National Pizza Month

Some ideas are so good they should just be adopted by all, don't you think? National Pizza Month would have to be one of those. But then my kids would tell you that EVERY month should be International Pizza Month! How did I find out it was National Pizza Month? Have a look here and then you probably want to have a look at this too to really get the skinny on Chan's Big Blessed Bash.
I try very hard not to spoil my boys with material things, but they do get lots of spoiling with love, handknit socks and the like and homemade food. My children have never ever celebrated a birthday with a store bought cake. They will eat store bought cake out of politeness, but they really don't like it... Pizza is in the same category. They will eat takeout pizza or made from a box pizza, but they really much prefer true homemade pizza. I always make homemade pizza for their birthday parties. Considering that Older Son will be 14 on his next birthday, feeding his friends requires a LOT of pizza!
The pizza crust recipe that follows is from Italian Gourmet Cooking by the late Chef Pasquale Carpino. I believe that the book is long out of print, but hopefully having properly given the source of and credit for the recipe, I haven't violated anyone's intellectual property. If you find the book used, you might want to pick it up. I love his recipes!

Pizza -
1 packet dry yeast (this is equal to 1 Tbsp. is you buy your yeast by the jar)
2 cups warm water
4 cups flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. oil (I prefer to use olive oil)
1 tsp. salt

Put the yeast in the warm water. Stir until dissolved. Let sit for a few minutes. (I let it sit for about 10 minutes.) Add the eggs, sugar, salt and oil. Whisk until the mixture foams. Add the first 3 cups of flour and stir until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Work in the remaining flour bit by bit with your hands. (Having made this recipe in many different locations, I will say that the amount of flour will vary depending on atmospheric conditions. I have on occasion had to add as much as 6 cups.) Knead the dough until it is smooth and soft, like bread dough. Divide the dough into 4 sections and shape each into a round "patty". Place on a flour surface, cover with a towel and allow to rise for approx. 40 to 60 minutes. Each section makes on approx. 12 - 15 inch pizza.
To make your pizza, place your rolled dough on an oiled pan. Fill your crust with your favourite ingredients. You can bake all four pizzas at once, or - here is the real beauty of this recipe - you can freeze the rest of the dough and use it later! Bake your pizza for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.

As part of Older Son's "domestication" training, he is able to make this on his own. I plan on turning both of my sons in to reasonable husband material before they leave home...

Cookie Monster

This Cookie Monster? I love... This Cookie Monster? Not so much...

The sock pictured above is Cookie A's Poppy Sock pattern. I love Cookie A's patterns! But there is something seriously and monstrously wrong with that heel... If my heel actually filled out that sock heel, I seriously doubt that I would ever be able to find shoes to fit! I'm not prepared to say that it is a problem with the pattern. It could easily be operator error - although it looks like a few others are having the same issue after a perusal of Ravelry projects.

I had considered trying to rework the pattern into a top down pattern, but I just couldn't get my head around how to manipulate the stitches to get the same sort of effect. In the end, I decided that I would try putting in a different heel.

Since I was away on business last week, sock number two and I had a very pleasant dinner together. Knitting, a glass of wine and a nice quiet meal - what a lovely treat! (Apologies for the poor photo quality - but you get the idea, right?)

Two Thumbs Up...

Here are the photos of the aforementioned socks...

What is the rating? Older Son says "Two thumbs UP!"

His brother seems to be less opinionated... Strange that!

Still Oscar...

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't posted for almost 3 weeks. Maybe it is because I'm still feeling kind of cranky and I don't want my blog to be a continuous stream of rants?
So I had the best of intentions of posting photos of FOs tonight. Finished objects that it, not pics of me telling people to FO consistent with the cranky theme... Although I try to tell them to PFO since you should always mind your manners and say "Please".
Both sons have new socks for back to school. Older Son has a pair of 2 by 2 garter rib socks in a variegated green colourway called Ivy Trail Poems Sock Yarn and Younger Son has a pair of 3 by 1 rib socks in Red Heart Heart and Sole in a colourway called Congo. I rounded up the socks. I rounded up the kids. I took photos. The camera batteries then died... The batteries are in the charger. Photos soon I hope!
Perhaps the fact that the last few months have been exactly like this all the time explains the crankiness in part...???

Call Me Oscar

I think that I had better start by admitting that today has been a cranky old lady kind of day. I was off on vacation Friday and this past Monday, and then again yesterday because I REALLY was not feeling well. So today I arrive in my office only to discover that while they had changed my work station to a left handed station, as I had requested, they hadn't plugged my phone back in... Where were all the jacks? Yup - behind the furniture. Why wasn't the phone plugged in? Well the jack behind the desk is just a data jack and they weren't sure what I would want to do. Pardon??? I may not always want my phone, but I do need it. The phone guy and the furniture guy will be in tomorrow to resolve this. I spent today having to get up to answer my phone.
I had also asked for an ambidextrous keyboard. I had stated very clearly that I did not want a "true" left keyboard as I can key with either hand and want for my keyboard to be usable by my co-workers, should the need arise. Yes, I do have a new keybaord. It is left handed. Hopefully my enhanced explanation of what I want and why I want it will result in a new keyboard soon. Sigh...
And then there are the issues around some of the summer employees. So what if I am old enough to be their parent? Maybe it is because I am old enough to be their parent that I'm struck by the desire to try to beat some common sense into them. You know, things like work is not the time when you should be texting, IMing, on your cell phone, playing computer solitaire or reading a book amongst countless other things that you shouldn't do. While we're at it, you shouldn't wear torn clothing even if you consider it to be a fashion statement, and while we're pleased that you no longer feel the need to be stick thin, we, your co-workers, do not now and never will feel the need to see your muffin top hanging over your inappropriately low cut pants. Similarly, strapless is not to be considered a truly acceptabe workplace option. You may get away with it with a sweater over top, but let's face it, it is club wear. Period.

Knit Night

I'm going to Knit Night! Yes, I am very excited by this. I don't make it nearly as often as I wish that I did. Although I hope that that will all change next month. Why? Because if she knows what is good for her (read: dinner somewhere other than the dining hall with someone else paying), I'll have a Knit Night buddy. Yes, Princess Knitsalot is coming east to attend university. Whoo-hoo!!!
Her cousins are also excited by this, although for very different reasons. Younger Son loves that she doesn't talk down to him despite the fact that she is over 11 years older. And they both love that she enjoys playing games with them, has a quirky sense of humour and can talk knowledgeably about cool things like zombies...

Mr. Foster Says...

Whoa, ba-bee! She is one smoking HOT simian!

Mr. Foster, who now has eyes, but no tail, ears, mouth or nostrils, is gesturing frantically at me to finish him up! He somehow knows that I ordered myself a Carmen Banana kit this morning...

And since I was at Knitpicks anyways, and they're having a book sale until the 17th, I also ordered this and the yarn for this. And some needles. I needed it all, I'm sure. (Trust me, I have had a week and a half and deserved something. Yarn is healthier than many other addictions, right?)