Somethin' For Nothin' + Ready In No Time Pizza

Well, we survived Winter Break. I had intended it to be a pretty low-key week at home for the kids and I, and purposely didn't plan any extra activities or trips so that we could avoid spending extra money. My visions were of knitting and reading aloud in front of a cozy fire, hot chocolate and baking cookies... But life (or LIFE, as it sometimes seems) ended up botching the whole relax at home plan. Between family visiting and personal commitments, plus piles of academic work and "real" work, we didn't have much time to just hang out. Not that I'm complaining - this is part of being a grownup, after all. But I really wanted the kids to enjoy their time away from school this week. So on the couple days that I could find a few free hours, we got a little creative with no-cost activities... and then we revolutionized our pizza routine (recipe at the bottom of the page).

Given how little snow there was last year, we made sure to spend as much time outdoors as we could.

New snow friend!

We also took advantage of a sunny 50 degree day to have a picnic at a local landmark - a defunct fairground site. It's really cool because many furnishings are still there from when it was last used over 20 years ago, so it's almost like a ghost town. Each time I've walked around I've asked myself if I'm trespassing, but there isn't a sign or fence to keep people out, so I'll just keep going until somebody comes along and stops me, I guess.

A visiting Mama-san added to the adventure

I love this bleak landscape - makes me think of all the untold stories this place must hold...

Behind the bleachers at the racetrack - old concession tables and
vinyl tablecloths just waiting to be dusted off and used for our  picnic

We picked up a free museum pass from the library and went to check out some ancient mummies and sculptures. The museum also has an aquarium with fish, frogs, turtles and snakes. Plus a super-cool bat exhibit and a resident chameleon, too.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

We looooove marble, it's so cold and smooth...
and we promise we won't touch anything...

During school vacation week, the museum turned one of its galleries into a shantytown...no, just kidding. But they did put out a whole bunch of recycled materials, duct tape and markers, and let the kids go crazy building things. As I remarked to one parent we met there - better here than my living room!

I love this fort - it says, No Boys alowd. I meen it!

Wonder who's gonna clean all this up??

We also visited a library we'd never been to before in another town and picked up some goodies to bring home. Libraries are such wonderful places.

Any day now, I'm gonna learn to read!

Must have more books...more books!

Ready In No Time Pizza
When all the adventuring was over, we were very hungry. Thankfully we had a big batch of homemade dough in the refrigerator and pizza was on the table in under 30 minutes. I forgot to take a picture this time, but the pizza itself isn't the headline here, anyway. It's this wonderful way of making dough - all you need is 5 minutes to make a large batch that can sit in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Each time you want to bake a pie, you just pull out a ball of dough and stretch it to fit your pan, sprinkle on some toppings, and you're all set to go. The recipe comes from the book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day. There are tons of variations, including gluten-free, all kinds of whole-grain crusts, etc. We really like the basic recipe, which takes on a nice sourdough flavor as it continues to ferment.

In a large plastic container with a lid, stir together:

• 3-1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 T granulated yeast
• 1-1/2 T kosher salt
• 7-1/2 cups unbleached flour (they use a scoop and sweep method to measure the flour consistently)

Mix it all together with a wooden spoon, then place the lid on top without sealing it and let the dough sit on the counter for two hours. After that, it's ready to use. Just put a little flour on your hands and scoop out a grapefruit-sized ball for each pizza round. Whatever you don't use can go in the fridge for 2 weeks and you don't want to stir it when you get more out, just scoop what you need. The flavor gets better as time goes by.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and bake the pizza for about 12 minutes on the bottom rack. If you're using a sheet pan, remember to dust it with cornmeal or grease it with oil before you lay down the dough. Also, stretching it thin in the middle and leaving it thicker around the edges will help make sure the middle gets cooked all the way through. A light touch on the sauce helps with that, too. Buon Appetito!!!

Hurrah for Winter Break!
(Btw, this pose came waaaay too naturally for them.
I'm starting to worry we might have future cheerleaders on our hands...)

Winter Comfort Food + Cabin Fever

It is freakin' cold out there. Blame the Arctic wind (thanks for sharing, Canada), blame the cold front coming in off the Great Lakes, blame the bloody groundhog. It doesn't matter who you blame for the frigid temps, there's no avoiding the fact that meals this time of year need to be hot and they need to be substantial.

We're talking about hearty soups and stews, yes. Things that will warm you up and you can double/freeze for another week. But eating this kind of spoon-food day after day can become tiresome for a vegetarian. This is where roasted root vegetables come to the rescue. Their salty-sweet crunchy-tenderness make for a lovely break from all that mush. Even when it doesn't seem like there is time, it's still worth it to squeeze in a few extra minutes to preheat the oven, peel and quarter a couple sweet potatoes, a handful of parsnips, or a bunch of beets. While they cook, you can get the rest of the meal going, then relax and enjoy your glass of wine while the oven and stove do the rest.

The other night I put together a quick red lentil curry over brown rice (pictured above), but before I even got that going, I threw some sweet potatoes and beets into a 450-degree oven after being tossed in olive oil and kosher salt. The curry recipe was nearly as basic: saute a chopped onion, a couple smashed garlic cloves, and a grated thumb of ginger together, then stir in a teaspoon of cumin, a half teaspoon of coriander, and a teaspoon of curry. Stir in 3 cups water, bring to boil, then add 1 cup rinsed red lentils and simmer 30-40 minutes and salt to taste at the end. Served over rice (put the water on to boil before chopping onions for the curry) with a large dollop of plain yogurt on top, and we had some nice sweet and sour flavors going, but not much texture. Pairing it with roasted veggies played up the sweetness of the ginger, but it also gave us something to chew. A sprinkling of fresh cilantro leaves would have been great, too, but my freezer bag of herbs needs replenishing.

So don't forget about root veggies. Other good choices are celery root, rutabaga, turnips, carrots, potatoes (okay, technically not a root vegetable, but play along with me). Of course there are many more but these are likely to be at your local market. And when you are done cooking and everybody is going stir crazy from too many craft projects and too much quality together time in the house, get the heck outta there! 

Here are a few pics of what we've been up to lately...

Some old fabric, foam core and batting came together for a pelmet box window treatment
thanks to a great tutorial on a friend's lovely interior design blog

Enthusiastic skater - 1st time out on the ice!

What a trooper - never cries when she falls (often!)

A visit to the remarkable Phoenix sculptures at MassMOCA - made from all recycled parts. Can't imagine what they'll look like at their next installation inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan!

The girls love Sol LeWitt's mesmerizing wall art

Imagining herself covered in tattoos -
help me Lord!

Time to get back outside and enjoy Winter while it's here!