Camera in the Kitchen

Today was a rather successful "me" kind of day. G slept in until about 6a and then remained pretty content this morning. My hubby came home later in the morning and graciously took over with G so that I could do some things around the house. I was able to clean the bathroom, experiment with a new cupcake icing, and make a much desired homemade pizza. It's funny how these things would have been nothing special to accomplish before G was born, and now, these things are considered true accomplishments.

I thought I'd share a couple of the things I did today in detail (don't worry, cleaning the bathroom will not be included).

I'll begin with the cupcakes. I made my personal double chocolate cupcakes.

While they were cooling, I began work on the Salted Caramel Icing. I combined the ingredients into my sauce pan and brought them to a boil. After 2 minutes, the sauce was off the heat and cooling.

I then poured the salted caramel sauce into my mixing bowl. I added the powdered sugar. The only issue is that it needed to be thinned out a bit more...as the caramel continued to cool, the icing became thicker. I'll remember this for next time.

 

I then iced my cupcakes and added a chocolate drizzle. Generally, my cupcakes look much prettier. Due to time constraints and the thickness of the icing, I just spread it on. I would call this "rustic". I've learned over my years of cooking/baking that anything that does not turn out perfectly can be called rustic and I no longer have to feel bad about the appearance :) These cupcakes made their way to the fire department with my husband tonight. I commend them for all of their hard work. Sending in some cupcakes is the least I can do for all they do for others.

 

 

Once the cupcakes were done, I began working on what I would consider to be one of my favorite forms of comfort food. My mom made this particular homemade pizza when I was growing up. She made it for us a couple weeks ago when we were home and it just brought back that feeling of being a kid. My husband really enjoyed it and even requested it. While pizza is my favorite food, he only wants it on occasion, so it was kind of a big deal. While this pizza is nothing flashy, it does wonders for the heart and soul.

 

I began by browning my sausage. 

 While the sausage cooled, I began making the dough by combing the following: 1 cup of luke warm water, 1 package of fast rising yeast and two cups of flour (you will also need more flour to better handle it). The nice thing about this recipe is that you can use whole wheat flour or a combo for your dough and of course the topping selection is endless.

 I then kneaded my dough and formed my crust on a 9x13 baking sheet.

 My mom does not use pizza sauce in this recipe. Instead she uses a simple tomato sauce, which gives it the flavor that takes me back to childhood.

 I then added a thin layer of cheese and topped it with my sausage.

 

 I covered the sausage with the remaining cheese and baked it at 350 for about 35 minutes. The key is to bake it until your cheese is just staring to get that golden brown color. Enjoy!

 

I'm opting out of any lengthy thoughts tonight. I am just rejoicing in this day and the things that I was able to do. I have such a love of baking and cooking and to be able to do that and share it with others is more than enough.

 

 

Just for Fun

 

G and her daddy taking an afternoon nap before he had to leave for work.