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Valentine's Day is this weekend. Are you prepared?
If you just said no, you're not alone. I'm not sure why, but finding that perfect Valentine's Day gift has eluded me this year, so here I am scrambling at the last minute. (Although, let's face it. I am a pretty hardcore procrastinator.) But, don't worry. I have procured this list of the 5 best last minute Valentine's Day gift ideas that will knock the socks off of your loved one. Keep reading to find out more.
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This article contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we will be compensated at no additional cost to you! Thanks for using our links! If you love pizza but are getting tired of the same pepperoni cheese situation, you're in the right place. Tomorrow is World Pizza Day and I am a major pizza lover. We eat some kind of pizza once a week for our "Pizza Movie Night" tradition, I'm pretty excited about the holiday. So today I'm going to share 3 easy ways I've discovered that will improve your pizza night. 1. Pizza Crust or BustDoes anyone else remember pizza day in their school cafeteria? Despite it being pizza, it wasn't the best day. The reason being the crust just wasn't good. It was basically a soggy cracker with pizza toppings. If your foundation isn't good, the pizza won't be either. My mom has shared before her quick pizza dough recipe in her Pizza Pot Pie post. I like that recipe because it's faster if I forgot to start the dough early. It also has a delicious flavor. The one thing I change from my mom's recipe is I never use a rolling pin on my pizza dough. I just stretch it out with my hands. If it resists stretching just let it rest a little and try again. This allows the air bubbles from the yeast to stay in tact and create those delicious bubbles we all enjoy in our pizza dough. If I'm really on my game I will start my crust DAYS ahead of time. This allows your crust to develop that chewy texture and tangy flavor. Letting the dough rise for days in the fridge allows the yeast to really work at fermenting the dough. (Keep in mind if you have a sourdough starter in your fridge it would be excellent to use for pizza dough). I have tried many recipes for this type of dough, the one I like best is this one from Serious Eats. Though I've never been able to get a hold of 00 flour, I use bread flour and it works out well. I love the simplicity of this dough, and it makes a delicious dough. If I am really off my game, or just feeling lazy, we buy a Red Baron 4 Cheese pizza and just top it with our own favorite toppings. This could work with any of your favorite store bought cheese pizza. *Honorable mention to Pillsbury Pizza Dough because it is great for a store bought dough. It has a good flavor though it is a little dense. If you're gluten free, Lindsey has shared two delicious gluten free pizza crust options before. A cauliflower crust and another that she made in her air fryer. 2. Get Creative with Pizza ToppingsHave you ever been asked if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? I'm here to tell you the answer is pizza. Pizza can be topped with basically anything. Here is a list of some of our favorite topping combinations:
And my last bit of advice about toppings is to have fun with it. If it would be good with bread (and what wouldn't?) it will be good baked on a pizza! 3. In the zone with a pizza stoneA brick pizza oven would be ideal or even a small pizza oven, but that's not always practical. But a pizza stone is the next best thing! We love ours. Preheat your stone in the oven starting with a cold oven, otherwise it could crack. Be careful when you take the stone out because it's going to be super hot. And don't set it on a cold counter because it could crack from the shock. I have a metal stand that keeps it up in the air and goes into the oven with the pizza stone. Once the stone is preheated, I put my stretched out dough on the stone and quickly put the toppings on. I pop it back in the oven for about 10-20 minutes and just keep an eye on it. Once the dough is golden and the cheese is melted, I know it's done. The beauty of a pizza stone is it cooks the bottom of your dough and makes it nice and crispy, but keeps the inside chewy. I hope these tips help you ramp up your pizza night and cure your pizza blues! Do you have any favorite pizza toppings? What are they? Let us know in the comments below! More Posts you might like
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A couple of weeks ago, I shared my recipe with you for Peach Melba Pie. Raspberries had been on sale, and trust me, I didn't stop with just enough berries to make the pie. I had to preserve those berries to enjoy later somehow. I had an orange needing to be used, and knowing that citrus and berries go great together, I came up with this simple recipe for Orange Raspberry Jam!
I love the beautiful fresh red color of the jam and the sweet/tart flavor! It was perfect on english muffins. Maddy used the jam as a filling in her Vegan Chocolate Cake and it was the perfect bite to have the cake, the frosting and this fruity filling!
I did sieve the raspberry pulp to remove the seed, but there are still seeds in the jam. I may need a finer sieve, but there are a lot fewer than there would have been!
Orange Raspberry Jam
I usually make cute labels for the lids of my jam, but this time I just wrote on the lids. But, here is a past post when I provided labels:
Here are some other jam recipes;
If you love raspberries, you are going to really love this jam! I hope you give this recipe a try, and if you do, let me know!
Did you know that tomorrow is National Home Made Soup day? In the winter soup is a wonderful meal to whip up for dinner, or any other meal really!
If you live where we live you'll know we had winter last week and now it seems we're kind of in spring mode (I want the rain to come back!) However, in most parts of the country it is still cold, perfect soup weather! No matter where you live, we have a roundup of some of our favorite soup recipes from the blog for you to use! Choose any one of these soup recipes for your National Home Made Soup day dinner (or soup day lunch, or soup day breakfast!) First up is this delicious Vegetable and Ham Bisque my mom made. You can buy the cute pumpkin tureen if you want, but the soup will taste delicious no matter what! All those yummy veggies and ham hocks sound so perfect for a cold winter's day! If you're really in a ham mood, you could also try this Ham and Cheese Broccoli Soup! This soup is simple to make, and so delicious. Doesn't ham and broccoli sound like the perfect soup combination? Sometimes there is nothing like Chicken Noodle Soup. This recipe I shared with you is a pretty darn good chicken noodle soup recipe, if I do say so myself! Or, if you want something with a Mexican food flair, you can try my Chicken Taco Soup! This just might be the recipe I go with for dinner tomorrow because chicken tacos as a soup is really one of the best things to ever happen. Or... I might try this Pumpkin Sausage Soup! You know I can't resist a good pumpkin anything, and that definitely includes a pumpkin soup! My mom made this pumpkin sausage soup and it is also a great option for those of you following a Keto diet! If you're a big curry fan (like me!) then you could go with this delicious Coconut Curry Soup! The curry really gives this soup a depth of flavor that can't be beat on a cold winter's day! You could also go international with this delicious Ecuadorian Encebollado Soup Alicia made for you! Alicia said they come home with cans of it every time they go visit Ecuador, but here she made it from scratch so you could try it too! Sticking with international we'll round out this roundup with this delicious Irish Stew! Stew is perfect on a cold winter's day, and just look at the picture of this Irish stew! If that alone doesn't make your mouth water for it then... maybe you aren't feeling well and some soup would be really good for you! Well, that is our soup roundup! I hope you find the perfect soup recipe for you to try out for tomorrow, and happy National Home Made Soup Day! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
March 2024
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