This One Goes Out To You Mom and Dad!/Pizza Recipe

For some reason I feel a little embarressed to post recipes here. But since we moved into the new house, and since I simply cannot find a job, I have been cooking all kinds of delicious things during my oodles of free time--with really only one major flop (i.e. the cherry cobbler in which I spent an hour pitting cherries and then proceeded to forget to add the buttermilk before baking it--i blame that night's IPhone craziness--and yes, I finally have a real cell phone!). Anyway, back to recipes...

In my mind, my parent's are both fantastic cooks--everything they make is delicious. With one exception--they can't make pizza. I haven't witnessed/tasted this for myself, but believe me, I've heard lots about all their many pizza efforts--with each one turning out to be a dud.

So I was extremely sceptical when I decided to try my hand at pizza making a few weeks ago. I mean, if Dick and Mags couldn't do it, how could I (especially since I have a similar problem as my parent's, only it involves breadmaking!)? But I came across a recipe in a cookbook by Mark Bittman (who I'd heard had really simple/easy to make recipes) from the library... And low and behold--the pizza came out wonderfully (the pcture really doesn't do it justice).

So, this one's for you mom and dad--here's the foolproof recipe:

-3 cups all-purpose or bread flour

-2 tsps instant yeast

-2 tsps coarse salt

-2 tbsp olive oil

1) Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor (although I mixed it by hand as I don't have a food processor and it worked perfectly fine). Turn the machine on and add 1 cup warm water and the oil through the feed tube (feed tube?)

2)Process about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time until mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to touch. If it's dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process another 10 seconds. If for some reason the mixture is too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time.

3)Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand a few seconds till it forms a smooth, round dough ball. Put the dough in a bowl and cover. Let rise until dough doubles (1-2 hrs). Mark Bittman says you can cut this rising time short if you're in a hurry, or you can let the dough rise slowly for 6-8 hrs in the fridge. You can then either go on to the next step or freeze for up to a month (he says to defrost in a covered bowl in the fridge or at room temp).

4)When dough is ready, form into a ball and divide into 2 or more pieces. Roll each piece into a round ball. Put each piece on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise until they puff slightly, about 20 min. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

5)Press the dough onto an olive-oiled baking sheet. Then pat out the dough as thin as you like.

6)Bake about 15 minutes until browned.

7)Don't use really wet toppings or the dough becomes soggy.