My Strawberry plant is blooming!
Here is Max cleaning our first harvested strawberry:
Max cutting the Strawberry:
And tasting our first homegrown strawberry!
Next... Sister Beka turned 18 and we celebrated with a giant cupcake cake
I used the tuxedo cake recipe that i talked about earlier (what I made for max's great aunt's birthday) for the inside, and had to get a little creative with the outside.
Here is the top of the cupcake cooling:
I wanted to frost the bottom of the cupcake, but i was afraid that if I just frosted it with a knife, I would loose the cupcake ridges, and you wouldn't be able to tell what it was. My original idea was to turn it upside down and pour magic shell (the stuff you pour on ice cream and it instantly hardens) It turns out that the COLD ice cream is what makes the shell harden, and cake is definitely not cold enough. So that was a minor speed bump. To work with what I had, i just tempered some white chocolate, poured it over the bottom, and stuck the cake right in the freezer to set.
Here is the cupcake fully assembled!
Also.. DEEP DISH PIZZA!
My mom made this a few weeks ago, so I decided to give it a try for dinner tonight. Deep dish is SO much more filling than regular pizza. I made 2 9 in. pies (I mean there were two big guys, i figure they would at least eat a whole one by themselves.) Nope.. We didn't even touch the second one. (More leftovers for me!)
Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet! Chicago- style Deep Dish
http://www.pizzamaking.com/deepdish.php
Dough Recipe
2 packages rapid rise dry yeast (Or 2 1/4 tsp.)
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
5 1/2 cups flour Pizza
In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the vegetable oil, olive oil, cornmeal, and half of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes. Attach the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour. Knead for several minutes with the mixer. (Note: because the dough is very rich and moist, it would be difficult to do this by hand.)
Remove dough and place on a clean countertop. Cover with a very large metal bowl and allow to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow to rise again. Punch down a second time and you are ready to make pizza!
Oil your deep-dish pizza pan. Depending on the size of your pan, place some dough in the pan and push it out to the edges using your fingers. Put in enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan. Make it about 1/8-inch thick throughout the pan.
Filling:
1/3 pound sliced mozzarella cheese
2 cups Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes, drained and squished
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
This filling really needs to be doubled, or even maybe tripled. I used two huge cans of tomatoes, but once they are really well drained, it really wasn't quite enough for two pies.
It is also really important to strain the tomatoes REALLY well, or else your sauce is going to be way too sloppy.
Place the cheese in tile-like layers on the bottom of the pie. Next put in the tomatoes and the basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, reserving the Parmesan cheese for the top. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the pie and you are ready to bake.
Here it is all ready for the oven:
Bake the pie in a 475°F oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust a light golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Done and delicious!!
I WILL be better about updating!
I also started my Nutrition summer school class today, so hopefully my menu will take a healthy turn here in the next few weeks!
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