Pizza and People

Homemade pizza is one of those simple joys in life. It takes just enough time to create memories but not enough time to be tedious. I found this pizza crust recipe in a book from my mom and I loved it so much that I had to make it two nights in a row! The crust is fairly simple and because it has wheat flour in it we can pretend it's healthy. The toppings are all entirely optional but I include my suggestions below. Enjoy!

Thick Crust Pizza Dough (adapted from The Pillsbury Cookbook)

3/4 cup wheat flour
1-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 cup water1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup wheat flour, salt, sugar and yeast; blend well. In a small saucepan, heat water and oil until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F); add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in 1/2 to 3/4 cup flour to form stiff dough.
On a floured surface knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place (I turn the oven on warm and put it in there) until light and doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Roll our dough to desired thickness and bake at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes until just set. Take out from oven and add sauce and toppings. Return to oven and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted and turning crispy. Eat and read the following story:

* My toppings: after making this two nights in a row I came up with the ultimate combination- but it has more grown up flavors on it so I wouldn't suggest it for kids. We made a simple white sauce (ask me if you really want it) but substituted some of the butter for cream cheese. This made it creamy and flavorful. On top of the sauce we put chicken we had grilled with garlic and pesto. We added baby spinach leaves, sliced tomatoes, a little mozzarella and feta cheese. It was delicious! The only thing I would change would be to add more spinach and tomatoes as they shrink while cooking.

And now for the fiction:



*As always, this story is fiction. Any resemblance of persons living or dead is purely coincidental :)

She was driving me crazy. She really was, and I was about to chuck my calculator at her. I was an accountant, I became an accountant so I would not have to deal with people. But when the company moved into a smaller office they put me the only place they had an extra computer, at the front desk. It was supposed to be for just a few weeks but my boss got busy and forgot about me. And so here I was three months later wanting to pull my hair out every five minutes. Maybe it was me, maybe I was doomed to never be a people person. She had it down pat, the sweet voice and happy smile and "How can I help you?" in a high voice. Her rather odd sense of style seemed to weird me out too. One day she came to work in platform heels and sparkly dress with bright red lipstick. Maybe I was just jealous that she must have actually had time to do her hair because it was always styled elaborately. Maybe it was that she always wanted to be in charge, even if she didn't know what she was doing. She would interrupt when I was talking to a manager about the daily reports, little things like that. Annalisa really was a nice girl, she was never outright mean, she just seemed to grate on my nerves. I knew that I needed to just get over it, and I was never rude to her or said anything, I just held it all in until I thought I would shout.
As I sat at my desk typing and balancing the invoices and thinking of ways to drown out her voice I saw the water in my water bottle begin to ripple ever so slightly. I looked around but no one seemed to notice the faint vibrations but me. I was watching the rippling water closely when the lights went out and we were plunged into darkness. I think I might have screamed but I couldn't hear my own voice as a fuzzy sort of ringing filled my ears. An electric blue light shot into the room and I saw Annalisa's face from across the room, she looked curiously at the light. The blue light began to fade from the corners of the room and slowly came to rest directly around Annalisa. The fuzzy ringing intensified and the light flashed once brightly and then darkness returned. When the lights flickered back on Annalisa was gone. In her place was a neatly written note saying " We have need of this specimen for scientific study, will return within 3000 light years. Thank You". I smiled and decided Annalisa could do alien society a lot more good then she could this office. I began to hum a little tune as I turned back to my computer.

And then I woke up. And Annalisa was still talking.