Feels Like Home

It's the little things sometimes that give you those warm gushy feelings. Those feel good things that remind you of growing up. Of home. 

I can only hope that my son (and any future children we may have) will have as fond memories of me in the kitchen as I do with my Mom. My mom is the best cook I know. Her baking is nothing more then amazing too. Growing up I often came home from school to the sound of the mixer going or the smell of something amazing baking in the oven. If my Mom could make it from scratch, she would. TV dinners were like a bad word in my house. Love and care went into every meal my Mom made. Left overs were wished for because everything was so amazing - we wanted more! 

When I was 6 or 7 I remember asking for an easy bake oven for Christmas. My Mom said "You can just bake with me." And that we did. 

Now as an adult I love making some of those wonderful meals my Mom would make. The thing that most makes me thinking of all those wonderful memories  is when I make bread. Really of any kind of bread. I dare anyone to try to top my Mom's banana bread (that's for another time though). 

Today I'm making pizza! My parents are so awesome with it - they've seriously perfected the bbq pizza! My Mom makes the pizza crust (from scratch of course) and gets the toppings ready. My Dad gets the grill (now the Trager) ready. When the dough is ready my Mom flattens it out and my Dad puts it on the grill. When the bottom is ready they flip it and dress it up. Then it's back to the grill until the cheese is melted! Oh my I can't even tell you how good it is. I'm starting to drool a little! When they make it now my husband and I just about eat ourselves sick! 

So tonight we wanted pizza! But after watching Giada make pizza the other day a simple frozen pizza wasn't going to be enough! A few fixings bought at the store like pepperoni, fresh mozzarella (the best), and some peppers were really all I needed. Of course my hubby came up with the best topping to add - bacon! 

I went off this recipe for the dough: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2014/04/perfect-pizza-dough-recipe/#comment-61282

I'm really not sure why yeast used to scare me. As long as you take your time and let the kitchen aid do the work it's really not that bad. Slow is the way to go. The second half of dough needs to go slowly in and let the dough combined in before adding more. It needs to be as smooth as a baby's butt and then it's ready to rise! 

After about 20 minutes of rising I had this beauty! That's yummy olive oil around the side. It was my non stick choice this round. I pushed it down a bit and we began getting toppings ready while it sat for a little longer in the microwave. That's a trick I learned from my Mom. She would warm up a glass of water and then put the dough in to rise. It was moist and dark - perfect for a dough to rise just make sure no one opens the door or that you turn the microwave on. 

My husband fried up the bacon for me and I went to grate the cheese and then changed my mind. Fresh mozzarella is hard to shred this way and I remembered seeing Giada just hand shred it. Yup - that was happening! 

So cut the peppers - red and orange so it's pretty. I got the sauce ready - a simple tomato paste I mixed some herbs into - we literally have a pizza seasoning someone got us! 

Topped the pizza - sauce, cheddar cheese (hubby likes more then 1 cheese), pepperoni, peppers, bacon, and finally mozzarella. I really like cheese (if you couldn't tell by the picture) so I think I loaded it up. I also love the crust so I left it open around the side and a little thicker too. Not sure why it ended up an egg shape, but I just wanted pizza so I gave up trying to get a perfect circle - I rarely get it that way. Into the oven - because we haven't tried to get close to the bbq pizza my parents make - and now we wait. 

Waiting is the hardest part. The smell of pizza filling our house just makes me that much more hungry. 

22 minutes later (needed a few extra minutes) we had pizza!! Yummy yummy pizza!

I actually was able to divide the dough into 2 so I let this one rest on a cutting board while I spread out and topped the other half and then we ate! 

It was good!

Dutchboy

So I posted this picture on my Facebook page and got some awesome feed back from it so I explained how I made it. I liked it so much I decided I had to blog about it! 

So breakfast Sunday morning started as it always does, with a question: "What do you want for breakfast?" It never fails  , every weekend I or my husband ask the other person this question. Well my husband turned to listing everything we possibly had for breakfast in the house. I brought up a local breakfast place and he turned to "I don't want to spend the money." Okay, so now what? 

It's always easy to turn to cereal or oatmeal or something quick. However, on weekends I don't like doing that! I love breakfast. It is indeed one of my favorite meals of the day and on the weekend I have a chance to do so much more then just a quick bite. 

So I remembered that the other night I made pancakes for dinner (I told you, I love breakfast) and that I saved in our squeeze bottle. Pancakes! That'll work! Then the thoughts of fesh peaches ripening on the table and the idea of a sauce for my pancakes with those beautiful peaches came sweeping into my mind. Done! This is happening! 

My fruit bowl. Apricots, peaches, and a mango. Yum! Is there anything better then fresh fruit in the summer? 

I took about 2-3 tsp of butter and melted it in my pan. I then put a little brown sugar in and stirred (about 1- 1 1/2 of a big spoon so maybe a tablespoon or so). I put about 2 sliced peaches into that (this was supposed to be the start of a sauce or topping for pancakes and then I took a turn). 

A few weeks back my husband and I went to The Original Pancake House in Fort Collins. I had this yummy Dutch Boy there which is this yummy pancake filled with fantastic canalized apples. It's like heaven on plate! This popped into my head as I watched the peaches sauté in my pan. "Honey, how do you feel about me experimenting?" This was met with a sarcastic "Uh-oh". 

I then put my left over pancake batter on top of my peaches that we're starting to caramelize. I had just enough to cover the top, by I recommend putting enough so you don't see any peaches - a good thick layer. I let it sit on the stove for a minute or so and then put it into a 350 degree oven until it was browning on the sides and a little golden on top (maybe about 10 minutes I think - enough time for me to make bacon and eggs).

When my yumminess looked like this I took it out of the oven and let it cool as I got out plates ready with our eggs and bacon. 

I then put a plate on top of my pan and flipped the pancake. Don't forget that your handle might be a little hot still so use a pot holder when flipping! I had to run a spatula around the corners, but it came out pretty easily after I did that. 

My husband and I split the Peach Dutchboy (as I decided to call it) with our son. That with some eggs and bacon made for 3 very full and happy bellies.  

Forever long

It's been awhile. Forever long! Life has changed so much since I last blogged. It's kinda sad just how much has changed. I used to love blogging. I guess life just got in the way. 

So what all has happens since fall 2012? In February 2013 we bought a house. A 4 bed, 2 bath, bilevel beautiful house! I painted the door red pretty quickly after moving in. I love my red door. I love my house! 

Fast forward a little over a year - June 9th, 2014 our lives completely changed! 1:24am our son Michael came into this world! My life has never been the same. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

So life is a little different now. I obviously still love my role as wife, but now it's wife and Mom. So Happily Ever After has taken a different turn then when I started this blog. Dan and I got married with the assumption that we would have children so it's no surprise at all, but it's funny to think that 3 short years ago we were newlyweds with lots ahead of us. Now we're homeowners and parents and my focus is less on weddings and more on family and what makes me family work. I love where my life is and I'm excited to start anew on this blog! I hope you are too! 

                    Michael at 1 year