Homemade Pizza, Family Activity and Treat

Why do we choose fast food for lunch or dinner many times? There’s no telling how much money we’ve spent on that one meal one or more times a week. Why not get the family together and make pizza at home instead of having it delivered? This is a great opportunity for bonding.

This family activity will surely become a family tradition in time. Choose a day of the week when everyone can get together and enjoy the experience. You can even pretend that you are in a real Italian pizzeria and go all out by decorating the dining room table to resemble a pizzeria.

One great thing about this is choosing the toppings for your homemade pizza. You can choose different toppings that all the family likes or mix them to delight everyone since it is homemade. Or just grab ,anything that you find in your kitchen for your toppings.

What about preparing the crust? This may be simple or a quest for discovery. If you decide to go easy, you can use an already prepared crust from the store or get it from a pizza place. But if you want to treat the family to a high time of flour and dough, make your own crusts. You can even customize your crust. Making your own dough crusts can make use of those handy pantry staples. Recipe for pizza dough can be easily found on the internet or a cookbook and then experiment by adding your own spices for interesting flavors.

Shape the dough into a circle or maybe square according to your desired size. Prevent the sauce from bubbling over the oven rack by forming a rim on the dough. Now this is the most enjoyable part. The dough is ready to be dressed to the hilt.

For the sauce, again you can have the option to use the store bought kind if you wish or make your own with fresh tomatoes from your garden. Spread the sauce over the dough and be sure to cover it to the rim. Next, top the pizza sauce with your favourite cheeses. Buying a block of cheese and grating it for pizza topping is more economical. When using packages where the cheese is already shredded, be sure to get enough as the package contains only a cup or two. Fresh cheese melts better.

Throw a little leftover chicken or hamburger on top or whatever you have around that would make things interesting How about jalapeños? They are good for those who like it hot. Don’t forget the spices. It cannot be a pizza without some thyme, basil and oregano. Want to have even more fun with your family pizza creations? See who can make the funniest pizza. The key is to get the family involved.

If you have two baking stones or pizza trays, make more than one at a time or make small individual pizzas. Everyone can help to clean up while you wait for the pies to bake. When the timer goes off, Bon Appétit!

And don’t forget, if there are leftovers enjoy them the next morning for breakfast!

Home Cooking: Comfortable and Fun

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011

Home Cooking: Comfortable and Fun

Hi Everyone!!

Back to my postings after some weeks of absence. With 2011 to start with, how about some forethoughts on going back to the basic home cooking?

Since the emergence of all these restaurants, food courts just about anywhere and the home deliveries services, home cooking has still its edge over them. To think of the advantages that home cooking brings such as costing less, assurance of fresh and  healthy foods and fosters bonding time, it is still very popular and the most sensible thing to do. So, here are some ways to make home cooking comfortable and a real fun.

Home cooking should have a kitchen setting that has a welcoming effect, a feeling of ease and a feeling that its not a mundane. This can be created by setting up a cozy kitchen that makes one feels a warm,  home-country effect that in spite of the modern kitchen utensils, tools and equipments. To achieve this effect, the first thing to consider is the space. This doesn't matter whether the kitchen is large or small as this depends on how big the size of the house is. What matters is that there's ease and free movement in the kitchen setting. Kitchen gadgets, utensils and equipments should be in proper places where they can be readily reached whenever needed. An easy access to every kitchen implements.

Modern kitchen with a clean, aesthetic stainless settings and with wide array of bright colored, best pots and pans, gadgets and appliances can be complemented with earthen colors as in wood tools and gadgets like chopping board and others. Homey kitchen setting can have rugs on the floor and can be decorated with floral curtains and plaids. Have a soft cushioned chair to add up to its coziness. Place a kitchen table so clutters are not just about anywhere. Small, decorative pots can be planted with herbs that are used frequently. This provides for an easy access to fresh herbs aside from adding ornaments to the kitchen.

Making home-cooking a fun is just part of being creative. Experiment on new recipes with other members of the family or with your friends. Just the feel of anticipating on how the new recipe comes out is already a joy. Have some of your favorite music playing and dance and chop to its beat. Kind of weird but still funny. The fun and the feeling of happiness just being there in the kitchen with rest is great as it is already bonding time. Surely in the future this can bring a smile in everyone's face every time this moment comes to mind.

Always bear in mind that a comfortable and homey kitchen is the busiest place of the house where home cooking will forever be a family fun fare even with the generations to come. So, busy or not, make a habit of preparing foods home cooked. Your loved ones will forever be grateful and love you for that.