Pizza Night!!!

Adult Fire Roasted Veggie Pizza

Kid's Cheese Pizza

 I must say, it is good to get back to the Garden state and get back to a bit of normalcy. However, I am just about as thrilled as a turkey on Thanksgiving Day to be going back to work tomorrow and am seriously considering taking another day off... forever. It would be really cool if I could simply charge all of you ten dollars each time you view the site and that may allow me to retire a bit early. No takers? Oh well, I guess I will have to sell my body to science or begin to get cozy with the fact that I will likely be working for the next  (lets see, 3 kids, all likely going to college, 1 likely going to an Ivy league school minus my youngest who will likely drop out of community college like his dad after one year because he has made a few "lifestyle changes" equals...) 67 years. Awesome. I can retire at the age of 98. What is it that those billboards advertising the adult communities say, you know, the ones with the old silver back playing tennis surrounded by his wife and two other widows with the "I made a ton of money off of Microsoft's stock in the mid 90's" grin on his face, say? Oh yes, I believe they say, life begins at 105! On the right track!

Speaking of tracks, for those who have never been out there, the Lancaster County, Hershey, and the Strasburg area of Pennsylvania is amazing. Rolling hills, sleepy towns, and some of the friendliest people I have ever met in my life, I highly recommend it to anyone with kids looking for a cheap and fun weekend get away. In all seriousness, if you need a few web-sites for ideas, let me know in the comments section and I shall pass them along. I will be posting pictures and giving a de-briefing on the tom-foolery that took place this past weekend as the Bintliff's stormed the dutch country. Also, in case you were wondering, Harrisburg is not awesome at all. Nope, not even a little bit. That is the sorriest excuse for a state capitol as I have ever seen. It made Albany, NY look like Reno, NV and Trenton, NJ look like, well, I guess Trenton still looks like Trenton.

I am home, the house is not on fire, our car is still in the driveway, and we didn't forget any of the kids in Lancaster. Life is good, LET'S DISH!!!

Suggested music on Spotify: Claudio Villa on the playlist Italian Dinner Music

This guy looks REAL cool. 

Suggested kitchen dance: The Monferrina

Suggested Beverage: Italian dish, Italian dancing to Italian music. Grab that little chick-a-dee from the land of Nap-o-li and drink some Vino. For the gringos in the crowd, that means wine. Make sure it's red too. White wine is for sissies! 

*Disclaimer: I would be flagged from operating children's toys let alone driving an automobile after one glass of any kind of wine, so I too am a aforementioned sissy. 


Kid Alert: Encourage your kids to help pour ingredients and to top the pizzas themselves with toppings that they choose. Also, save a little bit of dough for them to play with. They will feel really important as they make their own little pizza. Also, they will think you are pretty silly when you keep talking like you are an off-the boat Italian like dear old Uncle Guiseppe.


Ingredients (pizza dough):

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F ish)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions (pizza dough):

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

*I use a pizza stone and a pizza peel. If you too will be using these items, with the pizza stone in the oven, preheat the oven to 550 degrees F, then you are ready to bake pizza, drop temp back down to 450 degrees F. Also, the dough can be divided into smaller portions so that you can make a few different kinds of pizza. In our house, that is what we typically do since we all like different toppings. 

Ingredients (toppings):

4 roma tomatoes

2 green peppers sliced into quarters

4 sweet Italian frying peppers (cut off tops and slice down the middle, long ways)

1 medium zucchini sliced into 1/2 inch medallions

2 tbs olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions (toppings):

1. Heat outdoor grill on highest heat setting and close lid for 5 minutes. 

2. Place vegetables in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper if desired and then olive oil. Toss vegetables in bowl until all coated with oil. Add more oil if needed, but 2 tbs ought to do the trick.

3. Once heated, add vegetables to the grill. Do not leave as they will burn quickly. Cook until the outer skins of the vegetables are slightly charred and starting to bubble. Then flip. Each side should be cooked for about 3-5 minutes per side, but it really depends on how hot your grill can get. The tomatoes willtake a little longer.

4. Once cooked, dice all vegetables, keeping the peppers and zucchini together and keeping the tomatoes separate from the rest.

5. After dicing the tomatoes, spread them on pizza crust. Then place the rest of the veggies on top of the tomatoes and then top with mozzarella cheese. 

"Mama's just jealous it's the YEASTIE BOYS!"

                                   

   Maria loves touching the dough, but freaks out when it gets stuck to her fingers.  She's crazy.

We use a lot of olive oil in this house. A lot.

Burn baby burn. Is there a Disco Inferno or is it just Hot, Hot, Hot?

The tomatoes actually become sauce, without all of the added crud of sauce in a can or jar. Best part, they are really healthy and the kids don't know any better. Parenting tip: 85% of successful parenthood lies in the ability to be able to trick your children at any given time. 

E' Finito!