'za

Pizza, that is. I like take out pizza, and Domino's has certainly improved their product since my college days, but nothing beats home made. I use this Focaccia recipe as my base, then customize.

Sarah & Lauren both wanted calzones.

(unbaked--I put a little olive oil & kosher salt on top, and some of the sauce oozed out, but no complaints!)
(the one in the front looks huge, doesn't it? really, they were pretty much the same size)

Jeff was strictly pepperoni.

I passed on the sauce, and had mushrooms, yellow pepper, red onions, and fresh basil on the cheese.

The trick to getting a nice crispy crust (there I go with the crispy again) is to roll the dough out as thinly as possible on parchment paper, then transfer it to a pizza stone that's been preheating along with the oven. It's important to trim the paper fairly close to the dough, because if it's too long, it can burn in the oven. I cook them at 400 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes. I think I pulled mine out a little too soon, but I was hungry, it smelled good, and I didn't want to wait. That's one of the drawbacks of this: you can't put too many in the oven at once. Also, you have to be careful when you take them out of the oven; because of the parchment paper, they slide around unpredictably!

These don't make huge, doughy pizzas, but they are big enough to satisfy, and I really like the thin and crispy crust.

Lady Gaga song that I'm actually willing to have on my iPod: Edge of Glory