crazy? you bet!

Steph wanted pizza last Friday, but I didn't want to take the time to make our normal homemade crust. Searching through Mom's recipes, I found one from my aunt called Crazy Crust Pizza. It looked fairly quick and simple, so I decided to go for it. I knew it would be different, as it called for 4 eggs and only 2 cups of flour . . . but I had no idea just how different! Fortunately, I had my camera:

1. Mix all ingredients until smooth; spread in pan. Add meat, and bake for 25 minutes. I chose to ignore the meat directions--why would I put the meat on before the sauce? Well, perhaps the meat would serve to hold down the crust; when I opened the oven to check on the crust 15 minutes into the baking time, this is what I saw:
2. When I took the crust out after the full 25 minutes, it looked like this:
3. After I beat on it with a spatula, it looked a little more normal:
4. Add the sauce . . .

5. And cheese. And in my case, meat:

6. And here's the final product. It looks like a normal pizza!
The crust was surprisingly good . . . until the next day. I usually love day-old pizza, but not this stuff. The crust took on a funky texture and flavor. So, beware of Crazy Crust Pizza . . . or at least follow the recipe :-)

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our state fair is a great state fair . . .

OK, so it's not our state fair I was at . . . this weekend, I went to the Kansas State Fair for the 26th time.  It's a bit of a family tradition, you could say.  We had a great time, and here are a few pics from the weekend.  Enjoy!

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mountain dew, mint brownies, and pandora

I'm up late proofing the Advance. I knew it would be a late night, but I didn't realize just how late. I need to get the edits to Beth tonight so she can finish it tomorrow. Here are a few of the things keeping me awake and sane while I work:

• Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi
• Code Red Mountain Dew (caffeine and sugar!)
• Pillsbury Mint Chocolate Brownies (thanks, Steph!)
• DayQuil (yes, I have a cold--as do about half the people associated with NC. What's the deal? It's the beginning of September!)
  
• Pandora Radio--how could I have forgotten about this website? It's amazing! Earlier, I was listening to movie music--John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Alan Menken. Now, I'm listening to a station I created last time I used Pandora, which was in 2006--my last three songs were "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", "I Swear", and "What's Left of Me." And yes, I'm singing along. Now I've got "Here Without You," which always makes me think of Elvis Stojko. I'm pretty sure I monopolized the binoculars when Holly and I saw him at Champions on Ice ;-)
• Scramble on Facebook. I'm so addicted. It's like Boggle. I'm pretty bad at it, which is evidenced by the fact that Kate slaughters me each time we play, but it's such fun!
  

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responsible teens

My yearbook staff has been selling ads during class for the past week. After they got back today, my mom took a call from one of the businesses some of the boys visited. My first thought when Mom told me about the call was oh no, what did they do now? I trust them, but still, they're teenagers, and I wouldn't put it past them to have a lapse in judgment.

But no. The lady was calling to let us know how professional and respectful the boy who had sold them the ad had been.

I feel like a proud mama bear :-)

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it's the thought that counts

I had extra time this morning--don't ask me how that happened--so I decided to make some coffee. I got out my travel coffee maker, which brews two 15-oz. travel mugs of coffee. I got it all set up for one mug; then I decided I should take some coffee for my mom, too. So I added water and coffee, made sure the mugs were firmly in their slots, and turned it on. I went back to my room to finish getting ready. Just as I was ready to leave, I went back to the kitchen to grab the coffee . . . and saw a countertop covered in brown liquid! It was everywhere. I couldn't figure out what went wrong. At first, I thought I'd put a little too much water in, and it had run over. . .but judging by the mess on my counter, it was more than a little too much. Then I moved the second mug and realized it was empty. I'd forgotten to turn the switch from one mug to two, so the entire 30 ounces tried to go into one 15-oz. cup! Oops!

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thursday thoughts

A smattering of the things I've been thinking about today:

• Why do I always feel compelled to use my nice, 12-cup coffee maker whenever I want coffee? The instructions say not to make fewer than six cups at a time, so I always make that much and then have two or three cups left over to get nasty. I have a coffee maker designed for travel mugs . . . so why don't I just use that? Maybe because the 12-cup lives on the counter, and the travel maker stays in the cupboard. Guess I'm just lazy . . .
  
• After my post about Google Reader, The Omaha Critic stopped by to leave a comment. So I should tell you that I did enjoy his blog. If you like food (and who doesn't!), you should check it out . . . but I still can't figure out why Google Reader recommended it!
  
• I think my landlord is trying to prevent a lawsuit. I came home tonight and noticed a neon orange line on the sidewalk. At first I thought the phone or electric company was marking something. Then I noticed two similar lines--all in areas where the sidewalk is uneven.
• How can I become more productive during the day? I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off--class, office, class, lunch (in the office), class, office--and I'm not accomplishing much amidst all the running.
  
• I just learned, thanks to Food Detectives on the Food Network, that the average Thanksgiving dinner has 3,000 calories. Yikes! Also, if you get gum stuck in your hair, you should use corn oil to get it out.
• I'm no fan of Rudy Giuliani, but his speech at the convention last night sure cracked me up.
  
• Gloria Steinem ticks me off. (Some of you are saying, "Duh!" right now.) She wrote an opinion piece for today's L.A. Times, in which she says that Sarah Palin "opposes everything most other women want and need." Um, yeah. Ms. Steinem certainly didn't ask me what I want and need. I think what Steinem means is that Palin is pro-life and pro-abstinence, so she must be anti-woman. Does Steinem really believe that most women are pro-choice? I'll give her that most of the women she knows would be offended by Palin, but most women period? I don't think so. (Off topic, but a fun little tidbit about Steinem: she used to be married to Christian Bale's dad.)
• Cal Thomas, on the other hand, said, much more eloquently than I could, pretty much what I've been thinking ever since Bristol Palin's pregnancy was announced.
• I have a great group of kids in yearbook. Granted, we haven't actually started working on pages yet, but we're having fun getting to that point. Yearbook was the most dreaded part of my schedule, but so far, it's one of the best parts of my day!
• Sam's Choice Decaf Coffee is surprisingly good.
  

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highs and lows of the last week

Highs

• road trip with Val
• worship at Christ's Covenant (the church I attended in college)
• visiting Jen in South Bend; meeting up with Sarah in Des Moines as we each crossed Iowa
• Sarah Palin--you go, girl!
  
• the meal Val's roommates had waiting for us when we arrived at Grace
• finding a shortcut on the way home
• seeing my Sparkies again!
  

Lows

• fast food on the way to Indiana (more to follow!)
  
• leaving Val
• not being able to sleep
• my schedule--I'm so busy and stressed and unable to accomplish everything I need to in an 8 hour work day
  

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