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Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (see Recipe)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Romano Cheese
• Garlic (I mixed with olive oil on crust)
• Artichoke Hearts
• Fresh Cracked Pepper
• Green Onion

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (see Recipe)
  
• BBQ Sauce (see Recipe)
• Pepper Jack (Grated)
  
• Grilled Chicken (Sliced)
• Jalapenos (Sliced)

Garnish

• Iceberg (Shredded)
• Chipotle Ranch Dressing (mix with lettuce while pizza cooks)

Assemble Pizza

Spread BBQ Sauce on Crust. Place Shredded cheese on Pizza. Arrange Chicken & Jalapenos on Pizza.

Cook for 6 min in 450 degrees Oven. Allow to cool a bit before slicing. Place on Plate. Top with Lettuce that has been mixed with the dressing.

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1.5 lbs bread flour
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 & 3/4 Cups Warm Water

Take 1/2 cup of water, sugar, and yeast. Put in a small bowl. Set in a warm place for 5 minutes to proof.

Place the yeast mixture, water & oil in the mixer bowl. Run on the slowest setting. Mix until incorporated. Add the flour to the bowl and mix for 1 min. Add the salt and mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide into 4 pieces and ball up. Lightly oil the dough balls and cover. Let proof until doubled in size.

Here is the crust with too much olive oil on top. Cornmeal on peel. Its ready for the BBQ Sauce.

I took a pizza class at Whole Foods on Tuesday. My hopes is that by taking cooking classes I will be more intersted in meal prep. Chef Phil had a really strange way of ‘rolling’ out the pizza. I’ll try to capture it next time. Unsurprisingly I wasn’t wild about item #2 but the rest were amazing. The BBQ chicken pizza was a big winner so here it goes first.

The Menu

• Gravalax with Herbed Cream Cheese and Creme Fraiche
• Basil Roasted Pepper and Fresh Mozzarella
• White Pizza
• BBQ Chicken with Jalapeños, Pepper Jack & a Refreshing Salad Topper

BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 T chopped Garlic
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 oz. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 oz. hot sauce
• 1 3/4 C Ketchup
• 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Molasses
• 1/4 C yellow mustard
• 1/4 C White Vinegar
• 1/4 C Dark Brown Sugar

Method:

In a two Quart sauce pan, over low heat, melt butter. Add all ingredients. Stir constantly, increase heat to simmer (Do not boil) for approximately 10 minutes.

There was a budget for my companies holiday party this year. The result was a mandatory attendance at a pool hall and a pool tournament. There is nothing about pool, competition, forced workplace socialization that has any appeal to me.

I’m sure that there are people who like playing pool. I expect there is a huge gender bias. I also suspect that the people who like it feel successful at it and did not start playing against their will.

I chalk some of it to my preceived place on the Extraversion-Introversion Spectrum (far far to the Intro)

I’d like to leave you with some reading: Caring for Your Introvert

And assure you that really, I’d like to be left alone.

The greatest magic is transmuting of passions.

I made these on Friday to celebrate our office move. I’ve been selling it to my co-workers for double-shots but you can have it for free. Sorry I didn’t take pictures.

Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Butter
• 2 Cups mashed potatoes
• 4 Cups milk [scalded]
• 1 Tbsp. Instant Gold Saf Yeast
• 5 eggs [beaten]
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Cup sugar
• 7-8 plus Cups all-purpose flour to make a soft dough (it took 14 or so cups for me.

Scald the milk and remove from heat. Cut up the butter and stir into the milk until melted, add the mashed potatoes and cool. When cool add the beaten eggs & vanilla and pour into the mixer. Add the sugar and stir. In a separate bowl whisk the Saf Yeast into 5 Cups of flour, add to the milk mixture and stir then add the salt. Add only enough flour to make a soft dough!! Knead
until smooth and elastic, if kneading by hand [6-8 minutes minutes]; if using a Bosch, mix about
2 minutes on speed #1 and 2 more minutes on speed #2 until smooth and elastic. Spray container with cooking spray and let rise until almost double & cover with plastic wrap that also has been sprayed. Gently punch down and cover and let rest for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pans by lightly brushing with melted butter. Divide dough and roll out the dough on a lightly
sprayed surface. Roll flat until it is approximately 10” by 16”. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.

Brush melted butter over the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon & sugar mixture evenly over the dough [may add currants or nuts as desired.] Working carefully from the long end roll the dough jelly roll fashion. Cut the roll into 1 inch slices and place on prepared pans, cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed. Let almost double. Bake until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees. When rolls come out of oven, coat generously with icing and enjoy!!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 Cup packed brown sugar
• 2/1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Mix brown sugar &cinnamon together. to sprinkle over dough.

• 1/3 - 1/2 Cup butter melted

Icing:

• 8 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 Cup cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla ( i added 1/2 tsp almond extract)
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 powdered sugar

Whip until smooth

Meditation On The Job Makes For Healthy, Productive Workers

The core elements of all meditation are an upright posture, an object of meditation, and “what you do with the mind,” said Paul ReFalo, director of the Portland (Ore.) Shambhala Center.

There are many possible focus points: your breathing, a word, the physical sensations in your hands, a sound, or the motion of your steps in walking. As your mind naturally wanders and you gently bring it back to the object of meditation, you begin to notice the direction your thoughts want to take and you develop mental discipline.

“It’s very much like exercising for the body or practicing a musical instrument,” ReFalo said. “We want to teach techniques that are able to provide you enough emotional or mental room around the subject that you can begin to relate to it directly.”