If anyone gives out awards for going above and beyond the call of duty in the kitchen, the MiL and I surely deserve that award for dinner last night. We had pizza. But not just ANY pizza. Oh no--we had a Blackrock pizza. Here's what it included:
Pizza dough--homemade, by me
Pesto--homemade, by me, using basil and garlic from the garden
Fresh tomatoes--from the garden
Beet greens--from the garden (I don't want to hear any "ewwww"s--it's good on pizza)
Fresh mozzarella--homemade, by the MiL
Did you catch that last one? Mozzarella that the MiL made? Only superkitchenheroes make their own mozzarella. But she did. And it was delicious.
We're still waiting for our trophies to arrive.
Ooh, I'm gonna take that as a challenge. I've made my own butter, rendered my own tallow ... yeah, I can do mozzarella. [picture me shuffling my feet and thumbing my nose like an old-timey boxer]
ReplyDeleteBut I just have to be perverse and point this out: What, and you bought the olive oil for the pesto? Pfft.
Wow, I'm impressed. I've only ever bought dough to make my own pizza. So homemade dough is super impressive (to me, who is too impatient to wait for dough to rise). But homemade mozzarella? Your mother-in-law may be my new hero. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteNo offense Drew, but there ain't no way you could dominate the MiL when it comes to from-scratch cooking. She will do(and has done) anything and everything. Including killing, gutting, and plucking turkeys. It doesn't get much closer to the source than that. But since you're restricted by living in a city, where I would imagine your neighbors might object to a dead turkey hanging outside for a week, we'll give you an honorable mention for City Cooking.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we buy olive oil. Olive trees just won't grow here, the stubborn bastards. The only fat we've made ourselves is lard. And lard pesto? That's just not right.
Hmmmmm, pesto. You need nuts. Please tell me you used nuts you harvested yourself. Or do you even have nut trees? Walnuts maybe?
ReplyDeletethat's it i'm moving in with your mil! i have fallen in love.in a good way, not in that strange creepy way. anyways... i love your mil!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try the beet greens. We use spinach, and I'm always looking for something different in the non-meat category. Only problem is I'm the only one who'll even go near beets, so it might be a while before I get to try the greens. Still, great suggestion.
ReplyDeletesometimes i feel so so inadequate. i did have an excellent burrito today. that i did not make in any way shape or form. but still.
ReplyDeleteWill send trophies in exchange for pizza. C'mon, you always wanted a WV Social Studies fair trophy from 1992.
ReplyDeleteOh, tell us more about homemade mozzerella! How do you do that?
ReplyDeleteThe MiL told me I should have added the fact that we had cherry pie for dessert. She made the crust (with lard she rendered herself), she picked and pitted the cherries and made the filling. We did use store-bought ice cream, though, so maybe that's cheating. I still think she deserves an award.
ReplyDeleteOh money. I'm actually getting everything prepped to make my own cheese this week. Mozzarella's still totally out of my league.
ReplyDeleteI am so envious of you and your farm life. And I don't say that as a city girl who wants fresh veggies. I say that as a former farm girl that got transplanted to the city and desperately wants to return to the country. I seriously want your life.