(no subject)

I know, I know - I've stirred the drama.  Worse yet, I've done it while still half asleep and not caffeinated, and one should never stir the drama unless one is in top form.

But Good Keeyrist I'm sick of this Us vs. Them mentality creeping into the poly community.  Have a big heaping cup of post-adolescence.  It's on the house.

And now for something completely different!!!

The name that song meme, ganked shamelessly from austingoddess - the keeping my trap shut edition!!

25 songs at random, a lyric from each.  Points for each song and artist correctly named.  No googling!

1.  It is 5am, you are listening to Los Angeles.  point to ladydreamtime

2. Tell Mr. Godot I'm walking the dog

3.  Machines that make you kiss in time, smoke on your breath point to serendipitygirl

4.  There is poison underneath the sink, of course point to serendipitygirl  (hm, spot the person who owns about 85% of the same music I do :P

5.  Lean against railings, describing the colors and smells of our homelands

6.   Someone called you a dirty name - people walking.  Keep on walking.

7.  Mother spent ten years sitting by a window scared if she spoke she'd die of a heart attack   point to tasty_mangoes
8.  I'm only hanging on to watch you go down  point to jenmarie

9.  Your perception of reality is a polar image of what I see point to serendipitygirl

10.  You never looked as lost as this sometimes it doesn't even look like you point to serendipitygirl

11.   But see how deep the bullet lies, unaware I'm tearing you asunder.  point to terriblelynne.

12.   The woman holds her tongue, knowing silence will speak for her.  (ha!) point to serendipitygirl

13.  It's okay - twisted sheets and endless rainy days.  point to serendipitygirl

14.  I'm not going to tell you what's wrong,  I'm just gonna sit on your lap for five dollars a song. point to serendipitygirl

15.  Maybe I should hold with care, but my hands are busy in the air.

16.  Different minds, different ways; different reasons to believe

17.  Time in the town I need it for my love  - my Chevrolet rollin' to another play day.

18.  Don't waste this moment, let's use this moment like it's the last

19.  On the corner is a banker with a motorcar, the little children laugh at him behind his back. point to tasty_mangoes
20.  The water never slept so wide; wider awake than sleep - love's all counting sheep

21.  What once was a warm cup of comfort now felt like the lifting of two bricks

22.  Don't bring me flowers, don't bring me the sea.  Bring me diamonds, that would suit me fine.

23.  Pain from pearls, hey little girl - how much have you grown.  point to serendipitygirl

24.  She was physically forgotten then she slipped into my pocket with my car keys.  point to jenmarie

25.  Pulling the knobs on the floor of their toxic metropolis, but how you gonna get what you need to get?  point to serendipitygirl

Friday kitten blogging (somewhat belated)

Tomorrow morning, Sake goes to the vet for her first vaccinations and a general checkup.  I am regarding her having a thermometer stuck up her butt as gentle revenge for all of tiny wounds I currently bear.  Little shit. :P

Just a note

This recipe from A Year in Bread makes excellent pizza dough.

kitchenMage's Overnight Pizza Crust
ice water 1 1/2 c | 355 ml | 12 oz | 340 g
bread flour 4 c | 0.95 l | 18 oz | 500 g
instant yeast 1 tsp | 11 ml | 1/8 oz | 3+ g
olive oil 2 tablespoons | 30 ml | 1 oz | 28 g
salt 1 tsp | 5 ml | 1/4 oz | 8 g

(These directions are for mixing by wand, err, I mean hand. Parenthetical directions are for those of you who are using a stand mixer.)

Mixing the dough

Important: Water temperature matters—the colder, the better. About 15 minutes before starting, combine 1 1/2 cups of water and add a handful of ice cubes. By the time you are ready for it, there will be very cold ice water waiting. Remember to remove any remaining ice before measuring. If you have room in the freezer, you can put the measured flour in it to chill for that same 15 minutes.

In mixing bowl, stir flour and yeast together just to distribute yeast. Add ice water and mix to combine into wet dough, about 1 minute. (mixer: use paddle attachment on low for 30-60 seconds) It will look like sort of like thick, lumpy pancake batter. Cover and stick back in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator, drizzle oil on one corner of dough, drop salt on top of the oil, and stir to combine. Turn dough out on well-floured counter and knead for a couple of minutes. (You can add more flour if you need, or want a substantially thicker crust—I do at times—but this is better with less so give it a shot.) Place dough in clean bowl, cover and return to refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours, preferably overnight. (The dough can stay refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Baking the pizza

When you get home from work, turn on the oven as high as it goes to get the stone really hot. Make sure the stone is in the oven (or is that just me who forgets?) It takes about an hour to thoroughly heat the stone. Fortunately, this is about the same amount of time it takes to finish preparing the crust, toppings and assembling the pizza—even allowing for interruptions from the small people. You can even toss a salad together.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn out on floured counter. Divide dough in half (or thirds for smaller pizzas) and refrigerate the portion you will not be using.

With well-floured hands, shape each portion of dough into a flat disc as large as possible without tearing the dough. When the dough starts to shrink back immediately after stretching, let it rest on counter for five minutes before continuing with shaping it.

With a bit of tweaking, this is a fairly versatile crust. If you like cracker-thin pizza, use less dough and stretch it thinner. (Amusingly enough, this is one of the few doughs I make that I can get a good windowpane from.) For thicker, breadier pizza, use a little more dough and stretch it less. (If you like your crust even thicker, go ahead an use more flour, starting with an extra 1/4 cup.)

When the crust is about the right size, place it on a parchment sheet, cover and let rise until you are ready to top it. If you turned on the oven when you took the dough out of the refrigerator, this should be another 30-45 minutes. It will not rise substantially, but it should warm to room temp and poof just a bit in spots.

In honor of theKid, my toppings for this pizza are Canadian bacon and pineapple. She usually adds black olives but I was out. Oh well. I'd say a 12" inch pizza takes 6 ounces of Canadian bacon, 2/3 of a can of pineapple, and a handful of olives. (feed the rest of the pineapple and olives to the kids who are helping you make it)

My standard marinara, which I make in my largest stockpot using cans of crushed tomatoes and herbs from the garden, goes on first. (Sorry there's no recipe for this, but Kevin's tomato sauce looks like it would work just fine if you need one.) Next, I put on the pineapple and olives so they will be underneath the meat and cheese. Half the cheese is next. If I have parmesan, I might grate some over the pizza at this point. Otherwise, I am a mozzarella purist. Following the first part of the cheese is the meat. By leaving the meat partially exposed amongst the cheese, you promote browning on the edges, which is both pretty and flavorful. Finish off with more mozzarella.

(Kevin and I are going to have a throwdown one day about the relative unholiness of each other's pizza toppings. He has been known to snark about pineapple, while I simply can't fathom cheddar cheese on pizza!)

Carefully slide pizza (still on parchment) onto the hot stone. Bake at 500-550 degrees (hotter if your oven does it) for 3-4 minutes then check to see if the pizza needs rotating for even baking. Continue baking until cheese is melted and bottom of crust is brown and of desired crispiness, usually another 4-5 minutes, depending on how carried away you got with the toppings.