delicious items of the past 72 hours

thai stir fry

white sangria (no, the peach schnapps didn't go in that)

 mojitos

*BLIZZARD*...so we made pizza

 

pizza

recipe below

 

you need

12" pizza pan dusted with cornmeal

(admittedly, i used a 10" springform, but this resulted in a super thick crust. delicious, but a little too bready)

for the dough

2 1/2 c flour

2 1/4 t yeast

1 t sugar

1 1/2 t salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 c warm water

for the toppings

literally, whatever you want. i used about one cup of marinara, two BIG handfuls of mozzarella shreds, and fresh basil. in the marinara, i mixed in about 1/4 c ricotta cheese and a teaspoon of roasted minced garlic. but that's just one of many options! try: pesto, different cheeses, roasted veggies, eggs, fruit (not my fave), fake bacon?, go crazy!

instructions

preheat oven to 450˚. proof the yeast with the water and sugar, let sit for 10 minutes. mix in the flour one cup at a time along with the olive oil and salt. knead just a little, til you have a smooth, slightly sticky ball. spin dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for at least half an hour.  roll your dough out, cover with your toppings, and bake for 20 minutes. voila!

Simple Squash

Living in dorms makes it next-to-impossible to cook, at least frequently. So last night I was lucky enough to get the chance to prepare my OWN dinner, thankfully. I've been craving squash lately, probably because it's in season and I was denied the chance to have some mouth-watering squash soup a few days ago because it had chicken broth in it! Rebecca bought butternut squash last night (pre-cut, oh well) and some salad ingredients.

Butternut squash is a delicious and easy-to-make fall dinner dish, and here are some simple directions for what we had last night.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

If your squash is not already pre-cut, cut off the stem and slice squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp, and then cut each half in half again (not lengthwise) so you have four pieces relatively equal in size. Using a glass baking pan, coat the bottom well with olive oil and place the halves flesh-side-down in the pan, poking a few holes in the top of each half with a fork. Make sure the flesh has a good coating of olive oil on it, and brush a little oil over the tops of each.
Bake for 35-45 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste.

For a sweeter option...
Use melted butter instead of olive oil, and sprinkle pan with a little brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon before baking. Use same process as above to bake.

Enjoy!