Archive for March, 2011

On the first Friday of each month I’ll share a recipe with you & then you share a recipe (or two or three) with all of us!

I’ve got a special treat for my 4rd Rock Your Recipes party. Today I’ve invited Jenny from Planner Perfect Meals to share a recipe for you!

Jenny has an awesome recipe blog with tons of easy yummy recipes! In addition to her recipe blog, she also has a blog called Planner Perfect which is a blog about getting organized! She’s got loads of great organizational ideas over there {and you guys know how I feel about being organized!}

PLEASE pleazzzzze stop by Jenny’s recipe blog and give her a big fat warm HoH welcome.

And now {{drum roll}} please enjoy our main attraction for the evening…

Pizza Bites:

These pizza bites are fun, perfect for parties, or anytime. This is made in my mini muffin tins using my favorite pizza dough and sauce. Using mini pepperoni and spicy italian sausage adds a kick…you’ll love these!

Deep Dish Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

In a large mixer bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, along with herbs and garlic (I use basil, oregano, thyme, and garlic powder; just small palm -fulls of each.) 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky; 3-5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 tsp. oil.
Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size; 1-1.5 hours. Divide into 2 equal portions and it’s ready to use!

Old World Style Pizza Sauce:

Ingredients:
6 ounces tomato paste
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 can tomato sauce (29 ounces)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
1-3 tsp. dried red pepper flakes–to taste
2 cups water
salt to taste

Directions:

In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir the tomato paste and olive oil together, then stir in the tomato sauce.
Add all of the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered for 3 hours, stirring frequently. Add water if sauce gets too thick, but it should reduce down to a thick paste that has enough body to cover a pizza.
Makes 3 cups, enough for 2-3 pizzas.

Notes:

I’ve added herbs and garlic to this crust which gives it lots of flavor. I’ve also tried this with white whole wheat flour if this interests some… it works wonderfully.
I like to throw this on my pizza stone fully topped and with a pastry brush and little olive oil, brush the dough with the olive oil; it helps create that crispy crust.
Bake at 425 degrees if using a pan… 500 degrees if using a stone.

Added toppings:

• Mini pepperoni bites
• Ground Italian sausage, sweet or hot, depends on you taste. I used spicy in my recipe. Brown the Italian sausage before assembling.
• Hand shredded mozzarella. About 3 cups.

Assembly:

Spray a mini muffin tin with a non-stick spray. Tear off a small piece of dough, roll in the palm of your hand and stretch to line the muffin tin up to the lip, creating the shape of the muffin. Add about a tsp. of pizza sauce, Italian sausage, a small dollop of cheese and the tiny pepperoni.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Pop out of the tins, place on platter and watch them disappear!

Thank you Jenny for guest blogging at my recipe link party! You have a great blog full of wonderful ideas so I’m thrilled that you were able to stop by today.

So, have you posted about any recipes lately?

Share them with us!

This party is for Recipes ONLY!

* Link directly to your post, not your blog.

* If you post spam junk I will be forced to delete it. Don’t waste my time!

Ready. Set. Post!

We had another hit of week last week with Hookin Up party #41!

Here are several fun link-ups:

I LOVE the retro look to these Bleach Stamped shirts by Making the World Cuter:

Want new floors? Paint them like Little Blue Chairs did!

Shabby 2 Sweet spray painted these vases. I love her color combinations!

I LOVE THESE HEADBANDS made by Funky Polka-dot Giraffe. I really want some {hint, hint!}

An Argyle Wreath. I’ve never seen an argyle wreath. And I’m pretty much lurving this one made by The Crafty Scientist.

Do you have any big empty cut-outs in your wall? Thrifty and Chic gives a great easy to follow tutorial on how to turn it into a built-in unit.

Life, Crafts, and Whatever made this pillow I’m swooning over.

Whats prettier than a rainbow? A fabric rainbow on a little tiny shirt! Check out how Sumo’s Sweet Stuff made it.

Why am I so drawn to DIY milk glass? I’m loving these jars made by A Little of This, A Little of That.

Love these color twine wrapped eggs. See the clever way Mushki Loves made them.

Must.Have.This.Wreath. made by Ordy and Joon.

If you’ve been featured grab a button and tell everyone!

Post about anything you’ve worked on lately!

* I’d love it if you linked back to my blog. You can find my button above or on my side-bar. Not mandatory though.

* Link directly to your post, not your blog.

A few DON’TS:

* Don’t link up your LINK PARTY **unless it’s a craft or tutorial of your own**
Add your link party HERE

* Don’t link up your SHOP, STORE, OR ETSY to my party

* Don’t link up your GIVEAWAY to my party
{Someday Crafts has a great party each Thursday for this!}

Ready. Set. Post!

Do you remember when I had a clothing crisis because I scheduled a Family Portrait?

Well, after everyone and their dog stepped in with an opinion, I finally came up with this little ensemble.
{Thank you to everyone AND all their pooches for helping me choose outfits!}

Are you just dying to know how the pictures turned out?

I’m in LOVE. LURVE. LU–RRRRRVVVVVVVVVVVEEE.

Kristen Duke of KristenDuke Photography is a miracle worker. A.Miracle.Worker! People!!

Anyone who can make me look this good can obviously preform miracles. Because, let me just say, I.Never.Look.This.Good. Ever.

Cute Couples’ Alert. Be forewarned. These pictures may be too cute for your virgin eyes. View at your own risk.

Aaannnd Hell-oooooooooo, Stud-man! A 9 year old should not be this smokin’. Just sayin’.

This ones gonna be trouble. I tell you what. Truh-bull. She’s already got the eye-batting down to a T. And that tooth-less smile? Melt.

I did not know there were photographers on this planet Earth that could take pictures as amazing as these.

How on earth can I even narrow them down enough to pick which ones to print?

And these three people? Kristen managed to capture the three loves of my life and their true genuine smiles and expressions. I love how Kinsey’s playing peek-a-boo behind her “da-da”. And my little man? The miniature clone of Ben? He looks so big and grown up. Where have the last 9 years gone? And of course Ben is looking quite dapper himself.

I think I’m going to have to print them all. There’s no other way around it. But for my mantle, I’m strongly considering this one:

I love how it’s so informal and casual. It perfectly reflects our fun silly laid-back family.

For even more pictures of my family, you can view them
HERE on Kristen’s Photography website.

And I just HAVE to stand on my soap box for a minute to tell you about Kristen Duke. This lady is a pro. I mean, srsly, did you not just see those pictures she took of my family?!

Meet Kristen Duke:

Not only is she {THE BEST} professional photographer in the entire Greater Austin, Texas area, she also has generously created an e-book to teach you how to use your SLR camera! {{squeal}}

“Say No! to Auto” is an easy to understand 18-page mini book (4×6 pocket size) that teaches you the 3 basic steps to understanding manual settings.

Kristen has broken down the complicated method of using the manual settings on SLR cameras and narrowed it down to 3 basic questions you must ask yourself before taking a shot.

She has generously made her e-book very affordable to everyone and is selling it for only $10! (yowza!) There are lots of picture & camera setting examples to help you in any light setting.

One totally cool thing about her e-book is that she intentionally made it pocket-sized so it would easily fit in your camera bag (smart idea!). You can print it and spiral bind it, put a ring on it, or even slip the 4×6 prints inside of a mini photo album to bind the book.

Kristen also has “Say No To Auto!” Workshops for you local peeps. Like, as in, you get to hook up IN REAL LIFE with Kristen and she will personally teach you how to use your camera. Very awesome.

Now that I’m stepping down off my soap box, I’ll leave you with the.best.photo.EVER. Loves it!

* I was not paid or perk’d to blog about Kristen or my photos from her. I was also not paid or perk’d to promote her new e-book. I do NOT make a penny off any orders of her e-book through my site. I simply am passing along the info because I truly believe she is a very talented photographer and knows her stuff. If you want to learn how to use your SLR camera, I believe that Kristen knows what she is talking about. If you live in the Austin, Texas area, I personally recommend Kristen for all your family portrait needs and wants. I also have heard raving reviews about her Workshops if you’d like to give one of those a try. *