Pizza from Scratch! Don't buy it-Make it!

My daughter and her husband got back from their buying trip to the city just in time for homemade pizza. Sometimes I wonder why we go to all the expense of buying pizza when it is much easier and more healthy to make your own. Unless you live in the city where there is delivery and then that might make a difference. But out here in the "boonies" those pizza delivery people couldn't be paid enough to brave the muddy, or snow bound roads just to deliver a pizza. So we make our own!
First I dig out this giant pan that I bought at a flea market one day. It's industrial size. I seem to be buying more industrial size pans in my old age for some reason. And my daughter who usually rolls her eyes around in her head at most things I do and say, was quick to claim this pan "when I'm dead" as she puts it. Geez!

And it makes a large enough pizza that there is even left overs for lunch the next day.

O.K. so back to how to make this pizza. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. First I buy several packages of those pizza crust packages that all you have to do is add hot water. I used three of them for a pan this size. Then you stir the dough till mixed and let sit for 5 minutes. I had previously fried my hamburger but you could use sausage or chicken or whatever you heart desires. (But let's pass on the chicken for a while, shall we?)
Bake the crust for 11 minutes or whatever it says on the package. Then take it out, spread your favorite pizza sauce over the partially baked crust, add your red and green chopped peppers, chopped onions, black olives, pepperoni, hamburger, and whatever else you fancy throwing on there. The more the better is my thinking!
And oh yes, I always like to leave one end with nothing but cheese for those who are picky eaters and every family has them. You know who you are!
I heat this up for about 8 minutes or so and then pull the pan back out and add both shredded cheddar cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese. Pop it back in the oven again until the cheese melts and there it is!!! Comfort food guaranteed to make all your troubles be forgotten!

Frozen Fog

I absolutely had to stop and take a picture of this tree covered in "frozen fog" this morning on my way to work. Is that gorgeous or what! And the camera really doesn't do it justice.

Apparently when it is cold and foggy at the same time the fog freezes on the branches of the trees. Remember the other day when I said sparkles were in the air? That is what happens when the iced fog starts to fall to the ground. Or something like that! Nature is so beautiful in all seasons. What a creative God we have!!!

Hello sister, what is wrong with your chicken?

 One of my chickens is acting sick. All hunkered down in the coop. Unfortunately, it is one that I was keeping for my sister who is living in Mexico at the moment. So I shot off an email asking her what could possibly be wrong with the chicken . I had also dug out the issues of my Backyard Poultry magazine cause I remember reading somewhere that eggs can get stuck and not be able to be passed through or sometimes they have problems with their craws etc. etc. etc. But since my sister is a connoisseur of chicken diseases, I thought maybe she would know.

Here's her response to my excited email of "Janet, one of your chickens is sick and I don't know what is wrong. Any ideas?"

Immediately came back her reply, " Is it the older black chicken and not the young black and white chicken? If it is it's called death. She is old and that is what they do just about 24 hours before they die. Any other questions?"

My reply was " Yes, it is the older chicken. YOU THINK SHE IS JUST DYING??? I thought maybe she had a egg stuck or something wrong with her craw or some exotic disease or ......"

My sister..." Joyce, Joyce....what am I going to do with you....Do not overthink the equation....she is old.....she is hunkering down. She is dying. We will all face this process if we live long enough. This time tomorrow when you walk out there, she will be two feet in the air. Pick her up and feed the coyotes on your way to town....aka ...throw her into a ditch as you drive off...just don't do like Edna did (her elderly neighbor) and have the door open, drive through the ditch and fall out of the truck...."

Good golly!!! A dying chicken!!!! I have never heard of a chicken EVER, EVER dying of old age. All our chickens got ate before they died of OLD AGE!!!!


I'll keep you posted....
     Follow up:

Well, the hen in question in my previous post has passed to her final reward in that great chicken yard in the hereafter....or something like that. May she happily cluck away in that place all good chickens go! Shall we bow our heads for a moment of silence in her honor?

And no, for those of you who wonder but don't want to ask. We did not have chicken for dinner that night!! And I didn't ask the boy's Poppy  what kind of funeral he gave her either. Some things are best not known if you know what I mean...

Guess what was on my desk when I arrived at work today????

A little gift bag. And a "thinking of you" card to go with it! And inside it read " Dear Joyce, As you look at these hens, may your remember fond memories of your dear sweet old hen who is now dancing in heaven. Thinking of you (and your old hen). Peggy and Susan "

And look at these adorable dancing chickens!!! There are actually 4 of them but two didn't want to stand up and have their picture taken!!!

Peggy and Susan, you're the best!!! And oh yes, I got the latest issue of the "Backyard Poultry" magazine just so you all would know there really is such a thing for us "chicken lovers" out there.

So, now what kind of chicken shall I buy now to keep the rest of the "little flock" from grieving so much? Hmmmm.....excuse me while I browse through my magazine. I'm shopping......

7 Layer Dip

I had forgotten how easy it is to throw this dish together for a quick snack when company drops in. This may not be the official recipe but here's how I make it. If I don' t have something, I just leave it out and go on. Or throw something extra in that everyone likes.

First spread the bottom layer with refried beans. Then combine a 16 oz carton of sour cream with a packet of taco seasoning mix. I think the original recipe calls for 1/3 cup mayonnaise but I didn't have any so left it out. Stir this mixture together and spread evenly on the refried beans.

Add a layer of guacamole dip.

Then add tomatoes, chopped green onions, olives, shredded cheese, and heck, throw in the kitchen sink if you want to. (That just means anything else you like for those of you like my daughter that don't understand my lingo)

I like to serve with those cute little tortilla chips that are like little cups so you can actually get a decent amount in them.

Oh wait, I just realized I didn't add any salsa anywhere. So throw some of that on too if you like it. Home made is always good.

I put this in a 9 x 13 but it looks really good in a round, flat platter also. Little more decorative!

Good food, good friends equals good times!

Ice crystals everywhere

Thought you might enjoy some pictures of our country road. Notice the snow has a tendency to "drift" out in the country which doesn't happen so much in town. My grand kids called these drifts "snow caves"

This morning when I got up it looked like ice crystals were everywhere. Apparently the fog froze in ice crystals on the trees and when I went in to the office this morning it looked like glitter in the air as these ice crystals began to fall. It was a beautiful sight. Only God could make such a beautiful scene as that was. I gazed in wonder as the air was filled with "sparkle" and loved the feel of it as it softly fell on my face!!! What a great way to start the day!

Letting my senses of humor shine brightly!

This is my sweet daughter who sometimes wonders about my sense of humor. I always told her she would thank me some day for making her do the dishes every night before she went to bed but she never bought it. Probably still doesn't today even though she is married now with three little boys. But I digress...notice how excited she is to be sitting beside me on the swing having her picture taken?

Well anyway, I loved doing funny things when she was least expecting it when she was younger. Once, when it was some special night at the little Christian school she attended--maybe Senior night I wanted to really make her proud of me. So I slipped into the bathroom while they were playing volleyball and changed into my best clothes for her!

Can you tell she was appreciative?

Hey, I had to look long and hard to find this outfit!

And then another time I had this friend named Schotzi who happened to have a birthday. So myself and several other friends dressed up and went to her place of employment which happened to be our local medical clinic and sat in the waiting room outside the lab where she worked and moaned and groaned and told everyone we needed "Nurse Schotzi" to come help us. Doctors and nurses walked by and looked at us very strangely.

Now let's see, one was dressed with a basketball stuffed under her shirt and pretended she was in labor, one had wrapped her arm in a sling with what looked like blood on the wrapping, I can't remember what the rest of the girls did but I dressed up like a little girl with measles and carried a candy thermometer with me. And we fixed a bed pan up with flowers to give to her. It was really hilarious and I am sure Schotzi was pleasantly surprised to see us all there anxious to take her out to lunch. We really wanted to take her out to lunch in a hearse but couldn't find anyone that would let us use theirs.

And now, back to my daughter. Didn't want to waste the moment or the outfit, so I went to the same little Christian school to pick up my son and daughter after taking Schotzi out to lunch dressed in all my finery.

She appeared mortified but I am sure she secretly loved it! Let's see, the bib, the pacifier, the baby rattles, the pooh bears tied to my shoes and of course giant red spots all over me. Yep, that sure was a fun day!

And I smile everytime I think about that too!

P.S. didn't seem to bother my son but he is the one that also followed her around in our local Wal-Mart pretending to be Ruprecht one day dragging one leg around like a cripple and talking in a strange voice. He watched the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels can you tell.

Chip off the old block isn't he?

Come on, enjoy life and laugh a little while you are doing it!

Now this makes me smile. 1980-young, skinny and on top of the world--or so I thought