Pizzeria de Stephanie

Clearly, I make more homemade pizza than anyone alive, but here is just oneeeeee more for ya. I made this one with REAL pizza dough and a baking stone. I was in Harris Teeter last week and I decided that I was going to find a REAL pizza dough instead of the bisquit-in-a-can kind. So, I marched up to the pizza counter and asked for one. And he handed it to me without ANY questions for the price of $1.99. Hull-ohh?? That's a STEAL people!

So, when I got home, I popped that baby in the freezer until I was ready to use it on the weekend. When it came time to make my precious creation I took the dough out of freezer and placed it in the refridgerator the night before to defrost. Then an hour before cooking time, I let it rest on the countertop to come to room temperature.*

You will want to preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough is ready, start to knead it for a few seconds to get some of the air pockets out. I am not very good at this part, so I just pretend I know how to do it. I put olive oil all over my hands though, which makes it harder for the dough to stick to them.

Then put a bit of oil on your baking stone or sheet (whichever you are using) and GENTLY stretch your dough so it fits in there real nice. This takes a bit of time. The longer you leave your dough sitting on the counter, the easier it is to stretch. It's more relaxed when it's warmer.

Then pop the dough in the oven for about 8 minutes to prebake. When it's done you can top it with whatever you want! I used pizza sauce, sliced Roma tomatoes, sliced Buffalo Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. And I put pepperonis on Adam's half because he "has to have some kinda meat on his." Then pop it back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the edges are crispy and the bottom looks done.

Then, if you are like me, douse it in Ranch dressing and enjoy your masterpiece! Yum!

I PROMISE I won't post anything else about pizza for a LONG time. It is getting a bit ridiculous.

Any who, have a great Tuesday!

PS: Adam and I watched Shutter Island on Sunday night and it was REALLY good. One of those thrillers that shocks you at the end. I definitely recommend it!

*If you plan on using the dough within a day or two of purchase you can skip the freezer and just leave it in the fridge. Do remember to put it on the countertop though.

Reading Rainbow

I LOVE to read, but I have a habit of reading more than one book at a time. I pick up one that I really like and then for some reason or another, I end up starting another before the other is finished. Right now, I am reading three books.  I'm on a vampire kick. Weird, I know. I have reasons though.. so hear me out.

Book One

I started reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert over three months ago and I have a confession to make..

I hate it.

It is so boring and I am literally having to force myself to read chapters just so I can get it over with. I really only picked it up because the movie comes to theaters in August with Julia Roberts as the star, and I love to read books before seeing the films so I can appreciate them more. Lots of people RAVE about this book, and it is on the NYTimes Bestsellers List, so that means it's good in my opinion. Maybe if I was a middle-aged woman going through a mid-life crisis I would identify better with the main character.

Or maybe I should just give up.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Book Two

I bought The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner at the beach last week and I am about halfway through. It is a short story with no chapters about a character in Eclipse: the third book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It's a quick read and it goes more into character development. And, with the movie Eclipse coming out in a few short weeks, it will be interesting to see how Bree is portrayed in the film.

PS: I wish Stephenie Meyer would spell her name right..

Book Three

I recently joined Netflix and it has been one of the best investments I have made in a long time. For someone who really enjoys TV and movies, I am in heaven with all the options. I have been on a Lost kick and I am looking forward to starting the True Blood series after that. Therefore, I decided to start the novels by Charlaine Harris that True Blood is based on. The first book is Dead Until Dark, and I plan on starting it ASAP. Plus, my mom informed me that she has the ENTIRE series of novels and she is going to bring them with her when she comes to visit next month! Wahoo!

 Yeah, I know I'm a nerd. But I'm cool with it.

Have a happy weekend!

Makin' moves!

So! The very exciting and important news that I have been just DYING to let out is..

Drum roll please..

I GOT A NEW JOB!!!

OK, so I know that most of you that read this probably already saw the announcement on Facebook or Twitter, but I couldn't leave out my precious blog. Plus I can go into more detail here!

It all started a few weeks ago, when I was randomly searching for job postings on the Web. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, as I have a steady job right now. I had had a conversation with my lovely and incredibly intelligent cousin, Maureen, a few months back about a wonderful company that she works for called Booz Allen Hamilton. She raved about how great everyone is and how you really ENJOY going to work everyday. When she mentioned this.. my ears perked up. I like the job I have right now, but I really was craving more human interaction and teamwork. I also always knew that, as much as I thought I wanted to be one of those powerful women on Capitol Hill, I really missed what I am passionate about: communications and philanthropy.

So, I started browsing the Booz Allen site, just on a whim, and lo and behold, one of the only jobs available that 1) did not require a security clearance and 2) did not require me to travel 6,5478,913 miles from home was for a

Community Relations Specialist.

Was it fate? I believe so. I wasn't searching for jobs on a serious level yet, but the job title and description HAD me. I knew that this was the one. Even if it was my first attempt at a new career move in almost a year. I knew I had to have THIS job.

So. I applied. And I got a call back.

The next month is a blur. I had a phone interview and FIVE, count them, FIVE in-person interviews. All of which were incredible and made me LOVE the job even more. I liked that I was driving out 20 minutes to McLean, Virginia, rather than battling DC traffic to get to the workplace. I enjoyed talking with the people at the front security desk, because they recognized me after the second time there. I LOVED speaking with everyone I met with to interview because they all seemed so professional and put-together. I just liked BEING there. Is that weird? I don't know, but it just felt right.

I will confess one tough part of the whole process. After I came out of my final in-person interview, I literally had a meltdown. I guess it may have been the pressure of having to meet with so many members of the team, or trying to remember all the important interview stuff, but I just lost it after that one. I cried to my parents and Adam and my roommates. I just felt like I had royally screwed up. I thought it was over.

Then, the next day, I got the call that I had been offered the position. I sat crying in my chair for a minute and then called everyone I knew, while still crying. It is so gratifying to know you worked so hard for something and it happens for you at just the right time. I start June 21 and I could not be more excited!

I have a general idea of what my job will consist of, but I know there are many parts of it that I will learn in due time. I will be working with many different organizations and internally with employees as well all in the name of philanthropy!

So, there you have it. I hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend! Adam moves in with me and the roomies on Saturday and he starts his job with Wells-Fargo on Monday! Life is sweet!

  

Back to reality

Ew. That's what I hate about coming home from vacation. Especially really awesome ones. Like the one I was just on for the past nine days. 

For those who haven't been reading my short little countdown posts in the days preceding my trip, I was in Corolla, North Carolina with my family: my mom, dad, sister, my cousin Kathy, my Uncle Mike and Aunt Genia and my Uncle Tom and Aunt Cindy. Plus two adorable fuzzy furballs, Cooper and Chewy. It was probably in my top five favorite vacations of all time. I had never been to the Outer Banks, so that experience itself was amazing. I had no idea that there are still be remote beaches in this country. We had a beautiful three story beachhouse with a pool and hot tub just one block from the beach. It was heaven. The beach was never crowded and we could sit on the porch at night and see the ocean perfectly. Each day was filled with sun, swimming, or shopping, depending on who was interested, and each night was filled with lots of food, movies or games.

Here are photos of the house and beach:

Our house from the back

Pretty sunset

Our house from the street

I think one of the things I liked most about this trip was that we did a lot of cooking at home. We had so many good meals it's hard to say which one was the best. We ate barbequed chicken, homemade pizza, hamburgers, seafood and bratwursts. Not to mention all the fixin's we had on the side for each of those. I think I gained five pounds. No joke.

One of the nights, we made about five homemade pizzas. My parents bought fresh pizza dough and brought it to the beach. Here is my pizza that I created. We prebaked the pizza dough in the oven for about 10 minutes. Then added sauce, sliced Roma tomatoes, basil and sliced Buffalo mozzarella cheese. They baked for about 10 more minutes after that and were delish!

Mom created this "white pizza." It didn't have any sauce, but it had lots of cheese, basil and garlic!

I wish I had gotten pictures of the other pizzas my dad made, but they were already almost eaten by the time my mom and I finished. We were just perfecting ours.. ahem.

Another fun thing about going to the beach with family is getting to act like crazy people because no one around you cares. We don't all see each other very often, but when we do it's always a great time. I can tell you there wasn't an hour that went by during the trip that I didn't laugh at something someone did or said.

If only I had a video recorded of our Friday night. First, we had a Lowcountry Boil.* Incred-ible. My dad and I were boiling masters and it turned out perfect. My mom even laid out a picnic tablecloth on the huge dining room table and we poured it out into the center. Everyone just picked on what they wanted to eat and it was DELICIOUS! We all ate until we were stuffed. Jessica swore she ate at least 15 shrimp, not to mention the sausage and corn that she inhaled.

Next, we played Mad Gab. If you don't know what it is, google it. It's hilarious. Especially when you play with loud, screaming relatives that do NOT care how much they distract or joke you. It was hysterical to watch everyone sounding out the clues over and over and over. I am laughing right now thinking about how funny it was. I wish we were able to do that every weekend.

And lastly, here is a picture of the furry friends we had with us, Chewy (left) my Uncle Mike and Aunt Genia's dog and Cooper, my parents' dog. It was so great to have them running all over the place and making us laugh.

It looks like I caught them plotting something..

This is how I found Cooper on my bed one night.. needless to say that's where he stayed

Of course, I had every intention of blogging from the beach and taking lots more pictures to show everyone, but I was lazy. Which is exactly what one should be when on a vaca.. right? Oh, well. I'll get my mom to send me some of her pictures, or better yet my Uncle Tom, because I know he took about 1000. He was always lurking with the camera and you never knew when he was taking a picture, so I am sure he has a bunch of funny ones.

I wish I could rewind and do it all over again! I definitely can NOT wait until next year!

 

*This is the recipe I use for Lowcountry Boil. Just an FYI. :)