all aboard!/ ha ha ha!

I'm in the process of moving in with my darling friend Laura and her many cats, so I may be absent for a while. Have a lovely summer!

dream of silver screen quotations

One of the things I miss most about my adopted hometown (besides the engineer, obviously), is one of the best pizza places I have ever run across. And I've lived in New York.

So today, I tried to recreate it. The three things I wanted to capture were the flaky, seasoned crust, the rich, slightly spicy sauce, and fresh basil all over the top.

I adapted a couple of recipes that I came across online, and ended up with something that almost satisfies the craving.

The whole recipe makes two pizzas, but believe me, invite a few friends over, and you won't have any trouble putting away both of them.

For the crust:

Sprinkle 1 tsp instant yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes.

In a mixer (with paddle attachment), combine 4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 4 tbs "italian seasoning".

Drizzle in 1/3 cup olive oil.

Pour in yeast/water mixture and beat until just slightly sticky.

Form dough into a ball and put into a large mixing bowl drizzled with olive oil. Toss to coat dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place for several hours (if you won't be using the dough for 24+ hours, just put in the fridge).

For the sauce:

Melt 2 tbs. of butter in a large skillet and add 4 tbs. olive oil. Saute 1 cup chopped onion, 2 minced cloves garlic, and 1/2 cup chopped celery in butter/oil, until soft and transparent. Blend until smooth.

Add 16 oz. tomato sauce and 12 oz. tomato paste to blended vegetables. Combine completely.

Add 4 tbs. grated parmesan, 2 tsp. basil, 2 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, 2 bay leaves, 2-4 tbs. crushed red pepper (to taste), 2 tsp. ground fennel seed, and 1/2 bottle dry red wine. Stir.

Allow to simmer for 30-60 minutes. Remove bay leaves before using.

Assembly:

Use half of the dough for each crust. Stretch to cover a pan brushed with olive oil.

Top with sauce, mozzerella, and toppings of choice (I cannot recommend fresh basil highly enough!).

Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is bubbly. Remove pan from oven, brush exposed crust with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Return to oven to bake until crust is golden brown (broil if necessary).

Pair with a great Zinfandel.

Eat until you can't breathe! Or, you know, show some restraint. I've heard that works too.

i feel a hot wind on my shoulder

In light of my recent confessions about my inability to keep any plants alive, I wanted to amend that statement slightly. I am awesome at growing cacti.

In fact, succulents in general.

They're beautiful, they come in a huge range of colors and shapes, and they do amazingly well if you forget that you even own them.

Perfect!

a family of trees wanting/ to be haunted

In honor of Earth day, I thought that I would share my recent attempt to grow a malanga root. Malanga is an edible sub-tropical plant that is supposed to grow really quickly and be almost impossible to kill.

Given that I am so good at killing plants that I've chosen it as a career, I thought this would be a good choice for me.

Fill a large terra-cotta pot about 1/2 of the way full with your potting mix of choice. I went with organic because I am a dirty hippie. And because it's what they had at my friendly neighborhood Target.

Plant the malanga root just at the soil line.

Cover with potting mix.

Water with your adorable watering can.

And there you have it! Now cross your fingers with me and we'll wait for it to grow.

(ETA: The malanga root never grew. I dutifully watered it every day, but to no avail. I am an amazing pathologist. (Shh, this is my excuse.))

see the world in green and blue

Hello everyone! I hope that whether or not you are celebrating the religious aspects of today, you are taking a moment to enjoy the spring weather, and the excuse to be a kid for a day. Because who doesn't love chocolate and brightly colored eggs? (Ok, so I cheated and didn't have to hunt these.)

Although the technique was a little different when I was a child. :) You know you're an adult when...

Happy first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox!

hopping down the bunny trail

I may be breaking some unwritten law here, but it would be criminal to keep this recipe to myself.

For years, my grandmother's coconut cake has been the go-to cake for family events. As a layer cake for special occasions, cupcakes for birthday parties, and... bunny cake. Always the best part of Easter. Because this cake is amazing.

Last time I was home, I couldn't hold back any longer. I begged my grandmother for the recipe. And she handed it over. Just. Like. That.

And it turns out that grandma has been hiding a secret from us all this time. Two little boxes.

Seeing as how this is my grandmother that used to be a semi-professional wedding cake baker/decorator, this is something of a surprise. But who am I to judge? I went with it.

Mix: 1 box white cake mix, 1 box instant vanilla pudding, 1 1/3 cups water, 4 egg whites, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 2 cups shredded coconut.

I used my shiny new red KitchenAid stand mixer (a Christmas present from my engineer!).

Pour batter into greased and floured (or lined) pans. For a bunny cake, you need two 9" rounds.

Be sure to use your smiley face spatula. (My sister gives me the coolest kitchen gear!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Let cool.

While your cakes are cooling, make the icing. Mix: 4 tbs. softened butter, 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 tsp. milk, 1 box confectioners sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, and another 2 cups of shredded coconut. Now, I hate cream cheese frosting, but this turns out to be amazing. Fluffy, creamy, not too sweet, and definitely not tasting of cream cheese.

Once your cakes are cool, it's time to assemble the bunny. Level the tops of the cakes (I won't tell anyone if you keep all the scraps for yourself) and make bunny ears and a bowtie out of one of the rounds, using the cake pan as a cutting guide.

Ice, cover with extra coconut for fur (can you tell that I love coconut?), and make your face with whatever candy you prefer. Jellybeans and twizzlers are traditional, but I love chocolate, so I went with M&Ms.

Slice and serve to everyone you know and love. This cake is delicious in any form, but it does make a pretty perfect bunny cake.

for reasons unexplained, she loved the monkey man

Today is the engineer's birthday. And while I can't be with him to celebrate, I've been reminiscing about the birthday trip we took last year.

The Florida Keys are all spectacularly beautiful, but one in particular is near and dear to my heart. Bahia Honda is unique in that the entire key is a state park. Which means no tacky tourist places, no high-rises on the beach, and lots of camp sites.

Not to mention the fact that it's a (sub-) tropical paradise.

The water is crystal clear and comes in about a thousand shades of turquoise.

The beaches are white sand (although a little heavy on the seaweed last year, darn hurricanes).

And there's no shortage of shady palms to relax under.

And it's only a short trip over the causeway to Key West if you really need your tourist trap fix. (The shiny new causeway on the left, which doesn't have giant holes in it, I swear.)

It's pretty much the most restful vacation spot ever.

Don't you want to find out for yourself?