American Pi

An engineer already!

Happy Pi Day! Yes, it's uber geeky, but today's date is 3.14, which is also the value of the variable known as Pi. So in honor of our littlest Spadaro Engineer, happy Pi day! And in appreciation of such a random day, I'm going to share a recipe for homemade pizza (pie) dough. It's actually much easier than I thought it was going to be.

In other news, Alabama just had its primary elections yesterday. It isn't a secret that there are a lot of republicans around, but did you know that when we registered to vote they didn't even ask us what party we wanted to be registered as? I guess they just assume that everyone is republican. Ha!


 Because of this, it means that yesterday was an open primary. And I was excited that although not being a republican, I could still vote and be part of the process. So as soon as Derek got home from work, we jumped in the car and headed to the polls - I don't think that Alabama has absentee ballots, and certainly isn't like Oregon where they've completely done away with polls entirely. And the experience of physically voting at the ballot box really made me reminiscent of my childhood. I remember going into a curtained off stall (in my memory it's like an all-black shower stall complete with curtain) with my mother and watching her vote. Oh how things have changed.

When we got to the polls, I was a bit saddened to find that they asked me if I wanted to vote republican or democrat. I had a momentary identity crisis (do I say republican so I can vote in the republican primary or do I give the honest answer that I'm a democrat?). I ended up deciding that I couldn't say republican without feeling guilty, so I took the democratic ballot and headed to my cubbyhole.

Needless to say, I was one of a very small number of people who voted democrat in this primary (I signed in on line 18 one hour before the polls closed). But, I did get to cast my vote for Obama. Hahaha. Not only was I not able to vote for one of the republican candidates, but all of the local primaries were also republicans and therefore my ballot was about as short as it could be.

Oh well. It was a fun experience nonetheless. Now time to enjoy some pizza pi!

This is a spin-off of a recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Feel free to modify it with your own favorite spices and seasonings.

Homemade Pizza Dough
4 Cups flour
1 Tbsp garlic (fresh or powder)
1 Packet yeast
1 1/3 Cups warm water (approx 85 degrees)
2 Tbsp olive oil (I used Extra Virgin)
1 tsp salt

1. Make sure your water is warm to the touch, but not hot. If it is too hot, the yeast will die. Pour the yeast into the water and allow to dissolve (takes approx 5 minutes). If you don't see foam beginning to form after 5 minutes, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or less. That should do the trick.

2. Mix olive oil with yeast. Combine flour, salt, and garlic powder.

Addison loves Italian food. It's in her blood!

3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix. You may want to use your hands and thoroughly knead the mix together. Knead dough for 10 minutes until thoroughly mixed and a bit elastic feeling.

4. Put dough in a bowl and cover with saran wrap or a damp cloth for 3 hours. Dough should appear 2x in size.

5. Punch down dough, divide into 2 parts. Stretch dough into desired shape (feel free to try throwing, but make sure to stay away from the ceiling fan when you do).

6. Put down a sprinkle of corn meal on pizza pan or pizza stone. Lay dough on cooking surface. Brush top with olive oil, then dress with whatever sauce and toppings you want. Bake for approx 25 minutes at 400 degrees.