Screwing with the balance of the universe
Pissed Kitty posted that she saw a Slayer sticker on a minivan. This made me want to immediately go out and buy one for my 1992 white Ford Tempo because that would mess with the universe even more than a Slayer sticker on a minivan. And so off we went, even though I was in the middle of making pizza. I left the sauce cooling on the stove and I knew it wouldn't hurt the dough to have one more rise while we were out and about. Rob convinced me to go downtown to Aaron's on 6th street after promising that SXSW hadn't kicked off yet. Well, he was wrong about that and while the huge crowds haven't formed just yet there were still enough people milling around to make it annoying. Turned out Aaron's didn't have the Slayer sticker I wanted and I'm not sure why I thought they would have the same stickers they had back when I was a Slayer fan in the 80's. However, they did have the body outline sticker that I once possessed back in the day so I got that one. Here it is on the car, ready to freak out my mom the next time I go over there.


Then it was back to the pizza. I haven't made pizza in a long, long time and my favorite pizza dough recipe has since been forgotten so I invented a new one:
3 cups white flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
4 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon Italian Herb Seasoning
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/4 cups water
2 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon honey

Mix this up about an hour or so before you want to start putting the pizza(s) together so it has time to rise at least once. Of course, you can also cheat and only give it a 15 minute rise if you are in a rush, but it's easier to work with after a good rise or two. This makes enough for two thin crust pizzas or use it for one larger, thicker crust pizza. After you form your crust(s), brush or spray the top with oil and pop your crust(s) into a preheated 450 degree oven for about 3 to 5 minutes, just long enough to set the crust so the sauce doesn't soak in. Pull out of the oven and add your sauce, cheese and other toppings, then bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or so. If you are using cookie sheets, your crust will not be very crisp, but the cornmeal, whole wheat flour and the precooking keep it from being a soggy mess. If you are lucky enough to have a pizza stone, you probably won't need to precook the crust - not sure since I've never owned one.

As for the sauce, I've forgotten that recipe as well but something I've used in the past and fell back on this time was McCormick's Thick and Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix (a packet of premixed spices and who knows what else.) If you use this then go with the tomato paste instructions, but cut the water by about 1/2 cup. I think it needs doctoring up a bit - maybe add a pinch of sugar and some basil or whatever else you think it might need. If you like a lot of sauce on your pizza, make two packages worth.