A Telling Photo, A Funny Story, a Favorite Recipe, and a Shout-Out

Roxy:  Are ya gonna share that graham cracker, or am I gonna have to wait until Mom's not looking?
Evie:  Back off, Dog!

Funny Story:

Brad took an extra long time on his bike ride yesterday morning.  I didn't really notice, since I was Crazy Woman, trying to get kids out the door and round up all my crap stuff to teach Institute--it was Thursday morning, you know.
When he got home, he was carrying an unusual scrap of yellow paper.  He was issued a warning for a traffic violation--while on his bike!!!  I didn't know that was even possible!  The officer honked, and as any good cyclist knows, a honk means, "Ignore the obnoxious person behind the wheel."  Persistent honks, like in this scenario, mean, "Jerk.  Share the road."  A rather long blast requires a look.  The officer quizzed him--"Do you know why I stopped you?" "Yes, I crossed against a red light."  Am I the only person that didn't know you could be cited on a BICYCLE?  He made Brad wait for 20 minutes as he dilly-dallied in his squad car, then "gave him a break with only a warning."  Don't Mesa's Finest have better things to do than cite errant cyclists?  Come on!

Shout-Out:

In all fairness, I must give credit where credit is due. I did not, in fact, snap those pictures from yesterday's post.  I was wrestling Baby Evie, sweating like a pig (but worth every salty drop because I was wearing my cute boots!), and screaming in the stands.  Brad was the photog assigned to Tuesday's shoot.  And he performed marvelously, didn't he?  Doesn't hurt that the games start at 6 pm, so the light is dang good at that time!

Recipe:

I've had a few requests for the foccaccia recipe I used.  Here ya go.  Get busy on that this weekend, would you?

3 1/2 c. flour
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 T. yeast
1 c. water
2 T. vegetable oil
1 egg
3 T. olive oil
1 t. dried rosemary, crushed

Combine sugar, salt, yeast, and 1 c. flour in bread mixer.  Mix well.  Heat water and vegetable oil until warm, and add to mixture along with the egg.  Blend on low speed until moistened.  Beat for 2 minutes.  Stir in 1 3/4 c. flour while beating, until dough pulls away from side of the bowl.

Knead in 3/4 c. flour on floured surface.  Cover dough with a bowl and let rest for five minutes.  Place on pizza stone or sheet and roll out to 12-inch circle, then cover with greased plastic wrap and a dishtowel. Place in warm place for 30 minutes.

Uncover dough and poke holes in it with a spoon handle at 1-inch intervals.  Drizzle olive oil on dough and sprinkle with rosemary.

Bake at 400 degrees for 17-27 minutes, until just golden.  Then top with pesto, tomatoes and basil.  Put it back in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until cheese melts.

If you're not making pizza, remove bread from stone immediately and cool on a rack.

I use the shorter cooking time when I'm using it as pizza.  For the bread, I might leave it in a little longer, but I haven't tried it yet.

Happy weekend, my friends.  Make a funny memory this weekend.  I want to hear all about it on Monday!