Trader Joe's Pizza Dough

The new Trader Joe's just opened up on 21st and 6th and we are soooo happy. I loathe Gristedes, or Greedies, as we like to refer to it. The new TJ is conveniently located en route to Henry's school, too, so it's convenient when we need things. Yesterday, in my first foray, I picked up some pizza dough--99 cents a batch! Normally I'm happy to make my own but this was so cheap and easy I figured it would be a good stop-gap on days when I'm just too busy to do it.

I got one whole wheat and one regular. Henry and I made the whole wheat one last night. I have to say, I didn't like working with it, and I didn't love the final result. I'm not totally giving up on it. The results might, for instance, have had something to do with the fact that Henry beat it half to death before it ever saw a topping. So we'll see. But at this point, I am still having better luck with the dough I make myself.

More thoughts on why I like to do it myself...and a popsicle recipe

I've been thinking more lately about why I have this near pathological urge to make things myself....I notice, for example, that it irritates me to buy things I can make (like cookies), especially when they're loaded with things like high fructose corn syrup. (Okay, the jury is still out on HFCS, but it's just one of a long list of chemicals, versus recognizable ingredients, in packaged foods.) But it's more than that--I feel like there's something about our culture of convenience/marketing/big business that's convinced us that we have to buy a lot of things, or rather that it's beyond us to do some of these things at home. The truth is, it's actually EASIER to make many things at home.

Example number one: Baby food. This one befuddles me. Why buy a jar of baby food bananas when you can mash one up with a fork...for a fraction of the price? Why buy baby food versions of sweet potatoes, or carrots (or any vegetable) when you can steam them in the microwave for five to ten minutes and then throw them in a mini cuisinart?. It's not that baby food is expensive, mind you. It's just that we think we have no choice but to buy it. When did baby food become something you almost exclusively buy?

Ditto for cookies (they don't take that long), or pizza dough (it's easier to make, as chef Mark Bittman points out, than to go out for it). Soup....the easiest thing in the world to make, for a few bucks, as opposed to the sodium-rich, one serving versions (for more) at the grocery store.

Virtually every time I start thinking about something I HAVE to buy, because you can't make it...I realize you can make it.

A couple weeks ago, for instance, after mentally lamenting the crappy icees Henry likes to eat (high fructose corn syrup and dye), I found myself thinking I WISH you could make popsicles. And then I thought, why the hell not? A day later I stumbled across a set of popsicle molds at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $3.99.

Henry and I made a batch and we tasted them this morning. They were surprisingly good. In fact, really good.

Popsicles

3/4 cup milk
6 oz frozen juice concentrate
1 cup plain yogurt

-Mix it up in a blender and pour it into popsicle molds.

Note: As usual, I fiddled with the recipe. I didn't have any frozen juice, so I used apple juice and chopped up some fresh apple to add into it. The popsicles turned out white--which I didn't love--but they tasted wonderful. Next time I think I'll try some frozen pomegranate or cherry juice. Henry's a cherry fan.

Pickles

Awhile back--two years ago? three?--I got a hankering to make my own pickles, but the idea of canning (and botulism) has always intimidated me. So I looked for a few recipes for quick pickles, i.e. the kind you make, keep in the refrigerator, and eat within two weeks. I've been toying with various vegetables--carrots, radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, etc etc. ever since. My husband, Paul, is particularly fond of the radishes (see below). But then he's obsessed with summer radishes.

Anyway...here's my basic recipe. I fiddle with it a lot--sometimes I add curry powder and ginger, for example. I've also added garam masala. It's all good. Sugar alert: The brine IS high in sugar. Whenever I've reduced it a bit, it's been too vinegary. I like vinegar, and it's too vinegary for me. So far, only the one to one ratio has yielded that delicious sweet/tangy taste for me.

Vegetable: 
This works with basically any vegetable I've decided to pickle so far. I like to use about four cups of chopped vegetables. And I usually add very thinly sliced vidalia onion, as well.

Basic pickle brine:

-one cup cider vinegar
-one cup sugar
-few pinches of sea salt
-couple cloves of smashed garlic
-pinch or two of crushed red pepper (or chopped fresh jalapeno)
-handful of chopped dill
-handful of chopped cilantro
-a tablespoon or two of pickling spice (available at grocery stores and, in large quantities, at street fairs...I wrap it in cheesecloth or put it in a tea ball in the pickling container.)

Mix everything except the pickling spice up and pour it over the chopped/sliced vegetables of your choice in a container. Add the pickling spice and stick it in the refrigerator. By the next morning, you'll be in business.