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WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2006
The Home Journal’s
DINNER
TABLE
Kitchen tour
Don’t forget to get
your tickets for the
Centerville United
Methodist Women’s
kitchen tour and lun
cheon on Saturday.
The tour is $lO. The
luncheon is $5. Call
953-3090 or 953-5387
for more information.
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Walnut wonders
Wouldn’t this Walnut-
Crusted Caramel-
Bourbon Swirl
Cheesecake be a great
finale for your next
dinner party? While
we’re waiting for middle
Georgia’s pecan har
vest, try some wonder
ful ways with walnuts
on Page SC.
Frozen casseroles
It’s time to place your
orders for the Christ
Episcopal Church
Women’s frozen holiday
casserole sale. They
have homemade chick
en, squash and sweet
potato casseroles. Call
923-1791 for ordering
details. You can pick
them up to put them in
your freezer on Nov. 11
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Baked Beans
This week’s install
ment in the “Sea to
Shining Sea” series
is Massachusetts,
which naturally led us
to think about Boston,
which reminded us that
Boston’s most famous
dish is also a humble
one, invented by thrifty
Puritans, and still a
favorite today. See
Page 2C.
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Muffinmania
Cooler weather means
it’s time to get out the
muffin tins and make
breakfast special.
We’ve even got a muf
fin recipe with ham and
cheese built right in.
Check it out on Page
6C.
making your own pizza saves a bundle
By CHARLOTTE
PERKINS
Journal Lifestyle Editor
tarting in the
late 19505, pizza
became a phenom
-1 enon in American
1 food history, going
from a food little known
except in Italian commu
nities to being an all-time
family favorite. According
to “American Heritage,” 93
percent of Americans eat
pizza at least once a month,
and on Super Bowl Sunday,
70 percent of viewers are
eating pizza while they’re
watching the game.
With kids, although they
may be picky about the
toppings, it’s the all-time
favorite, coming in ahead
of hot dogs and hamburg
ers both.
All told, pizza is a S3O bil
lion per year industry, and
a big profit-maker, too.
At anywhere from sl2 to
$25 per pizza for the kind
you get delivered, and $7
to sl2 for the better fro
zen products, pizza makes
money for those who sell
it.
After all, it’s just bread,
tomato sauce, a scattering of
toppings, some cheese. (At
today’s prices, the cheese is
likely to be the most expen
sive ingredient!)
So why not follow the
example of generations of
Italian home cooks and
make it yourself?
The only part of mak
ing pizza that’s a challenge
for the beginner is making
the crust, which is a basic
yeast bread dough.
It helps to have some
basic pizza making equip
ment, like the right pans,
or a baking stone or pizza
screen (see sidebar), a pizza
wheel cutter, but these
items will pay for them
selves with the savings of
doing it yourself
So give it a try! National
Pizza Month starts on
Sunday, so if you plan
ahead, you can celebrate
with a family pizza-making
party.
Beginner’s Pizza
This is a basic pizza rec
ipe to individualize with
your own toppings.
Makes 2 (12-inch) pizzas
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-pur
pose flour
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“Pizza Splendita” has toppings kneaded right into the crust.
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FleUchmann’s
Making pizza at home means making it your own way. This “pizza mexicali” is topped with ground beef and pep
pers.
1 envelope
Fleischmann’s
Rapidßise Yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup very warm
water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Commeal
Toppings (suggestions
follow)
Preheat oven to 400
degrees.
In a large bowl, combine
one cup flour, undissolved
yeast, and salt. Gradually
add water and oil to flour
mixture.
Beat two minutes at medi
um speed of electric mixer,
scraping bowl occasionally.
Stir in enough remaining
flour to make a soft dough.
Knead on lightly floured
surface until smooth and
elastic, about 8 to 10 min
utes.
Cover; let rest 10 min
utes.
Divide dough in half; roll
each to a 13-inch circle.
Place on 2 (12-inch)
greased pizza pans that
have been sprinkled with
cornmeal. Form a standing
rim by pinching the edge of
the dough.
Prick dough with fork
randomly. Let rest 10 min
utes. Brush dough with olive
oil. Pre-bake for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven.
See PIZZA, page 4C
Fleiachmann’t
Pizza trivia
Special to the Journal
Well, there’s nothing
really trivial about these
numbers, but they’ll give
you an idea of how a sim
ple Neapolitan street food
has grown into a huge
industry.
■ Americans eat approx
imately 100 acres of pizza
each day, or about 350 slic
es per second, according to
the National Restaurant
Association.
■ Pizzerias represent 17
percent of all restaurants.
(Source: Food Industry
News.).
■ Each man, woman
and child in America eats
an average of 46 slices, (23
pounds), of pizza per year.
(Source: Packaged Facts,
New York.)
■ According to a recent
Gallop Poll, children
between the ages of 3
and 11 prefer pizza over
all other food groups for
lunch and dinner.
A study done by a U.S.
Department of Agriculture
statistician and home
Pizza pointers
One of the best Websites
we found for making
pizza is Billyreisinger.
com. Reisinger will take
you through the process in
everyday terms, and offers
what he calls a
“ridicu- l°usly
thor
ough
guide to
making
your own
pizza - a
guide for the
pizza amateur.”
It’s worth printing
out!
Reisinger recommends
using an inexpensive pizza
screen instead of a pizza
stone, and points out that
you can buy one for under
$6 from foodservicedirect.
com, which seems to have
almost everything you
might need.
The wooden paddles
you’ve seen used in piz
zerias are called “peels.”
c
economist found that in
a three-day survey period,
42% of children between
the ages of 6 and 11 has
eaten pizza. (Source:
Smithsonian Magazine.)
■ 94 percent of the pop
ulation of the U.S. eats
pizza. (Source: Parade
Magazine.)
The rise in popular
ity of pizza has been a
boon to cheese makers,
but pepperoni is by far
America’s favorite topping,
(36 percent of all pizza
orders). Approximately
251,770,000 pounds of
pepperoni are consumed
on pizzas annually. Other
popular pizza toppings are
mushrooms, extra cheese,
sausage, green pepper and
onions.
■ 62 percent of
Americans prefer meat
toppings on their pizza,
while 38 percent prefer
vegetarian toppings, with
women twice as likely as
men to order vegetarian
toppings on their pizza.
(Source: Bolla Wines.)
These are great for mov
ing the pizza into the oven
and out again if you’re not
using a pan.
Pizza stones, or baking
stones, which are heated
in the oven and then used
as a cooking surface,
are popular with
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many home
cooks,
■’A and
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from food
servicedirect.com, from
WilliamsSonoma.com, or
from your local Pampered
Chef representatives.
A good variety of pizza
pans can be ordered from
pizzaware.com, which
also has an encyclopedic
amount of information
about making pizzas, and
offers recipes and a cook
book.
- Charlotte Perkins