"Does Walgreens sell yeast?" and other various cooking questions I've had.
So today, like so many other days in my life, I arrive at the question, "do I have yeast?" The answer is almost always no. The timing on the need for yeast is almost always within 5 or so minutes. That whole bread needing hours and hours to rise thing really throws a wrench into cooking plans... "bullocks" (I've taken up some British slang in my pastime). Then, instead of moving forward with the most productive and efficient answer of going to the grocery store and picking up yeast, I brainstorm different options. "Do we really need yeast?" "Has anyone tried out matzo style pizza before?" "In biblical times they would kill for matzo style pizza" "Does Walgreens sell yeast?" I do in fact live approximately 1.5 miles away from a Walgreens; a simple two minute drive. The large mega grocery store stands a mere 3 miles away; just a six minute drive yet, the thought of driving all the way to the grocery store is just daunting, but Walgreens, Walgreens I can do.
Move forward to me in Walgreens. "Hey do you have yeast?" "Of course" says the friendly employee who seamlessly escorts me to an aisle of yeast infection treatment items.
A lot of people boast that there is no such thing as a dumb question and I sincerely hope that notion applies to cooking because let me tell you, I've had a lot of dumb questions come to mine in my years. Let me list them for you.
1. Is buttermilk just butter combined with milk? Please locate the friendly person who named this household ingredient for me. I would love to have a chat.
2. What constitutes something to be "kitchen scissors?" My Office Depot scissors have been cutting chives and the tape around UPS packages since 2010. (Yes I clean them. I'm not a heathen.)
3. How can you "unspicy" something? (asking for a friend).
4. Can you substitute flat leaf parsley for cilantro, vice versa. They look identical.
5. Can cake mixes be bought at gas stations? Sometime it's your parents birthday and you are in a pinch.
6. Is butter a carb?
7. If you need espresso powder? Can you rip into a K-Cup and use that?
8. What on earth is imitation crab meat? Why so delicious?
9. If I leave white wine open for too long in my fridge, can I use it as vinegar?
10. Is it absolutely necessary to add that half stick of butter to your box mac and cheese?
Now some may accuse me here and slander my name asking, "how can she ever write a food blog?" But I write from the heart, bringing recipes from the heart. True to form, true to me.
I include a lot of humor in my writing but the real story is, I love food. I love absolutely everything about it. The creativity it evokes, the senses it requires, the ultimate necessity of life that it is. Whether you want to believe it or not, food is life.
Which brings me to today, and my lack of yeast, and my acquiring of yeast, and my making of pizza. I'm always looking for easy food to make that entertains a crown and boy have I found it. I whipped up some pizza dough and I feel bad saying I "whipped" it but honestly, I really did. Pizza dough is so easy and everyone should be making it instead of buying it. Heck I'll say it, instead of buying pizzas. PSA making pizza dough is super easy! Suuuuuper easy. Please follow along.
I love pizzas because you can be the most creative person ever with the toppings. Love clams? Add clams. Love tofu, heck add it? Every pizza can handle anyone's taste. Name me one thing that doesn't go on a pizza.
Pizza Dough: My go to recipe is this Bobby Flay recipe. If you are by some chance reading this blog, I'm sure you are aware of this recipe.
Pizza Dough;
Combine 4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt in stand in mixer or large bowl. Slowly add in water at a speed of low. Increase speed to medium and knead dough in mixer until the entire dough collects in a ball. If dough seems wet, add in more flour. Bring the dough to a ball and cover in a warm place for roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
Preheat a grill to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on a floured (or use corn meal) wooden board until desired length. Spray grill with a non-stick spray or brush grill with canola or olive oil. Place rolled out dough onto the hot grill. After roughly 5 minutes (dough will bubble) flip dough with a pair of tongs. After 3 minutes remove dough from grill and place with desired toppings. Return to gill and cook for five minutes or until the cheese is adequately cooked.
Toppings I used:
Move forward to me in Walgreens. "Hey do you have yeast?" "Of course" says the friendly employee who seamlessly escorts me to an aisle of yeast infection treatment items.
A lot of people boast that there is no such thing as a dumb question and I sincerely hope that notion applies to cooking because let me tell you, I've had a lot of dumb questions come to mine in my years. Let me list them for you.
1. Is buttermilk just butter combined with milk? Please locate the friendly person who named this household ingredient for me. I would love to have a chat.
2. What constitutes something to be "kitchen scissors?" My Office Depot scissors have been cutting chives and the tape around UPS packages since 2010. (Yes I clean them. I'm not a heathen.)
3. How can you "unspicy" something? (asking for a friend).
4. Can you substitute flat leaf parsley for cilantro, vice versa. They look identical.
5. Can cake mixes be bought at gas stations? Sometime it's your parents birthday and you are in a pinch.
6. Is butter a carb?
7. If you need espresso powder? Can you rip into a K-Cup and use that?
8. What on earth is imitation crab meat? Why so delicious?
9. If I leave white wine open for too long in my fridge, can I use it as vinegar?
10. Is it absolutely necessary to add that half stick of butter to your box mac and cheese?
Now some may accuse me here and slander my name asking, "how can she ever write a food blog?" But I write from the heart, bringing recipes from the heart. True to form, true to me.
I include a lot of humor in my writing but the real story is, I love food. I love absolutely everything about it. The creativity it evokes, the senses it requires, the ultimate necessity of life that it is. Whether you want to believe it or not, food is life.
Which brings me to today, and my lack of yeast, and my acquiring of yeast, and my making of pizza. I'm always looking for easy food to make that entertains a crown and boy have I found it. I whipped up some pizza dough and I feel bad saying I "whipped" it but honestly, I really did. Pizza dough is so easy and everyone should be making it instead of buying it. Heck I'll say it, instead of buying pizzas. PSA making pizza dough is super easy! Suuuuuper easy. Please follow along.
I love pizzas because you can be the most creative person ever with the toppings. Love clams? Add clams. Love tofu, heck add it? Every pizza can handle anyone's taste. Name me one thing that doesn't go on a pizza.
Pizza Dough: My go to recipe is this Bobby Flay recipe. If you are by some chance reading this blog, I'm sure you are aware of this recipe.
Pizza Dough;
- 4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour. A lot of people will say to use bread flour but I've used both and they have come out the same. I will say that you end up using roughly 4 cups to make the dough and then a half cup to roll it out.
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 envelope instant dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons
Combine 4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt in stand in mixer or large bowl. Slowly add in water at a speed of low. Increase speed to medium and knead dough in mixer until the entire dough collects in a ball. If dough seems wet, add in more flour. Bring the dough to a ball and cover in a warm place for roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
Preheat a grill to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on a floured (or use corn meal) wooden board until desired length. Spray grill with a non-stick spray or brush grill with canola or olive oil. Place rolled out dough onto the hot grill. After roughly 5 minutes (dough will bubble) flip dough with a pair of tongs. After 3 minutes remove dough from grill and place with desired toppings. Return to gill and cook for five minutes or until the cheese is adequately cooked.
Toppings I used:
- Pizza 1
- Arugula
- Fresh Cremini Musrhooms
- Feta Cheese
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Kalamata Olives
- Pizza 2
- Brocollini
- Fresh Garlic sliced
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Anchovies
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