Fodder for Gossip

**not gluten free**

When the moving truck pulled up to the house to our north last year, The Husband called me at work to gently explain that my worst nightmares had come true.  College kids were moving in… and they were all boys.  Over the last year The Boys have become very dear to The Husband and I.  When The Husband is out of town or working late at night, The Boys will check up and keep me company.

I bake for them and send leftovers over when mid-terms and finals start up.  We keep each other company and stay in touch with what’s going on in everyones lives.  My favorite of The Boys has been in upstate New York visiting his grandfather for the past few weeks.  It’s been about a month or more since we actually had time to say more than “Hey!” in passing.

There are a couple different types of women married to the military.  Unfortunately, a small group of promiscuous women can give a bad name to the rest of us.  It really depends more on the person making this assumption than what the military wife is actually like.  Some of my neighbors down the way have been curious about things before.  I’m not that much of an open book.  There are some things you just.don’t.discuss.  I don’t look at other men, I don’t flirt with other men, I don’t desire other men.  Ever.  I love my husband and I just couldn’t cheapen my feelings for him by behaving in such a way.  I learned the hard way during my first deployment how important appearances were.  Regardless of the real story, spending too much time alone with another man looks like you’re after something more.

Yesterday The Favorite was walking toward the pool, sans shirt and I was outside watering my herb garden while taking a break from my pizza dough.  He stopped by to chat and I knew to stay outside instead of having him inside for leftover brownies and a glass of iced tea. I stayed outside for an hour and half talking to The Favorite because The Husband wasn’t home.  I still managed to raise suspicion.  Apparently, a glass of iced tea and laughter is a precursor to an affair…  never mind the fact that I am often caught laughing while I’m alone.

Ah, well.  The Husband knows the truth.  Besides, who could cheat on a man who looks at you and says, “Honey, you are so beautiful… even if you do look like Sonic the Hedgehog.”  Wouldn’t you want to reward such a loving comment that made your stomach hurt from laughter?  The Husband got calzones for that one.  Then he asked me to share it with all of you!

Calzones
A Delta Whiskey Original Recipe

For the Dough:
1 package yeast
1/4 c very hot tap water
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
4 c flour
About 2 c ice water (you won’t need all of it)
2 T olive oil
1 T fennel seeds, toasted
Cornmeal, if desired

In a small prep bowl combine the yeast, sugar and hot tap water.  Set aside so it can thicken (about 3 to 4 minutes)

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together about 10 times.  Add the yeast mixture, fennel seeds and olive oil to the flour.  Rapidly pulse the food processor until combined.  Gradually add ice water until the dough comes together.  This will happen very quickly, so after you add the first 3/4 c of iced water add about 1 T at a time until a ball forms.  Remove the dough from the processor and knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface.  Form dough into a ball, place in a bowl, drizzle with a little more olive oil and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down, divide it up:  If your wanting pies, this recipe will make 2- 20″ inch pies (that’s pizzas), 8- 6″ pies, 4 large calzones or 8 small calzones.  So… divide it in as many balls as you are wanting.  Very briefly knead each of the balls, cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in size… again.    Roll out on a floured surface after rising.  (If you’re baking pies, you’ll need to bake the topped pie at 450 degrees for about 12-15 minutes).

You can freeze the dough after it rises for the second time, when you want pizza again, defrost the dough on the counter for a few hours until workable, knead a few times, shape in a ball and let rise.

Pizza Sauce

I think I’m pretty bad at giving more “methods” than recipes… but this is how I made the most fabulous pizza sauce- ever.  In a medium saucepan, heat a couple tablespoons olive oil then add 1/4 onion, very finely chopped, 2 cloves garlic, about 1 T crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and about 1 T dried basil.  Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes until tender.  Add 2 large chopped ripe tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are tender.

Toppings

Yesterday I filled ours with chopped fresh pepperoni, sliced black olives and an Italian cheese blend.  Fill these with whatever tickles your fancy.  I especially enjoy black olives, big cuts of fresh broccoli and a little sun-dried tomato with fresh mozzarella.

To assemble the calzones:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out your dough to about 8″ in diameter.  On one half of the dough, spread about 3T of the pizza sauce to 1″ from the edge.  Top the pizza sauce with your ingredients, fold over the unfilled half and then crimp the edges together.  Move to a foil lined cookie sheet.  Repeat until you have all of the calzones you want.  Using a fork, poke small holes in the top of the dough to let steam out.  Top the dough with olive oil.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until the dough is firm and crisp.  Let stand for about 10 mintues before serving.