerfuffle was bad, you ain't seen nothing!

At any rate, that idea went apparently by the wayside and today you can find a wide variety of classic films, in black and white and color, on this station with commentary and interesting trivia provided by Robert Osborn who signed on with TCM from the beginning (1994).  I loved Robert's commentary as he had great things to say about great films.  He also had insightful things to say about some not-so-great films as well. He'll be missed.

Unlike the other "dinner and a movie" cookbook I used for the SAG Awards, this one highlights only 30 films that have stood the test of time and then provides a menu for us to follow that is tailored to each movie.  Just like the other book, specialty cocktails are provided in every category.

Here's a sampling of some of the movies in this book:

• The Divorcee (1930)
• Grand Hotel (1932)
• The Thin Man (1934) - This film's menu featured a dry martini, naturally.  Nick and Nora fans will know what I mean!
• The Philadelphia Story (1940) I hate to say this but I never warmed up to this film despite it's A-list cast of Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant.
• Casablanca (1942) – "Round up the usual suspects."
• Adam's Rib (1949) – possibly my favorite Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy movie of all time.  Added bonus:  the hilarious actress, Judy Holiday, played Kate's legal client and she played it to perfection.
• The Sting (1973) – This movie is memorable to me because it was the first time I was asked out on a date to go to the movies.  I was 15 at the time, the guy, 16.  Unfortunately, and due to conditions of out of my control, the date never happened and it was years before I watched this movie.  (For the record, the boy was not the problem.  Just had to clarify that!)
• The Big Chill (1983) – "We took a secret vote.  We're not leaving.  We're never leaving."
• Moonstruck (1987) – Andy and I so loved this movie, we walked back up the aisle at our wedding to the tune "That's Amore."  This easily could have been a family documentary.

 So that's the sampling and I'm happy to say that I have seen 22 out of the 30 on the list which is not bad at all.  Alas, I did not see the movie, Female, associated with one of tonight's entrees – Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Sauce – but this film was released in 1933 and I am not quite up on my 1930's film viewing.  I'll have to see if I can find this and watch it sometime.

I am also happy to report that out of the list of 30 films, there are only a few of the ones I have seen that I don't like:  the aforementioned The Philadelphia Story (and also the musical that followed a few years later, High Society, staring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra); Giant (1956); and An American In Paris (1951).  Let's parse these!

It is rare that I hate on Katharine Hepburn, but I just did not like her character in The Philadelphia Story. She played the very snotty and spoiled Tracy Lord and I just could not deal.  That said, I did like the way she said Cary Grant's character name:  "C. K. Dexter Haven."  Nice ring to it, no?

Then there's Giant, a film staring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, a movie that was sort of the precursor to the TV show, Dallas.  I read the book, Giant, by Edna Ferber, but just did not like it on the big screen.  Rock Hudson's character in particular just drove me nuts.  He played a Texas cattleman with an ego as big as the state of Texas.  At any rate, put me down for "no, thank you."

You may be shocked to see An American in Paris on the list but try as I might, I just cannot get into this story because there's just too much music and dance and this is hilarious because I like music and dance!  That said, the movie's music, written by George Gershwin, is the stuff of legend and I've performed many of the movie's songs both in my community band and as a vocalist at various and sundry performance venues.

I could go on and on also about some of the rest of the movies but we would be here all night so let's move on to the second featured cookbook, The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous Cookbook by [the show's host] Robin Leach.

The title of the cookbook is the same title as this show that aired pretty regularly from 1984 to 1989, and then very sporadically until 1995 before disappearing from the airwaves.  The show was hosted by a Brit – Robin Leach – who brought us into the living room and lives of the rich and famous so we could all see how the other half lived, lucky us.

The thing that I remember most about the show was not who was showcased but Robin Leach himself.  The guy had a booming voice, prompting one comedian, I don't remember who, to mimic the guy in a sketch:  "I'M SHOUTING AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!"  I still use that line from time to time even though nobody ever knows what I am talking about!

Since it had been a long, long time since last I saw the show, I went to YouTube to reacquaint myself with Robin's intro and was surprised/not surprised to see it

featured a brief clip of a very young Donald Trump walking with a much younger Michael Jackson.  Wow.  Talk about doing the Time Warp again!  Indeed, this book is stuck in a time warp and so let's discuss the who's who and the what's what of my second featured cookbook.

The book's recipes are broken into categories, and within each category is a recipe submitted by someone a) rich, and b) famous because that's how this thing works.  Our categories for best rich and famous people's recipes are: "Extravagant Affairs;" "Casual Entertaining;" "Relaxing at Home," and "Favorite Recipes of the Rich and Famous."  I feel like I'm playing a special edition of Jeopardy!

Under "Extravagant Affairs," we have an entry titled "Congratulations Elizabeth and Larry," and what do you know, no sooner did I talk about Elizabeth Taylor above than here she is featured with her 8^th (and final) husband, Larry.....somebody.  (Had to look that one up.)  Actually, Larry Fortensky to whom our Liz was married from 1991-1996.  Larry and Liz's wedding feast was featured in the book and included "Fettuccine with Seafood" and "Roast Chicken with Morel Sauce."

Alas, Larry and Liz were unlucky at love as were two other celebrities listed in the "Casual Entertaining" section:  Ivana Trump, The Donald's first wife, and Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff. Wolfgang is known as the official caterer of the Academy Awards Governors Ball and up until they got divorced, wife and business partner, Barbara Lazaroff worked in the business with him.  No matter as Wolfgang's food is good and was a perfect pairing to go with the TCM Cookbook's pasta dish.

Another couple who bit the dust were the "Relaxing at Home" team of Bruce (now Caitlin) and Kris Jenner, and unless you've been living under a rock, you know how that whole story played out so no need to go there.  Also found under the "Relaxing at Home" category were former pro baseball player, Steve Harvey, and his wife Candace Garvey and wow, you want to read the saga of someone who "played the field" (sorry, I could not resist the pun), check out his bio on Wikipedia.  Let's just say the man had a lot of women and children in his life, plural.

Then we have "Favorite Recipes of the Rich and Famous," and I don't know why some of these people were listed here and not elsewhere in the book, but I did not write the book so there you go.  It is here we find recipes from actress Joan Collins, actors Jerry Lewis and Roger Moore as well as Regis and former TV show partner, Kathie Lee (now Kathie Lee Gifford).   Rounding out this category was a submission from The Beverly Hills Hotel that made me laugh because the book is all about rich and famous people and then, inexplicably, a building appears.

Given that tonight was a night celebrating movies, I really wanted to make a recipe from someone associated with Hollywood versus someone who made a name in another field, but that was somewhat hard to do as the latter outnumbered the former.  So I decided finally that Wolfgang Puck was close enough because of his famous Oscar party connection and so I was good to go.

I was all set to make a Wolfgang pizza (he's famous for his pizza) and even selected one – "Black Forest Ham and Goat Cheese Pizza" - as that sounded delicious, but I started getting a nagging feeling I made that before, and sure enough, I did!  Check out my blog postings from February 2009 and there you will find it.

Since I knew I wanted to make pasta from the other cookbook, I just simply substituted another of Wolfgang's pizzas and it was a winner.  The recipe is for a Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant and it was great even if I did make a few adjustments that are noted in the recipe recap below.

And so, dear reader, we had ourselves a pizza and pasta Oscar-viewing night and it was grand but I have to tell you that I felt like I was dining out at a Sbarro restaurant.  Anybody remember Sbarro?  It was a fast-casual pizza and pasta place, popular in the 1980's and maybe early 90's.  And do you know what kids?  They are still operating!  And not only are they still operating, but apparently they are in the food court in the Rosedale Mall, a mall I just visited this afternoon.  I guess I don't get out much anymore.

This then concludes Oscar Night 2017 with its attendant trauma-drama as well as all the dirt that's fit to print about some of the celebrities involved in this and past Oscars.  Good times.

Until next year....

Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce – serves 2 – from TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus

1 jar (12 ounces) roasted peppers in olive oil, drained (Ann's Note:  it would figure that the minute I needed to find roasted peppers in oil, I couldn't, not even from an Italian grocery store!)

1 small clove garlic

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup vodka

½ pound bowtie pasta

¼ cup heavy ream

1 sprig fresh basil, leaves sliced into ribbons, for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish

(Ann's Note:  notice that tomatoes are nowhere to be found in this recipe.  Instead, it's red peppers and tomato paste.  I must say though, I thought it was refreshing!)

Puree the peppers and garlic in a blender until smooth, then pour the mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and add the tomato paste, pepper flakes, and vodka.  Stir.  In a separate pan, start cooking your pasta, according to the box instructions.

Simmer the vodka sauce for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the sauce tastes sweet-hot, without being too bitter.  (If it still tastes bitter, cook it a few minutes more or add a teaspoon or two of sugar.  The cream will also mellow it.)

Add the cream to the sauce and stir.  Heat gently.  Drain pasta and separate into warmed bowls.  Ladle sauce over the pasta and top with fresh basil and black pepper.

Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant – serves 4 – Wolfgang Puck's recipe is from The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous™ Cookbook – Recipes and Entertaining Secrets from the Most Extraordinary People in the World

For the Whole Wheat Dough

Ann's Note:  I cheated an purchased an already-made and non-whole wheat pizza dough to save time, but if you like to make dough, then rock on.

1 enveloped active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

1 cup cool water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

Pinch salt

3 ¾ cups whole wheat flour

For the topping

1/3 cup olive oil

2 medium eggplants, trimmed and sliced ¼-inch thick

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½ pound chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and sliced ¼-inch thick

2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese

¼ pound fresh goat cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes

3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium leek, cleaned, trimmed, and thinly sliced

4 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Fresh thyme sprigs

Ann's Note:  As you'll see, the recipes calls for you to sauté only the eggplant and mushrooms, but I took it up a level and sautéed all but the tomatoes and I loved the result.  Leeks are great when softened and I wasn't sure I wanted that full flavor that raw ones bring.  It's up to you but I think you'll like the result. That said, the by-the-book instructions follow.

To make the dough

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let proof for 5 to 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine the cool water with the olive oil, honey, and salt.  Place the flour in the bowl of a food processor.  With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil mixture, then the yeast through the feed tube.  Process until the dough forms a ball around the blade.  Transfer to a buttered bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in bulk. 

Punch the dough down and knead it on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute.  Divide into 4 equal parts and roll into tight balls.  Place on a tray, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Ann's Note:  Hmmm....interesting that he suggested to refrigerate overnight because here's what often happens:  chilled dough does not roll out very easily. Ours was refrigerated when I bought it and then got stored overnight in the fridge and Andy had a hell of a time rolling it out.   This is not the first time this has happened and after this, I will make a mental note not to do that.   If at all possible, buy it fresh or make it fresh. 

Roll or stretch each ball into a circle 7 to 8 inches in diameter.

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500F.  Lightly dust a wooden pizza paddle with flour or semolina.  Working with one circle at a time, place the pizza dough on the paddle. Ann's Note:  Okay....no.  We don't have a pizza stone and we most certainly don't have a pizza paddle, are you kidding me, Wolfgang?  So here's what we did instead:  we set the oven to 450 and cooked the pizza 10-12 minutes (Wolfgang's cooking time for the whole thing), and then we lowered the temp to about 350 and baked it another 10 minutes or so.  And we used a "regular" pizza pan because that's what is in most people's kitchens.  Worked fine.

One final Ann's Note:  My grandmother used a boxed hot roll mix for her pizza dough and to this day, I can still taste how glorious that crust was.  It still contained yeast but the dough ended up being thick without being deep-dish thick and I loved that.  She was also a master at spreading that dough out on the pizza pan; I am most decidedly not a master at that.  In fact, so frustrated do I get by that endeavor that I turn that job over to Andy who does a much better job with it. 

"Cook As I Say, Not As I Do" - Mother's Day Pizza Margherita

Date I made this recipe:  May 10, 2015 – Mother's Day

Cook As I Say, Not As I Do by Margaret Sullivan

Published by:  Chicago Press Review

ISBN: 1-55652-224-X

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe:  "Pizza I Would Name After You If I Didn't Think It Already Had A Name" – p. 87 a/k/a "Pizza Margherita," made using "An All-Purpose Pizza Dough for Mother's Day" – p. 85

I seem to be on a roll of finding cookbooks oriented toward younger and budding chefs but this one especially seemed appropriate for Mother's Day.  I mean, the title – Cook As I Say, Not As I Do - says it all, does it not?  (For the record, my mother was one of those women who did not do what she wasn't supposed to do but alas, I cannot say I was like her in that respect.)

Like a lot of people, I posted a couple pictures of my mom on Facebook that day, one of which was me "photo-bombing" my mother when she was making something in the kitchen of a house we rented when I was very young ( we called it "The Little House" – NOT on the prairie).  One of my friends commented that the photo "looked like a very Betty Crocker moment" but that is somewhat misleading.  And that's because my mom was very selective about how much time I spent in the kitchen and on what projects I got to play her assistant.

In my early years, I probably "helped" a lot—until I became a nuisance, that is.  And then there was a good long stretch where I was only allowed to lick the beaters, something many kids of that era remember fondly until early iterations of the salmonella scare ruined everything!

For several years, my mom left my culinary education up to the Girl Scout leaders who taught us how to cook over an open fire.  No doubt my mom thought that if I had to burn something down, it was best to burn down the school that hosted our
Girl Scout Day Camp than her kitchen.  She had something there.

Somewhere around 5^th or 6^th grade, I got on a roll making a very easy applesauce recipe.  Lots and lots of applesauce that we froze in small, neatly-labeled containers – her handwriting, not mine.  Mom handled the canning and/or freezing of all other fruits and vegetables from our garden.  I got to watch. 

One of the things that most fascinated me was my mom's pressure cooker.  A few years ago, they came back in vogue but my mom had a veritable lock and load on both the lid and the process; you do not want to mishandle a pressure cooker, especially the lid, or you will end up with food all over your ceiling.  I let my mom drive the big rig.

So all told, my actual kitchen time at home was limited, and what little cooking I did was in 7^th and 8^th grade Home Ec classes (LOVED the cooking part.), along with a bit here and there in high school and then nothing  until my junior year in college.  That year, I moved to an apartment with three other women and my mom gave me an updated version of her favorite cookbook – Better Homes and Gardens.  My roommates and I cooked the hell out of that book.

Years later, I am pretty handy in the kitchen and also have a "thing" about my kitchen – it's my turf.  My mother was the same way; upon finally getting a kitchen of her own when she got married, she never let up off the throttle until the day she died.

When it came to pizza, my non-Sicilian mother relied on Chef Boyarde's pizza kit that came with the dough mix, canned sauce and even canned cheese.  We didn't have that too often though since my dad's mother, Vita, made the real deal.  The only problem was that she was miles away in New Jersey while we were in Michigan.  So we got our proper Sicilian-pizza fix on once a year and that had to do.

This recipe is very similar to my grandmother's pizza and with a few tweaks, I made it even more so.  When my grandmother taught me and my cousin, Mary Pat, how to make pizza (a disaster on many levels given that most pizza dough should not contain large, gaping holes) she taught us her way:  lightly oil the bottom of the pan, put the mozzarella on top of the dough, sauce on the top, drizzle olive oil on top of the sauce and bake.  Easy as a pizza pie!  And delicious.  I've told my husband, Andy, a million times that if you make it like that, you can eat the pizza cold and it will taste delicious because the cheese remains wonderfully moist instead of congealing into something that could be used as a drain plug. (In my opinion.)

Now because I'm somewhat lazy, I didn't make the pizza dough as directed in this cookbook, instead picking up a small dough from Broder's Cucina Italiana where I used to work.  I don't "do" yeast and this recipe calls for yeast.  Why stress myself out on Mother's Day?

And then – and this was my fault – instead of picking up what I thought was "regular" basil from Lunds & Byerlys, I accidentally grabbed Thai Basil which is similar and yet not. And if I am allowed to vent for a moment – what the heck Lunds and Byerlys?  I had never seen Thai Basil in any grocery store outside of an Asian market ever and the day I shopped, there it was front and center?  The nerve!  So rather than risk ruining my very traditional Italian pizza, I used dried basil, adding it to my sauce to allow the flavors to mellow.

I am happy to report though, that the mozzarella made it through the entire process unscathed.  Well, what was left of it after I nibbled on it the entire time I was cutting it for the pizza. 

And that really, was that.  I could have done a roast, I could have made some toast but instead, I made a quick and easy pizza that reminded me of all the good times spent in the kitchen with all my female relatives, all of whom are greatly missed, Mother's Day and always.

An All Purpose Pizza Dough for Mother's Day – makes 1 12-inch pizza

1 to 1 ½ cups water at bath temperature

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dried yeast

2 cups flour

½ cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Add a little of the warm water to the sugar and yeast, and let it express itself, the way you say you never got to.  It will get foamy when it's ready.  Meanwhile, sift your flour, cornmeal, and salt together.  When the yeast water is ready, combine everything, and knead thoroughly; ten minutes is good.  Leave it covered for an hour to rise.  Then you knead it again.  Some Mother's Day, huh?  At this point, all the handling you do is just for fun.  You could be glamorous wiht it like your Dad and twirl it over your head, but I just move it into a 12-inch round and place it on a pizza pan greased with the olive oil.  Bake according to the pizza recipe you are using.

"A Pizza I Would Name After You If I Didn't Think It Already Had a Name" a/k/a Pizza Margherita – makes enough sauce for 1 12-inch pizza

"Don't buy tomatoes from just anybody."

All-Purpose Pizza Dough for Mother's Day (above)

4 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and minced

1 white onion, minced

1 clove garlic, crushed

¼ cup olive oil

12 thin slices mozzarella

12 leaves of basil

Ground white and black pepper to taste

Start your oven at 450 degrees.

Make the sauce by frying your tomatoes, onions, and garlic in most of the oil.  (Ann's Note:  Sautéing the mixture is better than frying and use only enough oil to coat the pan or you will have a very oily sauce.).  When the onions are transparent, the sauce is ready.  Spread the rest of the olive oil on the dough and then spread the sauce on top of it.  Next apply the slices of mozzarella and basil in an artful fashion, as only you know how to do.  Bake for 15 minutes.

And now a word about this cookbook:  it stinks.  I don't mean that the recipes are bad, I mean that it smells as if it fell into a vat of perfume and stayed in it for a year or so. And this is not the first time this has happened with some of the cookbooks I've purchased leading me to wonder just what on earth these women are doing with their cookbooks anyway?  I've tried my usual methods to get the smell out to no avail (a baking soda "bath" then wrap it up in a plastic bag or letting it sit in the sun) and so I spent just about zero time looking for a recipe.  It appears that the author writes "mom" letters of advice to her kids and breaks out the sections by food group and by kid but that's all I can tell you.  'Tis a shame, really, but my nose is already running and all I did was look at the book for two seconds to get clarification on something in the recipe.  Since I have now taken to storing many of the books I've already used for this blog, this one is going into cold storage, still wrapped in plastic, still showered with baking soda because I'll be damned if I let it contaminate my other books! (Or worse, stink up my garage.)

"Babe's Country Cookbook - 80 Completely Meat-Free Recipes" - Crisp Pizza with Fontina, Gorgonzola, and Sage (for an "un-Easter" Easter

Date I made this recipe:  Sunday, March 31, 2013 (Easter Sunday)

Babe’s Country Cookbook (from the movie, Babe) – 80 Completely Meat-Free Recipes! by Dewey Gram

Published by:  GT Publishing

ISBN:  1-57719-354-7

Recipe:  Crisp Pizza with Fontina, Gorgonzola, and Sage – p. 120-121

So Easter was upon us and for most people that means two things:  lamb or ham.  I could take or leave (mostly leave) lamb but do enjoy ham – but only a serving or two and not the 10 pounds of leftovers that need to be utilized in everything from (green) eggs with ham to scalloped potatoes.  Enough, I say, enough!

I was already thinking how to avoid this noid when I uncovered yet another of my friend, Carol “Tall” Voight’s, cookbooks – Babe’s Country Cookbook – 80 Completely Meat-Free Recipes!  Even if you haven’t seen the adorable movie, Babe, the photo of Babe on the front cover is enough to dissuade anybody from making ham.  Plus there’s something just a bit “naughty” about going against convention and avoiding ham all together.  Its so “un-Easter” that it almost makes sense.

It didn’t take me and Andy very long to find our “un-Easter” Easter dinner in the form of this phenomenal pizza and I do mean PHENOMENAL.  This is seriously one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had and that is counting the ones I ate on a trip to Italy.  And it for sure beats the heck out of the frozen variety and honestly, for a few more bucks, skip that frozen cardboard concoction and impress your friends with the real deal.

Thanks to modern farming techniques, finding ripe tomatoes at this time of year was not the challenge it used to be and when it came to purchasing the dough, cheese and olives, I knew just where to go:  Broder’s Cucina Italiana in South Minneapolis where I used to work.

And so fresh from a three-hour Saturday breakfast with a friend (and I must confess, we both had bacon), I motored over to Broder’s and got my Italian food grove on.  I purchased the Fontina and then opted for a slice of fresh Mountain Gorgonzola instead of the crumbed variety.  Instead of crumbling the cheese on top of the pizza, just slice a thin piece of the cheese and put that on top.  And instead of pitted black olives, the type usually found in the canned condiment aisle of the grocery store, I went with Kalamata (Greek) olives.  I think this olive added a bit more taste and interest than the black, canned variety.  (Note:  Broder’s has black olives but they were mixed in olive oil and cracked red pepper flakes and I didn’t want that extra spice.)  And no visit there is complete without fresh pizza dough in just the size I needed – 12 inches. 

After that excursion where I talked to my old boss, Wendy (Hello again, Wendy!), I went up the street to Lunds where I purchased everything else I needed except I forgot to get a red bell pepper.  Shoot.  Fast forward to Easter Sunday:  Andy and I were doing things around the house and then decided to go to the store to get said pepper but we weren’t paying attention to the time and pulled in moments after the stores closed (two of them, Cub and Rainbow, are a block apart).  No worries though, as Andy came up with the brilliant idea that we could just stop at one of the Asian grocery stores nearby (As a rule, Buddhists do not celebrate Easter) and sure enough, the place was open and it was packed.  I walked away with four red peppers for $2.00 and would use one for the recipe and the others for snacking.  Score!!

All that needed to be done to complete the deal was puree the tomatoes, put them through a strainer and then simmer them along with the onions, garlic, peppers and olives until reduced, add the Fontina cheese and the sage and you are done.  Then prep your pizza dough, put the sauce on top, dot with fresh basil leaves and the gorgonzola cheese and you have a winning pizza pie. 

Now, besides the cheese, you might need to make a few other tweaks:  cook the saucer longer than indicated (about 30 minutes total); cook the pizza for longer than indicated (about 15 minutes total) and oil the bottom of your pizza pan as ours stuck to the pan and made it a challenge to remove the pizza slices intact. 

As to the non-ham Easter theme, seriously folks, every time I look at that cute picture of that pig on the book’s cover, I am so glad we went in another direction, especially since this pizza was so damned good.  Both Carol and Babe would have been thrilled with our “un-Easter” Easter!

Crisp Pizza with Fontina, Gorgonzola, and Sage (with a tomato sauce filled with onions, red bell pepper, olives and garlic – molto bene!) – makes a 12 inch pizza

10 ripe tomatoes (about 3 ¼ pounds) (Ann’s Note:  try to use smaller tomatoes as the flavor is usually better; large tomatoes can get “grainy.”)

¼ onion

½ red bell pepper

8 black olives, pitted (Ann’s Note:  I substituted Kalamata (Greek) olives)

5 cloves garlic

6 tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup (about 4 ounces) diced Italian Fontina, or Danish is good too

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1 fresh large ready-to-use pizza bread-crust (about 12 inches) or your favorite pizza dough

½ cup (bout 2 ounces)

Preheat your oven to 325. 

Core all but two of the tomatoes, cut them into pieces, and puree them in a blender or food processor.  Force the puree through a strainer into a bowl, and reserve.  Peel, seed and dice the last two tomatoes.  Or, if you really need to get dinner on the table in a hurry, just dice the two tomatoes – skip the peeling and seeding.  Reserve this separately from the puree.

Finely dice the onion and red bell pepper.  Finely chop the olives and garlic.  In a roomy skillet, heat 5 (of 6) tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper, and sauté for a couple of minutes.  Just as they begin to brown, add the pureed tomatoes, chopped olives, and garlic.  Simmer over medium-high heat until the sauce begins to thicken, about 15 minutes. (Ann’s Note:  at 15 minutes, this mixture was still too watery so I went another 15 and it was perfect.)  Add the two diced tomatoes.  Simmer briefly.  Remove from the heat, and stir in the diced Fontina and fresh sage.  Season with the salt and pepper.

Brush the pizza crust with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to prevent it from becoming soggy.  (Ann’s Note:  Oil the bottom of the pan to make sure your crust doesn’t stick.)  Depending on how crisp you like your crust, pre-bake it in the oven for 5 minutes.  Spread the crust with about half the sauce.  You’ll have some sauce left over – refrigerate to use as a pasta sauce or for making another pizza.  (Ann’s Note:  I used this on pasta and that was a bad idea as it needed just a hint of sugar to make it an acceptable pasta sauce.  But it makes a fabulous pizza sauce so go ahead, make another!)  Sprinkle the pizza with the crumbled (or sliced) Gorgonzola and the torn basil.

Bake is the 325 oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and the sauce is hot. (Ann’s Note:  I baked my pizza for 15 minutes and it was perfect; 5 minutes nets you a soggy pizza crust.)  Cut and serve right out of the oven.

"The Wolfgang Puck Cookbook" & "Foodarama Party Book" - Black Forest Ham and Coat Cheese Pizza and Gala Cake

Date I made these recipes: February 22, 2009 (Academy Award Night)

The Wolfgang Puck Cookbook – Recipes from Spago, Chinois and Points East and West by Wolfgang Puck
Published by: Random House
ISBN: 0-394-53366-6
© 1986
Recipe: Black Forest Ham and Goat Cheese Pizza – p. 112-113

Foodarama Party Book – What to Serve-What to Do at parties for all occasions – Children, Teenagers, Adults by the Kelvinator Division, American Motors Corp., Detroit 32, Michigan
Published by: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
© 1959
Recipe: Gala Cake – p. 37

Well, folks, we are just hours away from the start of the 81st annual Academy Awards – can you stand the excitement?? I know I can’t—so many dresses to critique (it is about the dresses, right?), so little time.

Sadly, folks, the only movie up for an award (Best Supporting Actress) that I’ve seen this year is Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, a quirky yarn directed by Woody Allen (who else?) and that was only a week ago. I am, quite sadly, light years behind on my movie watching.

Once upon a time, though, I was queen of the cinema. I went to movies all the time, especially weekend matinees when it was cheap (today, you can’t even buy the popcorn for what I paid). I was even at the local Uptown Theater when they screened the documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, Harvey Milk being the subject of this year’s movie, Milk, starring Sean Penn. Who knew that this kid from the middle of nowhere would be so cutting edge?

Last year’s Best Actor, Daniel Day Lewis, was also the subject of a quirky 1988 movie, Stars and Bars that also played at the Uptown during a film festival. From what I recall, he played an art dealer who had to go down south to sign an up-and-coming artist named Freeborn (what would I do without http://www.imdb.com/?). The one scene I distinctly remember was when Day Lewis stayed overnight at a theme hotel and had to paddle a canoe (yes, a canoe) across a waterway built in the registration area to get to the registration desk. If memory also serves, he tipped the thing over. Perhaps you had to be there but it was damned funny. It was especially nice to see DDL is a lighthearted comedy for once; that guy does “serious” like nobody’s business.

But alas, people, between the cost of the movies (not to mention snack canyon) and the movie-watching public’s increasing inability to remain quiet in a movie theater (“This is NOT your living room, and yes, I know he has a gun, thank you very much!”), we stopped going. I hate to admit this, but the last time I was in a theater was for The Matrix 3. Why I bothered with that flick, I have no idea but after that, it was DVD rental or bust. (Incidentally, another make-it or break-it moment took place in a movie theater in a state that shall remain nameless for security reasons—my own security—involving me and a woman I referred to as a “(expletive) hillbilly.” It was a heat of the moment thing and I forget where I was (not to mention my manners) and out it came; my entire row, consisting of me, my husband, my brother and sister-in-law slid down in our seats the minute that phrase was uttered in anticipation of a life-changing incident (otherwise known as “death.”). The fact that I lived to tell about this is probably due to the fact that back then, guns were not allowed in the theater…I think.)

But I digress…in order to honor the Academy winners, I turned to the man who has fed the stars for years on end: Wolfgang Puck.

Although famous in Hollywood, Wolfgang opened up a restaurant here in the Twin Cities a few years ago called 20.21 - (http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/finedining/2021/minneapolis/ It’s located in the Walker Art Center (our modern art museum), is primarily Asian-influenced and just darned good. That Wolfgang knows his way around a kitchen even though he came, he saw (the opening) and then he left and went back to sunny California where he doesn’t have to bring his car battery inside during a cold snap like we do.

It was a little challenging making something from Wolfgang’s book but I finally settled on a pizza. I did not make the pizza dough recipe in the book because I’m lazy and because (as I’ve stated before), “why do for yourself what others can do for you?” Just go buy a large pizza dough from Broder’s Cucina Italiana (or your local pizzeria) and be done with it!

Now at first blush, the gala cake recipe doesn’t seem like it’s a good fit for a pizza and you’re right, but there was a method to my madness. Last night, Saturday night, was the second annual Arcademy Gala. Arc Greater Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization serving individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families, and I’ve had the privilege of volunteering for them for the past 22 years. Over time, I’ve chaired national convention events, the 50th anniversary party and last year, stepped in with T-minus 6 months to go to chair the 1st annual gala. Because the event is held in February, we decided to play on the group’s name, Arc, and throw our own Oscar-themed party. Both last year and this year were a hit with a lineup of outstanding entertainment and high-spirited fund-raising auctions. It is a great time for a great cause and for Twin Cities’ residents looking for a great evening out, this is THE event to consider.

And so in honor of THE event of the season, I selected this Gala Cake for my Oscar-evening lineup from the book, Foodarama. (I absolutely adore the name of this book! My husband and I used to throw a summer party on the huge deck of a previous apartment that we dubbed Deck-O-Rama. That party series – Deck-O-Rama 1 -5 – was a big hit but that’s another story for another day.)

Now this recipe calls for a combination of frozen and fresh fruit but if I were you, I’d consider going with the easier and less expensive option known as fruit cocktail; I did, and I never looked back. (Besides, this book was published in 1959; are you going to tell me that frozen fruit was preferable over fruit cocktail? I think not.)

“And the Oscar goes to….”

Black Forest Ham and Goat Cheese Pizza – Makes 4 small pizzas or 1 large one
1 recipe Pizza Dough (p. 110) divided into 4 equal pieces (or one large dough made from a box or purchased from a local pizzeria)
Extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
1 cup grated Italian Fontina cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese or an equal amount of fresh, sliced mozzarella
2 baby Japanese eggplants, sliced lengthwise to ¼-inch slices and grilled or sautéed in olive oil
1 cup cubed goat cheese (Note: it’s easier and slightly cheaper to go with crumbled goat cheese)
2 ounces Black Forest ham, cut into julienne strips
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped, with 1 sprig reserved for garish

Before we get started, let me tell you about all my variations on a theme for this pizza:
I don’t have a pizza stone and don’t intend to buy one and so used a pizza pan and it worked out just fine. You will probably have to bake it a little longer than planned to achieve the same results.
I made one, large pizza and purchased the dough from Broders’ Cuciana Italiana in south Minneapolis – http://www.broderscucinaitaliana.com/. I also bought my fontina cheese and my mozzarella there.
I used one baby eggplant since my husband is not a big fan and I sautéed them in olive oil and then drained them on paper towels before putting them on the pizza.
Goat cheese is expensive so I used half the amount and went with crumbled instead of cubed.
I couldn’t find Black Forest ham and so went with Viriginia ham instead. I doubt I missed much in the flavor category and it saved me a trip to several other grocery stores.

And now for our actual instructions:
Before you are ready to bake the pizzas, preheat the oven with a pizza stone inside to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
Roll or stretch the pizza dough, a quarter at a time, into a 7- to 8-inch circle. Now let’s pause here a minute to talk about this dough. For some reason, this sucker did not want to stay put and my husband and I had to wrestle this dough like alligator wranglers in order to get it into shape and onto the pizza pan. I suspect it might be because the dough was cold (I threw it in the refrig for a bit while making other things before taking it out to warm up) but it was a major endeavor. Let’s just say we were sweating, tired and covered with flour!
One at a time, place the pizza on a wooden peel (paddle) dusted lightly with flour or semolina. (Yeah, right Wolfie—like we all have a pizza paddle just hanging around our kitchen someplace.)
For each pizza, brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle it with dried chili flakes according to how s spicy you like your pizza. Arrange a quarter of the fontina and mozzarella cheese on the dough. Then add a quarter of the eggplant, goat cheese and ham. Sprinkle some chopped basil on top. Assemble the three remaining pizzas in the same way.
Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake it for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling lively.

Gala Cake – no serving size given
½ cup frozen diced pineapple
½ cup frozen diced peaches
½ cup seedless grapes
¼ cup halved maraschino cherries
OR buy two cans of fruit cocktail and drain (so much easier)
1 cup heavy cream
Confectioners’ sugar (added to the whipped cream)
½ tsp orange extract
½ tsp lemon extract
2 8 or 9-inch yellow cake layers (I purchased a generic yellow cake mix for all of $.99 – sweet!)

Thaw and drain the frozen fruits (or drain your fruit cocktail). Add grapes and cherries if purchased separately. Whip cream; sweeten to taste with confectioners’ sugar. Fold in the flavoring extracts, then the drained fruit. Fill and frost cake layers with the whipped cream-fruit mixture. Garnish with additional fruit, if desired.

Note: the photo in the book shows that the cake is frosted in between layers and on the top but not on the sides. I decided not to frost the cake at all and instead pulled out my frosting as I went along and added it to the cake as if it were a whipped-cream topping. It saved on space in my refrigerator and didn’t turn my cake into a soggy mess.

"American Pie - My Search for the Perfect Pizza" - Pizza Margherita

Date I made this recipe: July 27, 2008

American Pie – My Search for the Perfect Pizza by Peter Reinhart
Published by: 10 Speed Press
ISBN: 1-58008-422-2 © 2003
Recipe: Pizza Margherita – p. 171-172; sauce recipe - p. 142; dough recipe – p. 107

Sometimes a recipe gets made because of a need to use up an ingredient, in this case, mozzarella. My mozzarella was left over from the Italian Corn Salad recipe I made the week before. It took me about a second to settle on pizza as the recipe de giorno and a couple more seconds to find this cookbook, American Pie.

Pizza Margherita is a classic pizza recipe and one that my grandmother made countless times when I visited her and it was so delicious my cousins and I often ate it cold for breakfast. The reason we could do that is that my grandmother, unlike any other pizza-maker I’ve ever known, put the mozzarella on top of the dough and then put the sauce on top of the cheese. This allowed the cheese to stay moist rather than turn into that awful hard crust the way most leftover pizzas do. I must confess that old habits die hard and so my version of this pizza is really my grandmother’s, save for the anchovies that she usually put on half of the pizza (although I actually like anchovies, I didn’t think to add them!).

Now I have to admit that I cheated when it came to the pizza dough and went to an Italian deli where I used to work, Broder’s Cucina Italiana, in south Minneapolis to get my pizza dough (they carry both small and large dough, freshly-made and oh-so-yummy. In fact their dough is close to the hot roll mix my grandma always used for her pizza). Cheating is a good thing as it saved me time and effort. Since I didn’t use the recipe our author included, and since it is rather long, I’ll let you track down the book should you feel that you want to do it from scratch.

As to the sauce, it was close to what grandma made and was very robust. I made one large pie instead of two small ones, put most of the sauce on it and it was fine—not too soggy and not too strong on the tomato flavor.

When you’re done with the pizza(s), do like my grandmother did and yell “A mangia!” (Basically “let’s eat!”) in order to get your crew to the table. Eat and enjoy!

Pizza Margherita – Makes two 9-inch pizzas
2 Napoletana Pizza Dough balls, 6 ounces each (page 107) – or – any other pizza dough mix – or – pizza dough from a pizzeria (if available)
Unbleached all-purpose flour, cornmeal, or semolina flour, or a combination, for dusting peel
½ cup Crushed Tomato Sauce (page 142)
16 fresh basil leaves
¼ pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into rounds, coarsely shredded, or cut into small chunks
2 T freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino Romano, Asiago, or other dry aged cheese (optional)

To make the sauce: (yield 4 cups)
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil (optional)
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil (optional)
1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder, or 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice, or a combination
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients, starting with ½ teaspoon salt and adding more to taste. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week. (Note, the beauty of this recipe is that it doesn’t require cooking!!)

Now then, as to baking instructions, I’m going to take a sharp turn away from what’s in the book because there are many variations available depending on whether or not you have a baking stone (I don’t). In general, preheat the oven to 500 degrees for at least an hour. Make sure you have the lowest shelf available for baking. If you are using a baking stone, place it first on the middle shelf of the oven and preheat on the highest setting for at least an hour. If you do not have a pizza stone, use a sheet pan but still warm up the oven at the highest setting for an hour.

If you are using a sheet pan, the author recommends brushing it with oil first. I was way ahead of him on this one as my grandma always did that. Then spread out your dough on whatever surface you are using.

Next and this is my personal preference for pizza, lightly oil the crust of the pizza and then place your mozzarella cheese on top. The author directs you to spread ¼ cup of the tomato sauce over the surface of the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border uncovered. It’s up to you, but I like cheese first, then the sauce. Place 4 basil leaves on top of the cheese (or sauce) one in each quadrant. If you make it my way, you will spread the sauce over the cheese, add the remaining basil and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the grated cheese. If you do it the author’s way, you will arrange half of the mozzarella over the top of the sauce and basil and then sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Carefully slide the pizza from the peel onto the baking stone. It should take 7 to 9 minutes to bake. When it is done, the crust should be puffy and slightly charred on the edge ad thinner in the center, and the cheese should be fully melted and just beginning to brown in spots. The underside of the crust should be brown and crisp, not white and soft. If the underside is not ready when the top is finished, lower the shelf for the next pizza.

Note: if you are using ready-made pizza dough or a pizza dough mix like I did, you will not get the puffy, slightly-charred look the author is going for. You’ll still get a wonderful pizza crust but it will be more like a bread crust than a cracker crust.

Remove the finished pizza from the oven and immediately lay 4 additional basil leaves on top, placing one in each quadrant but not directly on top of the previous basil leaves. Serve the pizza whole (usually 1 pizza per person), or let it cool for about 2 minutes before slicing and serving. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make the second pizza.

For Minneapolis residents, Broders’ Cucina Italiana is a great source for all items Italian, including pizza dough. Check it out at http://www.broders.com/

If you want to enjoy authentic Neapolitan pizza without having to make it yourself, head to Punch Pizza (several locations). Check it out at http://www.punchpizza.com/