Sleepy-time Sissy Steph

A sissy is a person regarded as weak or cowardly. That just about sums up my disposition when it comes to sleep habits in my family.

As I type this, I currently have both my children in their respective rooms...sobbing...respectively. Why? Because I'm a sleepy-time sissy.

When they were teeny tiny babies, both posed problems with respect to sleep. One was colicky, while the other had GERD. In order to get some much-needed shut-eye, I'd let them sleep with me. As John Lennon once said, "Whatever gets you through the night"...and that quickly became my motto.

Fast forward to now & I think I've been way too lax. Getting the kids to sleep in their own beds is a constant battle of wills. Lately, their wills appear to be much stronger than my own. I've accommodated their whims: they lie down with me in my bed, I shuttle myself between all beds, they lie down on the sofa when it's not a school night until they conk out, etc. But tonight, I'm gonna win this. I don't care if I have to pop extra-ultra-mega-strength ibuprofen! I'm reclaiming my bed! And I'm not going to drag my sorry butt out of my toasty-warm haven at 3:34am when either child starts whining about needing me to lie down with them because they're having a dream about SpongeBob SquarePants (though I must confess to finding him rather creepy as well). Nope! I'm staying in my room. They'll have to cry it out. That's all there is to it. Finito.

Am I being mean? I feel mean. I'm not mean, am I?

They're still crying... In the amount of time it's taken me to type these paragraphs, they're still crying.

I'm not going to break my resolve. Mind you, it may be a different story if this continues on for another 2 hours. Well see...

Mamma Steph's Saturday-Night Pizzeria

I blogged about crying over a piece of dough around Easter last year. It's happened again. I sobbed. Tears of joy streaming down my face. Joy abounds!

In the past few weeks, we've had earthquakes levelling towns in Abruzzo, the swine flu pandemic, a small earthquake in L.A., wildfires spreading in Halifax, and a few attempts by yours truly at homemade pizza dough which resulted in something similar to cardboard. Actually, I'm exaggerating a bit. My attempts tasted more like construction paper, with a hint of salt.

But then came The Sopranos Family Cookbook as compiled by Artie Bucco. Sounds like I'm putting you on, doesn't it? It's actually a decent reference point for traditional Italian cuisine. The zeppole in the Bobby Baccala section were to die for! So after sifting through recipes from Epicurious, Allrecipes, The Food Network & more, I picked up my Sopranos cookbook after quite the hiatus. Here's the recipe for the perfect homemade pizza dough, aka "Ah' Beetz'" adapted from Charmaine Bucco's section entitled, "Cooking for the whole famiglia":

"Ah' Beetz'"

1 envelope dry active yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
1 1/3 cups warm water (105 - 115 degrees F)
1 tsp sugar (not listed in the recipe, but my mom told me to do it, so I did!)
3 1/2 - 4 cups all purpose flour (I used 3 1/2)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil (again, this wasn't called for in the recipe, but I added it anyway with great results)

In a bowl, stir together water & sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the water & let it stand for 1 minute, or until the yeast is creamy. Stir until the yeast dissolves.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture & olive oil & stir until soft dough forms. It may not all come together, so I dumped it out onto a board & began kneading it all together. Knead the dough for 10 minutes or so - until becomes smooth & elastic.

Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it once to oil the top. Cover with a clean, damp dishtowel & place in a warm, draft free place. I like to set the oven the the lowest temp beforehand & then turn it off. This gives the oven enough warmth to allow the dough to rise. Leave it in the oven for 1 - 1/2 hours, until it doubles in volume.

Lightly grease a large pizza pan (I used the jellyroll-style pan). Punch down the dough in the bowl, then transfer to the pizza pan. Stretch out the dough, then loosely cover again with plastic wrap & let it rise for 1/2 an hour - 1 hour so that it becomes puffy.

Top with your favourite toppings. I like mine simple - fresh, homemade tomato sauce, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella di buffala or fior di latte (Santa Lucia brand is fantastic!!!).

Bake in an oven, preheated to 450 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!!!

Sprinkle the yeast