Tuesday, August 10, 2010

From Scratch

Note:  no coyotes last night.  I can report that all turkeys are present and accounted for, and that MM and Elora got a good night's rest last night!  Thank you all for your great comments!  We'll keep you posted on the nocturnal wanderings of both owners and wanna-be owners!


Below is the "from scratch" pizza we had the other night.  Talk about delicious!  Best ever.  Starting with the methodology and basic ingredients, here's the recipe:

Get cow.
Get pig.
Train cow for milking.
Butcher pig.
Grind sausage. Freeze until now.
Make mozzarella cheese from milk. (need citric acid--get locally from a pharmacy.)
Grow Oregano, basil, garlic and tomatoes. Pick/pull and use fresh-- and --use as much as suits your taste.  Remember, in Italy, Basil and Oregano could be said to be a weed and can be found in many parts volunteering! Use liberally!  The fragrance is said to be superb (from Under the Tuscan Sun) as you brush by it, au naturale.

PURCHASE flour, yeast, salt. sugar and flax seed meal for crust:
3 1/3 cups flour
2 TBSPN flax seed meal
2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 cups very warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
Dissolve yeast in the water and sugar combo. Pour through the top of food processor.
Process in Cuisinart for 30 seconds. Roll out on pizza stone or pan.  Put all other ingredients on top of crust in any order.  Best if you put Mozzarella cheese on top, though. 
Bake at 425-degree convection oven until cheese is gently dark.


Eat.  Enjoy!

Finally, dear readers.....I seem to be having trouble keeping up with all of your lovely comments, so here's a quick broadbrush stroke at commenting back in no particular order:

Marlene (http://www.stitchinbythelake.blogspot.com/) --Your heart is as beautiful as your quilts!  So impressive.  And your demonstration of love and caring for others whom you do not know, is totally inspirational. 

Ruta, dearest friend in North Devon (http://www.notesfromnorthdevon.blogspot.com/) I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your photos on your blog!  Your gardens are yet another inspiration!  And polishing the 19 mirrors in your home must have left a dazzling array of flower pictures both inside and out!

Vicki -- (http://www.vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/)  How I adore your blog!  You ARE my inspiration in so many ways.  Your photos, your writing, your stories...what a joy you are!  You're always on my mind. And your writing lessons are superb!  And Barbara, thank you for finding her for us!

Beth -- I know you're no longer producing your blog Blue Collar Blue Ridge Girl, but we're all hoping you'll change your mind!  Thanks so much for your gentle, sweet comments on mine and I always feel honored by your visit.

Elora, my Italian-Canadian namesake...YOU'RE MARRIED!!!  Welcome!!  And, my "box" hasn't arrived as yet, I presume...taking a long time, isn't it!  Maybe it's going by cruise liner?!  The recipe you did the other day on your blog sounded scrumptious.  Only thing (see my from scratch home grown) I haven't figured out is how I am going to grow an anchovie here JOTOLR!  Check out her lovely posts, everyone, at http://www.eloradaphne.wordpress.com/
She had another one on Montalto (sp?) and each is an adventure!  Loved her complaining old ladies, too (reminded me of ...ME!)

Barbara  (http://www.folkwaysnotebook.blogspot.com/) As I said above, thank you for finding Vicki Lane!  And thank YOU for the outstanding and oh-so-generous blog you write!  I have learned so much.  It's so much fun to find out what you've written about each day...it's like opening Christmas packages or beachcombing and finding treasures!  Thank you!  And I hope you're having a grand time with your son!

June--I have so enjoyed your comments! And it's lovely to have you visit!  Thank you for honoring me.

Julia--far away, down under the down under crowd!!  How does your garden grow???? (or at least how is the garlic and strawberry venture coming along?  We just bought our garlic for the coming year to be delivered in October.  We purchased German Extra Hardy and Georgian Fire.  I'll bet you are simply enjoying looking at the newly plowed ground!  Take a look at Julia's blog and all the pretty things she shows us!  She's at http://www.arcadiaisland.blogspot.com/  And her new header page is AWESOME!  Don't eat those pretty red ones, though!!!!!!!!!!  It will be your last bite of anything!

And everyone else who stops by....you are so welcome!  The door's always open, the coffeepot's on, pull up a chair by the kitchen stove, and hitch 'n sit a spell.  Love you all!  Hope I didn't miss anyone!  Forgive me for my delinquencies in not commenting as regularly as I would like.  It seems right now I am in the midst of a harvest tornado with tomatoes, corn, broccoli, beets, carrots, green beans, cukes (still!!), blackberries (still) and whatnot (still)! are all coming at me, fast and furious!  Need I say I am looking forward to fall??


Thank you much, love you lots,
Elora

5 comments:

  1. Now THAT's from scratch! (Though I am a little disappointed you didn't grow the wheat and flax...)

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  2. I started reading your post all confident thinking - 'Yeh I too used to make pizzas from scratch'. But not that from scratch. How satisfyingto have grown/raised all your own ingredients. I bet it was tasty.

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  3. Well, you *could* have grown the wheat and flax! I always say, "I could have," when someone asks if I've knit something that was purchased.

    It never gets old around our place to marvel at (or eat!) a homegrown or mostly local meal. And we've sure cut down on grocery bills! We owe you many thanks for steering us toward this path.

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  4. How interesting - never thought to put flax in a pizza...Hmmm, and don't you let your dough rise? As for the anchovies, if you can't buy them in the supermarket, I swear I'll buy a couple of tins and ship them to you! :) Still no sign of the package, but even on express it takes at least a week, so on the slowboat maybe two? or three? We'll see!!

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  5. Hello at long last! That offer of a chair by the stove and a coffee brew sounds quite heavenly - I do wish were a little closer and I could pop by. Your coyote description gave me the chills - I really do forget how safe we are in this country in the great outdoors - no snakes, bears etc, just a couple of spiders that are poisonous but you are likely never to see.
    I'm just catching up on your posts as I have been away for a few days packing up our family holiday cottage in the mountains by a beautiful lake which we have just sold, so the garden has been neglected! I'm curious about you preserving carrots - we just leave ours in the ground over winter and pull them as needed, the frost seems to make them sweeter. It all sounds super busy for you at the moment - wish I could come and give you a hand! Take care x

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