Pizza pizza pizza Part 2 of 3

One version of logic was to list these various pizza making options from easiest to least easiest. What works for some may not work for others, however, so I’ve listed them in equally exciting order. Again, I’m no expert on any of these, so if something seems totally – or even partially – batty to you, proceed with cautious curiosity.

If you’re new to any of these options or haven’t made pizza in a while, fantastic. If you’re hungry and in a hurry, run to the store for a frozen pizza and be done with it. Otherwise (and I’m hoping it’s otherwise for you), take your little one by the hand, choose an option you feel you can comfortably manage in an hour or two, and see what happens. With supervision, little ones can participate in most parts of pizza making. You should really only have qualms about not involving them.

Again, get the little ones involved as much as they want to be. They’ll be counting, smelling, tasting, touching, seeing, and even listening every step of the way. They can certainly put their budding art skills to good use if you put them in charge of decorating the pizza. Mind you, if all the cheese winds up in one corner of the pizza, and none of the other ingredients are even touching each other, fine. Say nothing, don’t “fix” it, just bake it. Picasso was once a little kid, too, you know.

You’ll note that I did not include specific ingredients. You’re essentially making a hot open-faced sandwich, so you have much much freedom in the ingredients. Like working out, you’ll want to start off simply, though, to make sure you like and can handle what you have. Try one ingredient for every 2 years of your child’s age. When that works, add a little more the next time.

Instructions vary according to what you’re making, and I didn’t include these, either. Again, you’ll likely find most details in cookbooks and online. If not, let me know.

Pizza pizza pizza

In response to yesterday’s post about the lack of food in my home after a vacation, several gentle readers suggested that ordering a pizza or other take-out food would have been the best thing to do. I had indeed planned to order a pizza but didn’t for two super simple reasons:

1) After a week of devouring food from my dad’s garden (oh boy oh boy oh boy…fresh figs, strawberries, grapes, something something squash…can’t wait to write about all that), a greasy commercial pizza was going to be such a letdown.

2) I was so tired when I finally walked in the door, I couldn’t work the brain cells to order a pizza.

Pizza pizza pizza. All this pizza talk does remind me that making pizza at home ought to be on everyone’s must-do list for activities with kids. Homemade pizzas are usually healthier, they’re hard to mess up, little ones are often more willing to eat meals they’ve helped make, and they can be made as simply or as complicatedly as desired. If that isn’t enough, the whole process is a terrific social event: whether you have a little one just starting out in the kitchen, the world’s moodiest teenager, or a ton of family and friends with a ton of dietary combinations, making pizza together is the way to go. Those Italians were on to something.

Folks far more brilliant than I have devoted blogs and books to pizzas, so there is already a ton of info available. Stick around here, though, for non-expert comments and suggestions. As I’m still trying to squoosh them all into something coherent, I’ll be back later today, either with an update or a whole new pizza post.

Hungry hungry hungry

I’m home now and looking at a painfully empty refrigerator. I see some eggs, soy milk, mustard, a bottle of water, and something I shouldn’t attempt to identify.

That was just enough to whip up a quick batch of scrambled eggs with fresh black pepper and a couple basil leaves, which will have to do for dinner, because I don’t trust myself to cook when I’m this tired.

I shall return.

Going Home

Vacation is over.  Waaaah.

Silly me, I didn’t think to play “Going Home” when vacation started, so now I just need to have my mom and dad be in Tokyo before I get there. 

Click on that link above and sing or hum along with the incredible Paul Robeson, won’t you?  And do think of him if your kids haven’t quite grasped the  concept of singing low. Goodness, what an enormous voice.

Off I go.

Chutes and Ladders

Maybe you remember the game:  spin the dial to find out how many spaces you move.  When you reach a ladder, you can move up.  You slide down when you reach a chute.  With 100 squares, chutes and ladders everywhere and no reading required, it’s great great fun for little ones.

I’ve learned over time to not barrrage my nephew and niece with a million questions about their lives, because the more questions I ask, the less they’re going to talk.  You know, you get the grunts and short-answer yesses and nos.  I had a breakthrough today with my niece, and the distractor factor was a good game of Chutes and Ladders.

When it was my niece’s turn, she spun, I thought of a category, and the number of spaces she was going to move equalled the number of items in that category she had to name.  For example, if she spun a 5, I thought of the category Colors, and she had to name 5 colors.  We switched when it was my turn.

I started off with basic categories: vegetables, colors, fruits, states, cities, etc.  Gradually I moved on to friends (“Name 6 friends you have.”), activities (“Name the 3 best things you did this summer.”) and other topics that had her thinking a bit more.  In turn, she was free to ask me questions from any category she wanted to (one of my favorites was, “What are 6 names that are good for a giraffe?”).  Her older brother didn’t want to play, but he certainly stayed for the whole game and listened to everything we said.

This is a variation of the say-it-to-play-it approach we take to many games (the student must say the target vocabulary word before kicking a soccer ball, for example), and it also turned into an easy way to have a conversation without all those off-putting direct questions.  I’m sure it will work with many other games, so give it a try.

Ah, one more thing: my niece discovered today how ticklish I am.  It’s good to laugh until your face hurts.

Brownies – mostly vegan!!

One of our little students has so many food allergies, she’s inspired me to find recipes she can eat so that she can eventually participate again in our food-based school activities.

It took a while for me to realize she would do fine with just about anything vegan, and so I entered a new-to-me world of baking and cooking. The following was my first ever attempt, and we all inhaled the results. Try it, because it’s ridiculously easy. I don’t know where the original recipe came from, but I will happily post credits when I find them.

Note: Pure vegan this is not, as I later learned that the average sugar isn’t vegan, and I think I remember reading somewhere that something is added to flour as well. Amazing what you learn when you start paying attention to what you eat. Adjust accordingly.

You will need:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup pure cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk or water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Mix the dry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients, then add this mixture to the dry ingredients.
Stir everything until well mixed.
Pour into a square- or rectangular-shaped pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Bake a bit longer if you prefer firmer brownies.
Let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting into squares. (My first batch was so happily gooey, cutting squares was not an option: those brownies were scooped out with a spoon and devoured.)