Lest you worry that we are all doom and gloom around here, I wanted to let you know that there are happy times too. We know my Grandfather is in a better place and we had a lot of time to mentally prepare for his leaving. He was really sick in the end and now he has no pain, which is so much better. Of course we miss him. Sometimes I get so bummed out that we all can’t live forever. I want my grandma back, my Aunt Lois, the lady at the laundromat and all those pets I’ve lost… but this is life. The sooner I wrap my mind around the fact that it’s fleeting, the better.

There are still many many reasons to keep on loving and smiling and having the best time that we can while we are here.

So before a whole slew of relatives showed up for the funeral this Saturday, I decided to have my grandmother and aunt over for a pizza night. Of course they’ll be invited when all the relatives are here too but they appreciated a quiet night with just us. Especially since my aunt is just out of her cast and wobbling her way through physical therapy and my Grandma is well, getting old. She gets tired easy. But not too tired to come over and I love that she still does.

I made the dough. It’s really easy, it’s just a matter of remembering to do it an hour beforehand. Have I posted the recipe before? If I did, I can’t find it so here it is again:

PIZZA DOUGH

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (105ºF —which as Bethany says is hot but not too hot, sort of like kid’s hot chocolate at Starbucks)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp honey (I accidentally put tablespoons and it tasted just fine, maybe better in fact)
1 tsp yeast

Instructions:

1. Add salt and honey to warm water in a bowl. Mix and then add the yeast. Let sit 10 minutes.

2. Gradually add flour and olive oild and start mixing (hello, kitchen aid dough hook)

3. When mixture gets too heavy to mix, start kneading (my wrists love you, kitchen aid dough hook).

4. Knead until smooth (ish), make a ball, coat with olive oil.

5. Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 1 hour at room temperature.

6. Punch down and let rise another hour (or not. I always skip that extra rising.)

7. Shape, punch with holes with a fork and add toppings.

8. Bake at 400-450º F 20-25 minutes until crust is light brown.

This pizza was for me, Bug and my dad. I’ve been loving having my dad all to myself this week.

And this pizza was for my aunt and grandma with all kinds of icky things on it like onions, mushrooms and garlic! Ew! But that’s why I love pizza night, everyone can bring their own toppings and make what they like.

Then we popped them in the oven.

And it was delish!!! So don’t worry too much about us. We’re doing fine.

p.s. Don’t forget to stop by my review blog for chances to win a mop (which you’ll need if you have a pizza night) and some mulah before May 31st! While you’re there, check out the spin spin spinbrush post too if you haven’t already. Thank you! :)