back to basics: pizza dough

Who doesn't love pizza?  With a crunchy crust, gooey cheese, and all the toppings you want, who could resist?  

It's like the Leonardo DiCaprio of food.  And like Leo, it will likely never win an Oscar, but it still gets invited to the party.

One of the best things about pizza is that it is so incredibly versatile! You can make practically any kind of pizza you can dream of.  Our go-to pizza is topped with caramelized onions, sauteed red peppers, mushrooms, garlic, spinach and chicken, finished off with feta, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.  But we also love greek, pepperoni, and we just tried making thai for the first time.  It was the bomb!

This is our tasty recipe for homemade pizza crust.  It takes a bit of time and work, but it is definitely worth it!  The extra spices in the crust add a nice punch of flavour.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot water (not boiling, hot tap water is fine)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1/2 tablespoon sugar

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp salt

1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups warm water

Directions:

1) In a medium size bowl dissolve sugar in the hot water, and then mix in yeast.  Let this rise for 15 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.

3) Stir in the risen yeast, the warm water and the oil into the dry ingredients.

4) Mix well.

5) Turn out mixture onto a floured surface and knead until dough has a smooth texture.  About 10 minutes.

6) Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in a warm area for 1 hour.

7) Split dough in half, each will make a large pizza.

8) With a rolling pin, roll out pizza a bit larger than the pan you are using.  I used a large round pizza pan (ours is 14 inches across), and a 10 x 15 square pan.

9) Once the dough has been rolled out, place over well greased pan (I used olive oil) and tuck in the edges to make a crust, poke holes in the crust with a knife or fork (this prevents crust bubbles).

10) Bake pizza at 350 for 20 minutes.

11) Add pizza sauce and desired ingredients.

12) Bake for another 8 minutes, or until the cheese has melted (sometimes we like to broil it).

s'mores cupcakes

Three things that you must know:

1)  I have never actually been camping before.
(Shame on me right?  That's what you get when you live on a berry farm in Summer)

2)  I have made s'mores in Winter by placing a marshmallow on a toothpick, and holding it over a candle.

3)  I definitely borrowed my Dad's blowtorch for these cupcakes since I don't have a proper kitchen one yet....and it just sounded way more exciting.

It's always fun when I get to experiment with something new in the kitchen....and using a blowtorch for these cupcakes was a hoot!  Haha.  Let's say there was quite a bit of squealing and giggling coming from the kitchen as Jordyn and I tested our torching skills!

These cupcakes were inspired by call me cupcake's version, although I used my own chocolate cake recipe!  You should definitely go check her website out!  Some of it is in Swedish, but she always has her recipes in English as well.  It's just so darling!

I'm in love with all of the textures these cupcakes have going on.  The crunchy/crumbly graham cracker crust (that will inevitably end up all over your lap), the fluffy chocolate cake, and finally the little dollop of toasted heaven on top!  So good.

S'mores Cupcakes
inspired by: Linda Lomelino

Ingredients:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp butter (melted)

1/2 cups Flour
1 cups Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Cocoa
1/2 TBSP Vanilla
1 TBSP Vinegar
1/3 cup Margarine (melted)
1 cups Warm Water

3 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

*thermometer (for measuring marshmallow frosting temperature)

Instructions:
1) Mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  (If crumbs seem too gooey or too dry, you can just add either a bit more crumbs or butter).
2)  Prepare a cupcake tin with paper liners.  Firmly press a couple teaspoons of crumb mixture into the bottom of 12 liners.
3)  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Set aside.
4)  In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients together.
5)  Pour wet ingredients over dry, and mix until combined.
6)  Pour cake batter into the 12 liners.
7)  Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.
8)  Mix together egg whites and sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan with gently boiling water.  Whisk constantly to ensure your eggs don't curdle.  Whisk like crazy!  Keep cooking until the mixture reaches 65 degrees celsius. 
9)  Remove from heat and whip on your highest speed until stiff peaks form.  Add in vanilla.
10)  Frost your cupcakes however you like!  I used my largest star tip and a frosting bag, but a large ziplock with the end simply cut out would also work great.
11)  If you have a kitchen torch, then go to town toasting your marshmallow frosting.  
If not, you can place your cupcakes on a cookie sheet and broil them in the oven.  These do not take long at all, so please do not take your eyes off of them!
Or, you can always borrow a blowtorch and toast them that way...

outfit post: mint and cherry

I've moved over to a new blog!  Head over to The Farmer's Daughter for the full post and recipe!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

3-layer angel food peeps cake

I've moved over to a new blog!  Head over to The Farmer's Daughter for the full post and recipe!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey 

diy: glitter Easter eggs

I've moved over to a new blog!  Head over to The Farmer's Daughter for the full post!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

Paska (Easter Bread)

I've moved over to a new blog!  Head over to The Farmer's Daughter for the full post and recipe!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

blossoms and yellow pants

So, after an eternity (aka: maybe a year) of searching....I finally have a green military parka!  Seriously though, it's been on my must-have list for so long, and I never could find the right one.  I actually got this one for Christmas (after picking it out...hehe), and I'm pretty happy with it.  Of course nothing ever quite lives up to "the one" you've built up in your head, right?  Haha.

Anywho....it's Spring!  And here it actually feels like Spring.  We even hit 20 degrees this week.  Pretty stoked about that.  Oh ya, and the cherry blossoms are also in full bloom and are ridiculously gorgeous.  I'm thinking someone needs to engineer an ever-blooming cherry tree.  Who's with me? 

parka: the garage // chambray top: plenty // pants: clothing swap // shoes: target