St. Louis Style Pizza

The only problem when making Cooks Country St. Louis Style Pizza {with a delicious cracker thin crust} is that it sets my smoke alarms off because you have to cook it at such a high temperature. The sacrifices.

 
St. Louis Style Pizza from Cooks Country

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 cups American cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 3 drops liquid smoke
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water, plus 2 Tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Whisk together tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil and 1T sugar and oregano in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Toss cheeses with liquid smoke in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Combine flour, cornstarch, 2 tsp sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine water and olive oil in measuring cup. Stir water mixture into flour mixture until dough starts to come together. Turn dough onto slightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times, until cohesive.
4. Top each piece of dough with half of the sauce and half of cheese. Carefully pull parchment off of baking sheet onto hot oven stone. Bake until underside is golden brown and cheese is completely melted, 9-12 minutes. Remove pizza and parchment from oven. Transfer pizza to cooling rack and let cool a few minutes. Assemble and bake second pizza. Cut into 2" squares. Serve. 
5. Note - dough can be made in advance. Once mixed tightly wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate up to 2 days. 
6. Variation - If you would like to add pepperoni arrange them on a paper towel lined plate, cover with paper towl and microwave 2 minutes. Let cool. Add to pizza either before or after cheese. 
7. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place pizza stone (or inverted baking sheet) on rack and heat oven to 475 degrees.
8. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, press into small circle and transfer to parchment paper dusted lightly with flour. Using rolling pin, roll and stretch dough to form 12" circle, rotating parchment as needed. Lift parchment and pizza off work surface onto inverted baking sheet (not one in the oven). 

Sunday tradition

Today is Sunday.

Which means muffins.

Lehi Roller Mills raspberry {sometimes blueberry to mix things up a bit} muffins to be exact.

It seems like every Sunday I make muffins. Probably in an attempt to make up for being a crappy mom the rest of the week. My kids love those mini muffins. 

And truth be told, I do too. Which is probably the real reason I make them every week.... because I love them!

Oh snap!

Jeff told me that if I only went to the grocery store today he'd be "happy, happy, happy" but what he failed to mention was he wanted me to buy food AND cook it. Oh snap!

 

Fine. I did cook a few meals for him.

Fiiz Drinks

Jeff heard there was a new soda and treat bar just up the street from our house. How we missed it I have no clue because we can practically see it from our front yard. We decided to be spontaneous and walk there after dinner to see what the buzz was all about.

It's called Fiiz Drinks. They sell mixed drinks {we're talking soda pop here people} and cookies. It sounds kind of weird, but I'm telling you, I think it might be a hit! We aren't big soda pop drinkers, so a dirty Diet Coke or whatever the craze is doesn't really get me all giddy. But a place that actually sells Mtn. Dew and not solely Coke? Now you're talking! 

They make all kinds of "dirty" drinks in any soda flavor you want! Dr. Pepper fan? Check. Coke gal? Check. Pepsi lover? Check. Non-caffeine type? Check.... they have lemonade. Apparently the off menu drinks are the way to go but it's so overwhelming trying to decide what to get that they have some set drinks you can order.

I loved  the decor feel. The only thing bad was they didn't have enough places to sit. But considering it was their opening day and they were still working on getting the place finished, it was fine. We sat at the bar and chatted with the owners.

I went with the Dewberry, a Mtn. Dew with some berry sauce in it. Delicious! Jeff opted for the Mango something or other... a Mtn. Dew with mango sauce. It would be the drink to get on a super hot summer day. Pearl had a really good strawberry lemonade with whipped cream and sprinkles on top. And Fern boy? He hit defiant, crying, ornery, nothing will please him meltdown as soon as we got there.

I thought the prices were pretty reasonable, considering we got four drinks, a bag of popcorn, and a cookie for $8. Oh, did I mention cookies? Oh my goodness! I had the peanut butter cookie and it was so soft and peanuty delicious!

We are definitely going to go back for a treat. In fact, Jeff's already been back for Dewberry. It's something different and fun, and apparently an essential start to some people's day because they are open from 7:30 a.m. {who drinks a dirty diet Coke at 7:30 a.m.???} to 9:00 p.m. Check them out!

Oh. And I almost forgot. Apparently they have an off menu drink called the "Pink Poodle." I guess the store was actually a soda shop way back in the days called "The Pink Poodle." Makes me like Fiiz Drinks all the more!

GNO

Pearl's choice for girls night out? Eating burgers from In-n-Out and watching Duck Dynasty.

Fern bite

Hmmm... it looks like I have a little Fern bite in my peanut butter {no jam} sandwich.

 

Rice Krispie Teddy Bears

I've written before about the teddy bear mold.

It holds special childhood memories of Christmas with my Grandma. She always had baskets full of teddy bear rice krispie treats. And now that it's my turn to continue with the tradition, I want to ask her how many batches of these things she made! Goodness! Either my childhood memories are grossly exaggerated or she bought every single pack of marshmallows and box of Rice Krispie cereal in the store! Oh, and she must have stockpiled on the heart-shaped Red Hots because I drove all over town looking for them! Apparently they are a Valentine Day only treat. And... one more "and" I promise... if anyone knows where I can find those teeny, tiny Reese's balls for the eyes and nose, let me know. Round cinnamon drops and mini M&Ms will have to do I guess.

Jeff was super sweet to help me make all of these for my family {despite his funny face in the picture}. I think he liked decorating them more than he lets on... that or he wanted first dibs on eating them. Well, on second thought, he was probably worried I'd put too much cereal in and they wouldn't be ooey-gooey, fall apart in your hands soft.

I only remember my Grandma using the teddy bear mold, but she also had a Christmas tree mold and some Easter molds. So we decided to decorate a few Christmas trees too.

Oh it makes my heart happy to see all of these sweet treats in that basket. 

 

And even more happy to see the smile it brought on my Dad's face.