Pies anyone?

I'll be taking a little detour from cars, weather, and adjusting topics to something a little different. I'm going to talk a bit about food. A few of my friends along with family have begun to realize I've got a knack for cooking. That said my specialty dish is best described as how they say it over in Jersey, "Pies." For the rest of us my specialty is making pizzas.

The basics of a pizza are dough, sauce, and toppings. Simple, a bag of instant dough by just adding water, tomato paste and some cheese and you’re done. Right... actually, if I made them that simple I'd probably be looking for something else to prepare. From the first time I attempted to make a pizza to one of my modern creations the process that use that goes into one of my pies has not only evolved, but it's never the same.

I'll be the first to admit my first solo attempt making a pizza was a disaster waiting to happen. I had found a package of instant dough and everything else I wanted on the pizza. From what I remember, I did 3-4 thing wrong. First, the pan was too small, the oven wasn't at the right temperature + I didn't bake it long enough, and the dough had too much water put into it. What came out was a pizza with a burnt bottom and top plus doughy middle that was almost impossible to eat. After that disaster, I vowed I wouldn't make another pizza from scratch. That was 7 years ago. Five years later, my sister and cousin wanted to be adventurous and make a pizza. We bought everything at Cub Foods, including a pre-made already pressed crust. My job was simple, cut the crust out of the plastic wrap... yeah simple... long story short the crust went flying and I ended up have to re-throw it, but the pizza overall was really good (macaroni and red pepper topping w/ a Alfredo sauce). After this attempt at making a pizza that actually turned out, I did a little rethinking on that vow I made years back.

From that pizza onward, I worked on different types of crusts. Some with milk, others with wheat, even others with sauce and cheeses mixed in with the crust. With every pizza I make I try to do something different either with the crust or toppings, but something has to be unique to it otherwise it's just like any other previous pizza.

A while back, I wrote a few things down pertaining to things I I've tried. I'll see if I can find it again and post my tips along w/ a few photos of pizzas that have come from my kitchen.

Eat well,

-DK