Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza (!!!)

Have you ever had an intense desire for Giordano's Pizza in Chicago, but then realized that the commute from Dallas is just a bit long? No? Just me?

Well, I surely did have a craving, but since travel was out of the question....

I Googled.

Here is an adaptation of the recipe that I found (and found quite delicious!):

Now, to be fair, I'm not much of a "measuring" cook these days. I kind of eyeball things as I go.

1 1/2 cups warm water (I microwave it for about 1 1/2 minutes)
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 TBSP sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup cornmeal
4 cups flour

I don't do that whole "proofing the yeast" thing, either; every time I have done that, my dough has failed to rise. I throw all of the dry ingredients into my Kitchen Aid mixer, turn it on, and let the dough hook do what it's supposed to do. Then I pour in the warm water, and finally, whatever fat the recipe calls for (in this case, the butter). The Kitchen Aid does all my kneading for me; 7 minutes usually does the trick.

Then you just spread the dough on/in your pans. I used one pizza stone and one cast-iron skillet (thinking that my picky kiddos wouldn't eat the deep-dish, and this recipe makes enough for 2 crusts).

THIS IS IMPORTANT! You need to bake pizza at at least 425. Any less will produce a weird doughy consistency. Bake for 7 minutes, then pull it out and add your toppings: meat and veggies first, then LOADS of cheese, then sauce. Bake for an additional 20 minutes for deep dish, less for traditional pizza.

For the sauce, I took one 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, sprinkled in some Parmesan cheese, some Italian seasoning, and some garlic. That's it!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Don't call it a comeback...

So (like everyone else), I have become obsessed with Pinterest.

Seriously, the only reason I'm posting is so that I can put one of my own pictures on Pinterest! That's kind of sad....

This is a hairbow bouquet that I made for a friend's baby shower. All I did was make 13 of the (ubiquitous) felt hairbows, attached them to bamboo skewers that I painted green, and arranged them in a pot that I spray painted and distressed! Voila!

Hope you enjoy! I know I enjoyed making it.

A Few of my Favorite Things

I once read that as soon as you have three items that are alike, you have a collection.

I have more than my share of collections, then. ;)

I've told you how I am always drawn to signage...any signage...and all-white pieces do the same thing to me. I love items that are utilitarian and beautiful all at once, and there is something striking about all-white that really speaks to me in its simplicity.

Now, what I have is not pricey. I don't own any major ironstone pieces (a quick story about that...my Mammaw always loved her mother's pink-and-white china, and when her mother passed away, she decided to get rid of her own "china" and use her mother's. I asked her what she did with hers, and she said to me, "Oh, it was just that old ironstone, so I got rid of it." I nearly fell out. Literally, I nearly fell out.) There is only one exception, to my knowledge, to my lack of pricey pieces...I came across one white pitcher at a yard sale at which every single item was 25 cents, so of course I bought it just because I liked the look of it. It had "Hall" imprinted on the bottom, but no date. I looked it up in an antique catalog, and if I have what I think I have, the value was listed as $75. But even if the value is only 25 cents, it doesn't matter, because I love it.

This is just a little arrangement of white pitchers, etc. (two of them are from Ikea, and the others I think I got at a garage sale), that I FINALLY found amongst all the boxes!

Happy New Year!

We have been out of town visiting with our family, so I took a little holiday vacation from posting. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I know we did...it is so good to see family again.
I am having a little bit of a hard time coming back and getting into the swing of things! I see a lot of projects that need to be completed, but I feel like I pushed so hard in the weeks leading up to Christmas that I just want a little break...and truthfully, the old pocketbook needs a litte break, too.
On the subject of decorating, though, I got a little discouraged about my color choices for the new house. I have been doing some research on trends in decorating and everything that I read or each picture that I looked at seemed to indicate that neutrals and whites are coming back in again. I understand that, since for a long time we saw a lot of really saturated colors (didn't almost everyone put red on the walls at some point?), and the pendulum always swings back the other way after a period of time. (As a hairstylist, I have to keep notice of this...50's hair was really smooth and refined, 60's hair was big and contrived, 70's hair was loose and free and easy, 80's hair was HUGE and contrived, 90's hair was back to long and straight with grunge style and then big and poofy...we all remember the "Rachel," right?)
Anyway, I chose colors that are somewhere in between...a pale blue, which is kind of neutral, but still kind of bright...definitely not beige! And then I chose a greenish color for the kitchen which was called "Tempered Sage." It looks like a creamy green, I think. My older brother was helping paint the walls blue (pardon me, Valspar's "Stillness"), and he kind of freaked me out...he just kept telling me that it was shockingly bright. Of course, once it was all up, it didn't look so bright anymore, but still, it made me question myself and my choices. I would text my best girlfriend (who is fearless) so that she would give me a backbone. And then I remembered something that Kim from Daisy Cottage said...that you must decorate your house for YOU, not for anyone else's approval, and that you must do what makes you happy in your space.
And when it comes down to it, my space makes me very happy.

Reviving a favorite!

I am alway drawn to signage. I don't know what the deal is, but I just love it! Do you ever watch "American Pickers?" Each and every time they come across a vintage sign, I positively drool. Someday, I would love to have a great room wall covered in old signs.

Someday I would love to have the piles of money that are necessary to purchase a wall-full of old signs. ;P

I bought this particular sign probably seven or eight years ago at a barn sale for $1. At my last house, it sat outside on my back patio, right across the top of my potting bench. It sat there for 3 years, rain or shine, snow-covered and heat-scorched. I love what it did to the wood, but the lettering pretty much peeled right off.

I decided to hang it inside here at the new house, above the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to read anymore! So I repainted the lettering...hopefully it doesn't detract from the authenticity of the sign!

Giving my Little Darlin' a big girl room!

In our last house, our daughter's room was literally 8 X 9. And that included the closet, which was jutted out into the room, as opposed to being set in the wall. She had no space, bless her heart! Her room was painted yellow, with bamboo flooring that was kind of yellow-ish in hue, and decorated with gerbera daisies (LOVE a gerbera daisy...anytime, anyplace).

But going to a new place means a fresh start. I decided on a color scheme of baby blue with hot pink and yellow accents. Apparently this offended some people...I was asked why I didn't let her pick out her own colors for her room. One person even went so far as to ask me if I believe I have better taste than her.

Ummmmmm......yes, I do. She's 3. The other day she put on pink flowered pants with a red shirt (part of me was proud because she chose to wear a St. Louis Cardinals shirt....but still, not with pink flowered pants).

Anyhoo.

First, I took a mirror that I bought at a yard sale for $1 (it had previously been gold, and I painted it white) and repainted it in Krylon's "Watermelon." Then I printed off a series of silhouettes from the Graphics Fairy's blog on scrapbook paper, and "matted" them on coordinating scrapbook paper. I took the white Ikea frames that had been in her room before and covered them in German glass glitter so they would sparkle.



Voila, new room!!!

(And by the way.....she loves it!!!!)

Burritos from the "leftovers"

Once again, a large part of why I'm posting is so that I don't forget this recipe!
If I don't write things down, I will surely forget. I didn't used to be this way....I traded in my brain in exchange for some precious kiddos.

Shredded Beef Burritos

Leftover pot roast, marinated in fajita seasoning and shredded
Leftover white rice (from having Sweet and Sour Chicken)
Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Cheddar Jack cheese

Wrap in a tortilla and lightly brown all around.

The hubs drizzled queso over his....I put sour cream on mine. Ooooh, guacamole would've been sooooo good with this!

This was SO INCREDIBLY TASTY and made me feel pretty good as a domestic engineer....nothing went to waste this week!