It Feels So Good to be Baaaack!

I haven't been home in a long time, and I haven't fired up the oven in an even longer time.  Work took me out of the country in the beginning of April making the last fire-up October 2009, which makes me sick.  Finally, I got a couple days off so I headed home to see my baby...and my fiance, family, and friends. 

My four days home filled up before I could even book my trip.  There was a lot going on, but I knew I had to make pizza.  The plan was to fire-up Sunday afternoon and I would try and make dough sometime Saturday morning.  Well, Friday ended being a long night out so I slept through dough-making time and right into a bunch of errands which forced me to wake up early on Sunday for a same-day batch.  This left the dough with only about 10 hours to rise.  Oh well, nothing was going to stop me from cooking.

Some of the menu highlights were:

My Favorite of the Night: Shaved Asparagus and Tomato

Maybe the Fan Favorite: Margherita with Arugula

A First-Timer: Mushroom and Escarole

Gia's Favorite: Rapini

There were others but unfortunately I don't have pictures of every pizza.  About 20 pizzas came out of the oven that night.  The dough actually turned out to be my favorite batch so far.  I was getting blisters and charring like never before and it wasn't too bready like some in the past.  As expected, it was a little flat and thin but it held up well and the pizzas were great.  I could only imagine how it would've came out with the proper rise time. 

All in all, it was a great day and an even better weekend.  While away, I fill up my notebook with different pizza ideas, topping combinations, and anything else pizza-related just to pass the time.  That helps, but nothing compares to homemaking a delicious meal and manning the oven.  It's indescribable.

To view the rest of the pics CLICK HERE!

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