Friday, February 6, 2009

Call the Fire Department! Oh, and a recipe, too.

I read about an interesting bread recipe at No Fear Entertaining. A little research led me to the original recipe and a lot more. This stuff is so stinkin versatile! So far, with a little bit of "boule," which is what they call the basic dough, I've made sandwich bread, pizza, and some sinfully fabulous pecan sticky buns.

I've been in search of the perfect pizza crust for quite a while and I think this is it. It's chewy, flavorful and delicious.

So anyway, I mixed up a batch last night in anticipation of making a lovely homemade pizza for dinner tonight. The oven was preheating to a slightly terrifying temperature of 500 degrees, the toppings were out and ready, and the dough was properly stretched on the board when I noticed smoke rising from the oven. Through the foggy glass of the oven window I could see orange flames glowing malevolently.

I opened the oven to be greeted by hissing, sizzling, smoky, smelly fire. I had time to think, "Well, I hope it's not a grease fire" before my hand reached out and grabbed my cup of water and tossed it in.

Dad, before you ask, the fire extinguisher you gave me is lost. I plan to purchase a new one ASAP. How does one lose a fire extinguisher? I have no idea, and yet, I've done it.

Cue the smoke alarms. I had never noticed that we have both alarms and sprinklers in each and every room, including the bathrooms and closets. How lovely. Luckily, it is a balmy 68 degrees here in Tennessee and when I came home from work, I had immediately opened the patio door and all the windows. I raced through the house, ripping out the batteries and waving my wet dishtowel at the shrieking alarms and praying that the sprinklers wouldn't come on. Many children were at outside at play with their parents nearby. I can imagine their conversations:

Kid: Mommy, what's that noise?
Mom: That's just Old Lady Curtis trying to burn down her apartment again.
Kid: Why is she waving that dishtowel at the ceiling?
Mom: She's "special." Don't look over there.

Did you know that smoke alarms can continue to squeal even when their batteries are ripped violently out?

Crisis averted, I sat down on the kitchen floor to wait for the oven to cool so I could clean it or for Steven to get home. Whichever came first.

I needed an excuse to clean that oven anyway. I hadn't cleaned it since we moved in about three years ago. Hey, don't judge me!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love the recipe! I have been trying different pizza dough recipes and haven't found one we liked.

Ron Simpson said...

isn't that always on the 'to do eventually' list .. clean the oven .. every time I plan to do it, something interrupts .. like .. uh .. life ..lol

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the club. Like Mother like daughter - in more ways than one! Now you may understand why I've had two fires in my oven and I'm scared to let the oven clean itself! AND my fire extinguisher is (one of them at least) toast!

Unknown said...

hi anonymous! My hyperlinks aren't showing up but if you click on the words "original recipe" you'll find the website...

Anonymous said...

Thank you!

Unknown said...

I'm gonna try this recipe...minus the flames!

Woman in a Window said...

Wanna try my recipe? It's easy and I love it. um, and it hasn't started any fires (yet.)

2.5 cups of flour
1 tbsp yeast (but i don't leave the dough to rise) dissolved in one cup of warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of cooking oil

mix well, pad on one large flat cookie sheet (using flour so it doesn't stick to your hands)
fork it about eight times
prebake crust 10 minutes at 400

Top and finish baking about 10-15 minutes 450 depending on how thick you top it.

Just sayin'...it's our every pizza. And if you top that with sauce and cheese, strained + thawed (frozen) spinach, cut mushrooms and tomoatoes, MAN! It's good!

Janet said...

The Mountain Man makes a good pizza crust, but I don't know what recipe he uses. He made some cinnamon rolls from scratch the other day too. This is a lovely thing he does, but he has a tendency to use every possible utensil and container when he cooks. So it's a mixed blessing, because he does NOT clean.
I'm glad the fire was contained. Smoke detectors are evil things possessed by demons. They do not require 9volt batteries to shriek like banshees, and they also don't require smoke to be set off. Sometimes they need no provocation whatsoever. Evil things.

Sandi McBride said...

I needed a good laugh...that was a great one...thanks...I'm ready for my pizza now...
Sandi

Shirley said...

That's a funny story about your fire, but I'm glad you didn't burn the house down! Your pizza looks yummy.