Holiday Pizza

 

Red, green, white, silver, gold. These are the only colours I recognize right now. Call it holiday colour-blindness if you want, but this is all I really want to surround myself with. I makes me feel festive. Makes me feel sparkly. It makes me feel like a holiday. Wow, do I ever need a holiday. Sometimes, I really do feel too tired to cook and it would be great to have leftovers to heat up, or something that was actually quick and easy to cook. It's ok, it's just how it goes sometimes. Sometimes all I want is to order pizza. Yes, I love to cook, and I like healthy things, but sometimes I really just want to not have to do anything and just order a nice crispy thin crust pizza. Unfortunately, being gluten free doesn't always make that super easy. Plus, what's with this 40 minutes business to pick-up a pizza now?! If I had everything ready to go, I could make that same pizza at home, in 15 minutes. Flat. Can you say pre-made pizza crust anyone?

Before I start gabbing on about a pizza crust, can I ask you a question? If you are eating a thin crust pizza, is there really a difference between pizza and flatbread? Flatbread isn't covered in cheese necessarily, so I think that could be the only distinguishing feature. Is this right? I don't actually know, so I thought I would ask everyone else out there. Thoughts?

Florentine Omelet

I am not good at healthy anticipation. I am the least patient person. So anticipation can sometimes kiiillll me. Example 1: today I booked a vacation. But the vacation isn't until the end of January. JANUARY! And now that the initial adrenaline of the booking process has subsided, I am left with anticipation. Cold, taunting anticipation. I just want it to be here right now. Like, right now. Luckily my mothers voices of reason pipes up and says, "hold up for just a sec, because fast forward to January now, then you will miss Halloween (great holiday) and Christmas (even better holiday!)". Smart woman that mother of mine is. Note: since I am Canadian I have ignored Thanksgiving, we already celebrated it. 

It's like the really bad movie "Click" with Adam Sandler. You know, the one where he finds a remote control in Bed, Bath and Beyond and he can fast forward through the parts of life he doesn't want to wait through -- like a work day, or until he is promoted and can set his own schedule. But he realizes (here comes the sappy epiphany music) that he doesn't want to fast forward through the mundane crappy tasks, because he misses out on the way cooler moments that happen along the way. So although my anticipation right now is slightly a huge downer, I know that tomorrow I will probably have forgotten about wishing it was January and will be able to focus on a nice lazy Sunday. So maybe I am being slightly melodramatic and my anticipation problem is more just in the short term and really isn't a problem.

Well that seemed simple.

Remember when I made the Asparagus Scramelet? And I just couldn't get the flip? Ya well, I'm back, with gusto, and a french-style omelet. AND IT WORKED! Turned out I just needed a griddle, and some patience to do it. Bing-bang heck yes. I think I had the patience for this omelet because today it was raining hard. I have to give the rain some credit; the pitter-patter was calming. I also think I didn't really feel in any rush to be anywhere else, because being somewhere else would have required me to go outside. And with the amount it was raining, I had zero desire to be outside. So I will credit this success to a combination of my morning patience, and my calming soundtrack from the raindrops. It was a huuuuge success (in a Borat voice).

Grilled Chicken Greek Pizza

Many people seem to work better when there is a bit of pressure put on them. When a deadline is looming and the task has to get done, you just know it will get done. A little bit of stress is healthy.  A little bit of heat can really help kick things into gear and maybe even add a little bit of flourish in the completion process.  

But when does that heat become too much? Where is the tipping point when stress boils over and goes from a bit of a productive push to a stalling brick wall?

Everyone's tipping point is in a different place. Some people are tipped at the slightest feeling of pressure, while others can keep piling it all until the point of almost breaking. Most fall in the middle somewhere. The middle seems like a good place to be, because that is where I think I fall. Regardless of where you fall in this spectrum, it's important to know where your tipping point is.

But getting to that tipping point is part of figuring out where it takes place. Pushing yourself just a little bit too hard can be ok sometimes. It helps you to figure out where your tipping point is, and how much you can stand. Think of it as tolerance testing. It's like doing leg squats against a wall until you. just. can't. take. the. burning.

What was the tipping point for me this week? It happened at the end of the day on Wednesday. I love hump day. I love feeling that much closer to the weekend, to a break. Breaks are beautiful. They allow you to re-cooperate from that little bit of extra pushing you did to yourself during the week.

Friday's just scream "treat day". And based on that little bit of pressure I put on myself this week, I felt like I deserved it.  So what did I really REALLY want? Pizza. What was the challenge? The crust. Gluten-free is tough! But I am determined. I am pushing myself to get a little bit better every time. No, this task has nothing to do with getting to my tipping point, but maybe there is a tipping point here between bad and good pizza crust. This one really worked out. It was really delicious. Thin. Crispy. I was very proud of myself. And I love this combination of flavours. The tipping point between regular and gourmet. Tip, tip, tip.....