Pizza & some other drool worthy foods…

We eat dinner at home 90% of the time. I do 90% of the cooking, but lately, Marty has started grilling, making pizzas in the pizza oven, and smoking meats; this is beautiful.

I know some people eat out because they are too busy, traveling for work, or don’t like or want to be bothered to shop and cook. I know some do for special cuisines or styles of cooking. Some, like my mother did, just like to eat out—a lot. 

Marty made us bacon cheeseburgers a few weeks ago that were, first of all, a surprise and, secondly, delicious. I was exhausted and extremely grateful he did this for us. The photo reminds me of how good that burger was.

The burgers were so good because it wasn’t only the good ingredients he used but the time and care he put into those burgers. 

There was also the fact that since I didn’t cook them, they tasted even better, another reason why people eat out finally registered with me.

This year Marty has taken the reins of using the smoker for meats which is fine with me; I failed at it last summer. Again, the time, effort, and care make everything taste better.

I’ve made some great food lately, but nothing to write home or blog about, but I thought I would share them as a group with you.

There are so many ethnic and other foods that aren’t available here or good ones. Following a strict gluten-free diet puts the kibosh on many food choices and destinations as well. 

So, what else can we do but make it ourselves? There is a lot of good food an hour in any direction from where we live, but with gas prices the way they are, this is even more important for us to eat at home.

Last night’s dinner was a collaboration of both of us making dinner. I made a batch of my gluten-free pizza dough on Thursday for Friday night, but we were too tired and had frozen french fries and chicken tenders instead. I did make a buffalo bleu dipping sauce that was tasty. 

We experimented and made three different kinds of individual mini pizzas; cheese, pepperoni, and margarita. We only use hand-crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes as the sauce. The flavor of the tomatoes is pure and simple, unlike any jazzed-up pizza sauces. 

I stretched the dough and topped the pies while Marty slid the pizzas into the pizza oven for just a couple of minutes and pulled them out. The little pizza oven we have gets really hot like an authentic Neapolitan pizza oven. 

In case you didn’t know, to be called authentic Neapolitan pizza you must top the dough with only hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. It has to be cooked in 90 seconds or less.

We have been working on perfecting our gluten-free pizzas for a few years and are getting closer and closer to perfection. 

Last night’s pizzas had the same pull and chew as traditional pizza dough and produced actual pizza dough bubbles; my favorite part of pizza slices! We haven’t achieved that yet, so woot-woot!

I think the long, slow, and cold rise in the refrigerator for over 48 hours produced the chew, pull, proper texture, and bubbles. The pizza was delicious but still not perfect.

Can you see why it took me seven years to develop our spätzle recipe? When I have something exact in my mind, I’ll keep going until it’s right and what I want. 

That’s it from here. It’s Sunday, and I am relaxing on my day off. I made a batch of meatloaf meatballs on Thursday when I had a ton of energy. Holy shit, I am so happy I did. 

I was expecting a gloomy, rainy day (not that I am complaining), so I planned on mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus to go with the meatloaf meatballs. 

I already told Sam what was on the menu, so there is no changing it to something lighter now. He looks forward to food as much as I do, so I won’t disappoint him since he is working a 12-hour overnight shift in the ER tonight. 

Have a great rest of your Sunday, guys! The weather looks like it’s going to be warmer again next week in the mid-80s, which we don’t mind. Cannonball! 🙂