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Professional Pruning

I rarely resort to hiring help in the garden but I'm learning that sometimes it is wise to do so and worth every penny. Case in point - some hideous out-of-control trees that were beyond my ability to deal with. If I were smarter, I would have tackled these issues from the beginning but I didn't know better. The first is a pear tree that was planted along the back fence line. I've worked on this for the past several years, every year with the intent of reducing the height or possibly removing it altogether. As you can see in the photo, I had cut back everything but three limbs and finally realized that it would be dangerous for me to try and bring them down. The limbs grow straight up into the air and the remaining three are about 20 feet tall.  After -- there is a hole in the sky view but the tree should fill in nicely for a good screen and I can keep it trimmed down from this point forward. Farther down along the fence line, and the view from the deck, are two massive pho

Cast Iron Pizza

 


We've had a lot of rain lately which means I've been in the kitchen a lot. I've been experimenting with pizza recipes and we've found one that we really like. This is from America's Test Kitchen (they have a video on YouTube demonstrating how to do it).  It is compared to the Pizza Hut pan pizza. The first time I made it, I used a regular sized cast iron pan and it was thick and tasted good. We like our pizza thin, however, and found a larger sized pan that is actually called a pizza pan. In this pan, the pizza is thin and just the way we like it. It is delicous!

Cast Iron Pizza

11 oz. bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast
8 oz. water (105-100 degrees)

Whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and mix until the dough just comes together. Knead in the bowl for a minute and form a ball. 

Place the dough in a pie pan (or similar) and spread it out into a 7 inch circle. Spray the top of the dough with oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

When ready to bake, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Spread 3 tablespoons of oil over the cast iron pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and spread it out to 1/8 from the edge. Cover with plastic and let sit for 1.5 hours. 

Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover the pizza with sauce and toppings and bake for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to stovetop and let sit for 3 minutes. Check the bottom of the pizza and if it needs more browning, cook on the oven for 3-5 minutes. 

The sauce recipe is available on the America's Test Kitchen website. However, we just use a bottled sauce and add the toppings we like.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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