Farmgirl Fare

I have been spending a lot of time at a new site I have found~Farmgirl Fare. Well actually, the site is not new, Susan has been posting on this site since June of 2005, but I am new to it. She has the most beautiful and often inspiring photos from life on her 240 acre farm in Missouri. Now, right away you can figure out my attraction to the site. Having the heart and soul of an old-fashioned farmgirl, the photography just drew me right in, moth-to-the flame style. But what keeps me going back are the RECIPES!!

Such as the one I made last night. In going back to the earliest posts, I found a recipe for Three Onion & Three Cheese Pizza. What intrigued me most was the simple pizza dough recipe. I have mentioned my love of bread making and although I don't have near the experience that Susan has, I have been known to turn out some tasty loaves.

I was so excited to try some of her bread recipes that I went out and purchased a wooden dough bowl.....which was no easy feat as my precious son can attest to. I had to visit at least a dozen stores before I found one that was just the right shape and size and made of natural unfinished wood (it can not be painted or stained). Toward the end of the search, each time we would enter a different store my son would start chanting, "Please, let them have a wooden dough bowl. Please let them have a wooden dough bowl." At last, I found one at Crate & Barrel that was exactly what I was looking for:)

Last night, I put it to the test and made homemade pizza using Susan's dough recipe. I made one modification. I decided to incorporate some of my own wheat flour, so I ground up a cup of the Soft Winter wheat and replaced one of the the cups of bread flour with it.

My dough was not as soft as she described and did not rise up as high as I thought it should~probably from the addition of the whole wheat or possibly because the only Instant Yeast I could find was in a package written in German where it originated, before it was shipped to Australia and finally made it's way here to the U.S.. Even though the date was still good, it makes me wonder if it was a wee bit weary from the travel.

There was enough dough to make two nice size pizzas, my first crust was a bit misshapen....hey what can I say, I'm learning:)

I topped it with some homemade pizza sauce, Canadian bacon, caramelized onions~from Susan's recipe, freshly grated mozzarella, and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

I cooked it on my baking stone at 500 degrees F, for 10 minutes and although the crust was more of a thin and crispy style, it was simply delicious.

The second pizza had a bit more of the round traditional pizza shape to it~see, I'm getting better already.

I highly recommend that you stop by and pay Susan a visit, especially if you love to cook, but even if you don't, her style of writing and photos are worth the trip.