Blueberry Sauce

I love using this sauce for a syrup, ice cream topping, in oatmeal, smoothies, anything you don't mind turning that lovely purple. :)
This is a rough recipe. Adjust more or less cornstarch and sugar to your liking of sauce consistency and sweetness. I like mine fairly sweet.  Just remember it'll thicken up a lot when it cools and in the fridge. I like to put the stored sauce in the microwave and warm it up before topping my ice cream. OH YUM!

It was still hot and thin when I took this pic. I couldn't wait any longer! haha!
On to the recipe! It's so easy it's almost a non-recipe!

• about 1 quart 3 cups of fresh blueberries.  I forgot to measure them. haha..sorry. But it was a little over half a 2 quart box from the farmer's market.  Next time I'll measure exact and edit this for you. Or I'll try. I'm always tossing in a couple extra--just for good measure. Really.
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup of water (or less if you want more berries and less sauce. I love extra saucey berries.)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

 In a medium saucepan, start to warm your berries and sugar over med-low heat; stirring occasionally.

mm..much to my dentist's horror, I could eat them just like this.
So, babysit the berries, stirring more often as the berries and sugar come together.
After about 4-5 minutes or so, the sugar will have melted and the berries poppin' and juicin', and coming to a simmer. If they're getting too rowdy in the pan, turn the heat down a little so they don't burn.

hm. You can't really tell in this picture, but it was simmering. Trust. I can almost smell them.
Add the water, melt the cornstarch in the 2 tablespoons of water and add, while stirring, to the berries.

Keep stirring. Turn the heat back up a little if they're simmering too slow. You want a nice, healthy simmer unless you don't mind waiting longer for your warm ice cream topping.  I didn't think so. :)

After the cornstarch, the sauce will be a little cloudy, but don't worry! It'll clear up in a minute or two.

Add more sugar at this point, if you like.

Try to resist adding too much cornstarch and water because it'll thicken up as it cools and after a night in the fridge, if you put too much in, it'll be like a blueberry jam. Which isn't bad either. Just put on toast or warm in microwave for a topping.  :))

Simmer for about 10 minutes, then take off the heat and cool, stirring occasionally!
That's it!

Easy, Tasty Pizza Crust

After going through dozens of recipes for pizza dough, and having nothing but pizza problems, I finally came up with a good recipe that works and it's easy with little kneading!

To further ease the pizza problems, sprinkle your baking pan liberally with cornmeal so it doesn't stick.  And for a tastier crust, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the crust after you brush it with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
I'll also be showing you my recipe for my awesome pizza sauce! Don't waste money on the stuff in the store! It's so easy to make at home and really not much more trouble than opening a can and your herb bottles!

I piled mine high with ham, pineapple, cheddar and mozzarella! YUM

In this recipe, I DO use the parmesan in the plastic tubular containers. (crowd gasps) I know! But really! The stuff DOES seem to add a certain tang and flavor to the crust that I can't seem to get with real parm.

This makes 2-12-inch pizzas, I made three personal size and two child size pizzas

On to the recipe!

• 1 pkg or 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
• 1 cup hot tap water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
• parmesan cheese in a tub
• cornmeal for dusting your baking sheet
• my easy, yummy pizza sauce 

Run tap water in a large glass bowl until water is hot. Dump out and put 1 cup of hot water into the bowl. I find warming the bowl helps.
Dissolve yeast in the water and let sit a minute.

Add sugar, salt, oil and whisk well.

Add half of the flour and beat well (use a wooden spoon or your mixer with dough hooks), until there are no lumps.

Gradually add the remaining flour.

Mix with dough hooks or kneed 5 minutes, or until dough starts climbing up the hooks, pulling away from the bowl, and isn't sticky.

 Dust your hands a bit with flour and your board. Separate dough into balls according to how many and what size pizzas you're making.

Sprinkle your baking sheet liberally with cornmeal and press the dough into rounds:

 Put onto baking sheets and press down a little.

Let rise about 20-30 minutes or so. Press down if you want a thinner crust and brush your pizza crusts with olive oil and sprinkle with real parmesan cheese, if you wish.

Then slip into a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  I like to precook my crusts to ensure they'll be done in the middle.

You can cook them until done and freeze for later use, or start topping your pizzas! 

ohhhhhhhhhhhh mama! I made mine a Hawaiian! I was just missing some olives!
I baked this about 15 minutes or so, until it was hot and bubbly!