Our Very Serious Problem

I have an admission to make, but it's not exactly shocking. It's probably pretty common, even. My admission is this: I love pizza. I do! I love plain cheese pizza, supreme pizza, and every kind in between. Thin crust, regular crust, deep dish, Chicago style (especially Chicago style); I love it all.

But I, or rather we the people living in our house, have a problem: there are no good delivery places near where we live. Sure, a new place with pizza that is fairly edible just opened up and I LOVE their cheeseburger pizza, but they're also very expensive, so it's only a sometimes treat. There are a couple of decent pick-up places semi-nearby, but I like my pizza hot, steaming hot even, so I either have to commit to eating there or deal with cold pizza if I want something from them. And I really, strongly prefer hot pizza.

To combat this problem, we've tried making pizza at home, but nothing has been quite what we're looking for. We found a pizza sauce recipe we really like (it's seriously delicious - try it!), but we haven't been able to master the crust or toppings.  What I really want are two good recipes - one regular crust and one deep dish - to add to my repertoire so I don't have to deal with crappy pizza any more.

The other day I was reading Serious Eats, because I love that blog and Slice is a blog all about pizza (um, don't go there if you're hungry), so of course I was reading over there. (I seriously am considering installing a wood burning pizza oven in my back yard one day in the not too distant future because of that blog.) Anyway, while I was reading, I came across this: New York Style Pizza. It looks fantastic, and it looks like it will end up being made in my kitchen someday very, very soon.

I really hope this turns out to be as spectacular as I think it will. Now, off to look for the deep dish recipe of my dreams.

Pigs in a (Cheesy, Oniony) Blanket

For Halloween I always try to do a themed meal, and this year we ate Mummy Dogs and Sweet Potato Fries (because they're orange). They were fun and delicious!

However, what they really did was make me crave Pigs in a Blanket like I've made before, but haven't made in a while.

To make our house favorite Pigs in a Blanket, proceed as follows:

Sauté some onions in butter until soft and golden. Then slice hot dogs down their length (but not slicing completely through) and sauté them for a few minutes, just to heat through. Put some onions in the slice, top with some shredded cheddar, and wrap it all in a crescent roll. Brush the roll with butter that was melted with a little minced garlic, then bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crescent rolls are cooked through. I prefer them as-is, but Aaron likes to top his with mustard. Both ways are delicious!