I have spent a month with a cast on my foot. I have been home and hibernating more then I have ever done. I am really surprised at how well I have done being stuck in the house! If you ask my family they would not agree. I am surprised at how fast the month went and I really enjoyed knitting,sorting thru papers and files and watching Netflix! Working in my salon for the past 30 years I am used to being with people and talking and hearing what everyone is doing. This time has forced me to enjoy doing nothing. It forced me to let someone do things for me and I hope I learned to let having control go a little. The letting go part is what I drove my family crazy over!
This brings me to talk about pizza! Sunday night my BFF Cathy and George invited Karl and I out for pizza to a local pizza place. Pizza is not something Karl and I eat out much anymore. We have gotten used to our own pizza with fresh toppings and wood fired of course. My son lives in New Jersey and he won't order pizza anymore because it never taste as good as our wood fired pizza. Karl and I were happy to get out of the house. Karl as much as I because he has been doing all the cooking this month and has been stuck around the house with me.
The pizza was good! We both love our pizza but we both agreed pizza is always good! George and Cathy are the friends that no matter where we go or what we do with them we have fun! Spending just a few hours out and laughing about Karl and I surviving my foot in a cast, the economy and how it changed our lifestyle and hearing how cute Bella ( George and Cathy's granddaughter) is was just what we needed. All this while eating pizza.
So what I think about now is that making our wood fired pizza, trying different recipes and playing with the fire and oven to make the pizza just right is fun and the pizza is always good! I think about making pizza this winter and having a pitch card game and pizza night like we did last winter to get thru the winter. I look forward to spring and summer and having parties around the oven while we bake pizza. The pizza is always good! Just like Sunday night at our local pizza place with George and Cathy and the pizza was good!
I think making pizza in a wood fired oven with fresh toppings and fresh tomatoes and our next favorite dough recipe is only part of what makes having a outdoor wood fired oven so wonderful. The real reason we love having a wood fired oven and making pizza and having people over is the oven is a reason to entertain to enjoy our back yard to spend time with my children and their friends and our friends and family. The oven is all about the social element it brought to my yard, it is a entertainment and social feature in my back yard that I could not live without! And the pizza is always good!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Baking Pizza in a Round Boy Oven
I asked Karl to fire up a Round Boy Oven so we can show you some pictures of the oven being used. I also asked him for some tips or tricks he could offer on using the oven. Karl gave me three tips as he told me "There is nothing to making pizza in the oven. It is simple.".
Tip # 1 get the oven roof to white hot.
Tip # 2 Keep the fire to one side so you can turn the pizza to cook evenly.
Tip # 3 Lift the pizza with the peel as if to check the underneath to see if it is done, if the pizza bends in the center it needs more time. When it is done it will be crisp and it will not bend in the center.
Well it is easy! Here are the pictures of the oven baking pizza.
The pizza was delicious!
Tip # 1 get the oven roof to white hot.
Tip # 2 Keep the fire to one side so you can turn the pizza to cook evenly.
Tip # 3 Lift the pizza with the peel as if to check the underneath to see if it is done, if the pizza bends in the center it needs more time. When it is done it will be crisp and it will not bend in the center.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Holiday Greetings!
It is the day before Christmas Eve and K.C. is on his way from New Jersey, Amanda is working her last shift at Outback until after Christmas. I am so excited to have my children home and give them their Christmas presents! I still enjoy finding the perfect surprise gift for them, I still enjoy celebrating the Holiday with them. I think I enjoy the holiday just as much as when they were little.
Karl is making up the toppings for the wood fired pizza we will have tonight! Tonight seemed like the perfect night to make pizza. We wanted something easy and pizza is so easy, we wanted something special and pizza in our brick oven is always a special treat. Karl is in charge of the whole deal tonight and he made a new pizza dough recipe that I will share with you. In fact Karl and my children will be making all the holiday meals this year! I think having this cast might be not so bad after all. I am thinking this could start a whole new tradition in our house!
I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday! We have done so well with our Round Boy Ovens this year! It has been a exciting and successful year for us and we are looking forward to a web site that K.C. is working on with a web designer and maybe some new design features that Harry and Karl have planned. I hope everyone who owns a Round Boy Oven is enjoying some holiday brick oven meals! I would be so happy if you would share with me your favorite recipe for me to post for everyone. We will also be sharing on the web site the very creative designs our customers have used with their Round Boy ovens. We appreciate and have enjoyed talking to all our customers and future customers this year. The best part has been the people we have met! So I hope Santa is good to you all and next year is healthy and happy!
Thanks for reading my Blog, Lisa
From the book PIZZA GRILL IT, BAKE IT, LOVE IT! by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
Olive Oil Pizza Dough
1/2 cup luke-warm water (105*f)
1 1/2 teas active dry yeast
1/2 teas sugar
1/2 teas salt
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup olive oil
Stir warm water, yeast , sugar and salt in bowl. Set aside for 5 min. for yeast to foam. Add flour and olive oil to yeast mixture. Attach dough hook and stir at med. speed until combined. Continue beating at med. speed for 7 min.
Wipe a clean large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in bowl turning so all sides are coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft free place( I use the microwave) for about 2 hours or until doubles in size. Shape and make dough balls the size you need ( I like 10 oz.). Enjoy!
Karl is making up the toppings for the wood fired pizza we will have tonight! Tonight seemed like the perfect night to make pizza. We wanted something easy and pizza is so easy, we wanted something special and pizza in our brick oven is always a special treat. Karl is in charge of the whole deal tonight and he made a new pizza dough recipe that I will share with you. In fact Karl and my children will be making all the holiday meals this year! I think having this cast might be not so bad after all. I am thinking this could start a whole new tradition in our house!
I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday! We have done so well with our Round Boy Ovens this year! It has been a exciting and successful year for us and we are looking forward to a web site that K.C. is working on with a web designer and maybe some new design features that Harry and Karl have planned. I hope everyone who owns a Round Boy Oven is enjoying some holiday brick oven meals! I would be so happy if you would share with me your favorite recipe for me to post for everyone. We will also be sharing on the web site the very creative designs our customers have used with their Round Boy ovens. We appreciate and have enjoyed talking to all our customers and future customers this year. The best part has been the people we have met! So I hope Santa is good to you all and next year is healthy and happy!
Thanks for reading my Blog, Lisa
From the book PIZZA GRILL IT, BAKE IT, LOVE IT! by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
Olive Oil Pizza Dough
1/2 cup luke-warm water (105*f)
1 1/2 teas active dry yeast
1/2 teas sugar
1/2 teas salt
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup olive oil
Stir warm water, yeast , sugar and salt in bowl. Set aside for 5 min. for yeast to foam. Add flour and olive oil to yeast mixture. Attach dough hook and stir at med. speed until combined. Continue beating at med. speed for 7 min.
Wipe a clean large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in bowl turning so all sides are coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft free place( I use the microwave) for about 2 hours or until doubles in size. Shape and make dough balls the size you need ( I like 10 oz.). Enjoy!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Chef Karl and Pigs in a Blanket!
I have my foot in a cast since Monday and for a month more! I have Tarsal Tunnel in my right foot and having a cast and crutches is a learning experience like none other....
A few things I have learned.
I am clumsy!
Using crutches while two sheepdogs circle around me is dangerous (yes, I know I have a sheepdog and a little cockapoo but you try telling her she is not a sheepdog.)
I have a great husband who reminds me to be positive.
I have a great partner and co workers and they have kept our salon running during Christmas and have taken care of my clients holiday hair needs without missing a beat.
I can enjoy the holiday season without shopping and taking advantage of all the bargains. ( I am a shopaholic and this may have cured me)
I love Christmas movies and Specials ( I have never had time to watch them in the past because I was too busy shopping and working to make money to shop)
I can knit a beautiful sweater when I am forced to sit on my butt! (pictures to follow)
I need practice at not being in control and a month in a cast should do it.
My husband Karl is really a good chef and will try anything in a brick oven because for him that is the way to cook!
So here is how Karl made "Pigs in the Blanket" and they are done in our brick oven.
The Recipe
2 small or 1 large cabbage
11/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lbs ground pork
1 cup of cooked rice
2 eggs
1 onion diced
can of tomatoes ( we used our home canned tomatoes)
4 slices bacon
salt pepper and allspice
First boil water and Blanche the cabbage to soften the leaves. Removing the outer leaves as they soften.
mix together ground beef, ground pork, eggs, onion, rice and salt, pepper and allspice.
roll ground beef mixture up in the cabbage leaves. Layer in a oven safe pot ( we used a ceramic dutch oven) starting with tomatoes then "piggies" ending with Tomatoes. Top with 4 slices of uncooked bacon.
The oven: Bring brick oven to white hot and let cool down to 400*. Place pot in oven, we did not use a door but kept a small fire going to keep oven temperature around 400*. Karl turned the pot every 1/2 hour and he timed them for 2 hours.
They came out delicious with a slight smokey flavor. Karl has proven himself to be a great wood fired oven chef. This means I get a break from cooking! ( at least while the cast is on)
A few things I have learned.
I am clumsy!
Using crutches while two sheepdogs circle around me is dangerous (yes, I know I have a sheepdog and a little cockapoo but you try telling her she is not a sheepdog.)
I have a great husband who reminds me to be positive.
I have a great partner and co workers and they have kept our salon running during Christmas and have taken care of my clients holiday hair needs without missing a beat.
I can enjoy the holiday season without shopping and taking advantage of all the bargains. ( I am a shopaholic and this may have cured me)
I love Christmas movies and Specials ( I have never had time to watch them in the past because I was too busy shopping and working to make money to shop)
I can knit a beautiful sweater when I am forced to sit on my butt! (pictures to follow)
I need practice at not being in control and a month in a cast should do it.
My husband Karl is really a good chef and will try anything in a brick oven because for him that is the way to cook!
So here is how Karl made "Pigs in the Blanket" and they are done in our brick oven.
The Recipe
2 small or 1 large cabbage
11/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lbs ground pork
1 cup of cooked rice
2 eggs
1 onion diced
can of tomatoes ( we used our home canned tomatoes)
4 slices bacon
salt pepper and allspice
First boil water and Blanche the cabbage to soften the leaves. Removing the outer leaves as they soften.
mix together ground beef, ground pork, eggs, onion, rice and salt, pepper and allspice.
roll ground beef mixture up in the cabbage leaves. Layer in a oven safe pot ( we used a ceramic dutch oven) starting with tomatoes then "piggies" ending with Tomatoes. Top with 4 slices of uncooked bacon.
The oven: Bring brick oven to white hot and let cool down to 400*. Place pot in oven, we did not use a door but kept a small fire going to keep oven temperature around 400*. Karl turned the pot every 1/2 hour and he timed them for 2 hours.
They came out delicious with a slight smokey flavor. Karl has proven himself to be a great wood fired oven chef. This means I get a break from cooking! ( at least while the cast is on)
 | |
| Before putting in the oven |
 |
| baking with a small fire |
 |
| Perfect! |
 |
| MMMMmm! |
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| My sweater all done! |
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