My Little Pumpkins

My little pumpkins have been such great helpers this month. Samuel has shown an increase in wanting to help with different chores around the house. He likes to vaccum, wash dishes, clean the counters and he always wants to help me make dinner. And whenever Samuel is doing something, Abigail wants to be right there with her brother. :)

Last week we made home-made pizza dough! It was a lot of fun to watch Samuel have fun with the rolling pin and the pizza tasted great. There's something special about smelling that home- made stuff baking in the oven. If you would like to try the pizza dough recipe that we used I have adapted the recipe from the following site: www.greatpartyrecipes.com

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 pkg active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (105 deg. to 115 deg, no more)
• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I used butter)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the olive oil and yeast mixture into it. Stir until it begins to form a ball, then turn it out onto a clean, floured surface and knead for about 4 or 5 minutes.

Your pizza dough should be a smooth, elastic ball. Lightly oil the ball and the inside of a large glass bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. For better crust, punch down the dough, reshape into a ball and let it rise again. You can refrigerate or freeze the dough at this point.

Next, you can divide the dough into 4 portions if you want to make 4 mini pizzas. We used all the dough and made one big pizza on a rectangular cookie sheet. Work on a lightly floured surface and stretch the dough and work it with your fingers or a rolling pin. The outer edge of the dough should be a little thicker than the body, forming a rim. Add toppings.

Transfer to a pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake in a 500 degree pre-heated oven until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted, 10-13 minutes.