Missing Them

All the mothers day ads really make you think about those we have lost. I wish I had even more pictures of everyone. I'm getting old and sentimental.

Linda Davenport

Holidays as a child were mostly standard for us. We would go to each of our grandparents and enjoy big meals with family. My Aunt Linda would drive in from Georgia almost every year. My brother and I would badger her for hours to play Go Fish. I don't know if she enjoyed playing with us, but I loved it.

I talked with her recently about coming to visit her some weekend. However, we waited too long. I learned this morning that she died last night. The first thing I thought of was playing cards with her when I was a kid.

As I get older I grow even more fond of those simple memories, and I regret not having videos and pictures of those times to remind me of every little detail.

Happy 27th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my best friend and wife. She keeps me safe, sane, and whole. I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else.

Making Pizza on a regular schedule

Maintaining a regular schedule is harder than ever. And, I find that doing some things every week, on the same day, and at the same time, helps to make things feel normal. It really helps to book-end the week and split the work week up from the weekend.

I make pizza every Saturday, I've been doing this now for a few months. I make the dough mid-morning. In the afternoon I split it into 2-3 dough balls. And, in the evening I make a pizza for me, and one for my wife.

It's an expected regular occurrence. Nothing to worry about, we know what to get to make it ahead of time. We don't have to talk about dinner for Saturday. And, it helps to differentiate the weekend from the weekday.

I do other things during the week to help with this as well. I try to always get up at the same time on work days. My alarm goes off at the same time everyday. On the weekend my alarms don't go off. I get up when I'm ready to.

Wait, what about the pizza

The Dough

I use the dough calculator on The French Guy Cooking site. I use the exact proportions listed here, but I normally change the flour by including about one cup of whole wheat flour.

I use the defaults for 3 pizzas at 250 grams, but I split it into 2 dough balls.

I mix the specified amounts in the stand mixer and then the ball comes together I let it sit for 10 minutes with the mixer off.

Then I knead the dough in the mixer for 20 minutes. Every 5 minutes I will turn the mixer off pull the dough off the hook and start the mixer again.

I then cover the dough in the mixing bowl for 2 hours.

After 2 hours I split the dough into two and form them into balls.

I then cover these dough balls for 4 hours.

When ready I use very little extra flour with my hands to form the dough into pizzas.

I set the oven as hot as it will go. For us this is 550 Fahrenheit.

The Sauce

Very basic pizza sauce

• tomato sauce
• olive oil
• dried oregano
• minced garlic
• salt
• pepper

Just brought together in small bowl or measuring cup, no cooking required.

My Pizza

I like the following on my pizza

• pizza sauce
• fresh basil, sometimes in the sauce
• onions
• green pepper
• sometimes sausage, usually low fat turkey sausage, pre cooked in a skillet
• Low moisture part skim mozzarella, cut into small slices and spread evenly
• provolone cheese, broken into pieces and spread evenly.
• pepperoni, normally low fat turkey, and on top, some people disagree with this

Her Pizza

She can't have milk based cheese

• pizza sauce
• fresh basil
• green pepper
• optional sausage
• fake cheese, Daiya normally
• pepperoni

His favorite music.

Working this morning with iTunes playing in the background.  The song 'Ventura Highway' by the band America starts playing and I'm hit with a very strong memory of my Dads Father, my Grandfather.  He died many years ago from Cirrhosis. He was a heavy drinker who never recovered from retirement. I wasn't terribly close to him, but I have many good memories of him.  He loved to read westerns, but I don't know if he had a favorite author.  He frequently played the lottery, but never won more than he spent playing it.  He loved to eat steak for dinner, almost every night.  He also kept a loaded 44 under the bed.  I once heard him laughing and giggling loudly after talking about the time my Grandmother tried to feed a frog some bologna (yeah that is kinda funny).

I don't have many good pictures of him, the ones I do have are from when he wasn't feeling well.   I guess all that really matters is that I thought of him this morning and wanted to share.