Groovy Crochet

A Retro Skirt for Cass

Truth - Cass could use some more dresses/skirts. Consequence - time to get busy!
In my search to find a pattern, I found myself at a very cool site - a blast from the past!

Quick - 

Who from the Delaware Valley area remembers... (?)

If you've got a passion for fashion,

you've got a craving for saving,

take the wheel of your automobile

and swing on down to... 

IDEAL !

Remember?!
It's from a TV commercial in the early 70's for a south Jersey department store.

Picture several fashionably dressed ladies walking in a park, the fountain spurting into the air, and beautiful smiles on everyone's faces. I just loved when those ladies came onto the screen. It's one of those things that I'll NEVER forget. Recently I went to YouTube and found the jingle... it's since been the ring tone for my cell.

Back to the very cool site... 

There are such wonderful crocheted items there. Whether you could use some inspiration for a groovy project or you just want to take a trip in the Wayback machine,
check out this site  -----}  Groovy Crochet 

It'll have you "feelin' groo-vyyyyy... la la la la la la la"

The finished skirt using the "shell skirt & 

scarf pattern" by McCall's (1971)

Pizza Night !

Hello friends!

It's been a long time, I know.

Like many of you, we have a fairly regular tradition here at our house. Fridays tend to be "pizza night". 

Quite a few years back now, I started making homemade. Hey, when you've got three pizza loving kids, you do what you gotta' do! What started out on cookie sheets, became a pizza stone, and finally a couple kinds of metal pizza pans. You should have seen my system for using the stone. I had a huge glass cutting board that I covered with corn meal. I used it like a pizza peel. A little heavy, but it worked! A few years ago, I found a metal pizza pan that I really liked. It's the kind with the holes in it for a crisper crust. 

I've played around with only a couple of crust recipes. I'm fortunate enough to have come across a good one early on. One thing that I do differently is substituting wheat flour for some of the white. I started this sometime this past year. My family is getting the goodness of whole wheat and they still really love it.

For the first step... make sure you have some lively yeast. Store it in the freezer to keep those little guys dormant until you need them. 

Add your yeast to some warm water. I run my tap until it feels pretty hot. By time it gets into the measuring cup, it cools. Figure, your body is 98.6, you can feel the heat of anything past that. You want your water to be somewhere around 110-115 degrees. Any hotter may kill them :-(

Tip: Add your sugar to the yeast - they love it.

       Just look at those bubbling beauties!

Combine the flours, salt, & yeast water. Drizzle in the oil.

Your dough should pull away from the sides and come together like this...

Knead the dough until "elastic" - it should bounce back when you press your finger into it.

Let it rise in a warm place until doubled - I set mine on top of the stove near the oven door while preheating to 450 degrees (F). 

We make three at a time. These are the best pans. The nonstick doesn't work anymore, probably due to the high heat used. The one closest to you is new, so that one works. For those that don't, I just spread a light coating of vegetable shortening over them.

About a cup of sauce for each pie.

Cover with some yummy mozzarella!

Don't forget to add your favorite toppings... finally sprinkle with oregano.

Bake it near the bottom of your oven for 8 minutes or so and finish up nearer to the top until the cheese starts to brown. 

Y U M ! ! !

CRUST RECIPE for 3 - 16 inch pies (able to be divided)

• 6 3/4 C flour (I use 5 C white, 1 3/4 C whole wheat)
• 1 T salt 
• 1 T yeast
• 1 T sugar
• 2 1/4 C warm water
• 3 T olive oil

T = tablespoon