A Slice Of Heaven

Some are born to paint masterpieces or compose symphonies. It's in their blood, encoded on their DNA. Similarly, I think my husband was born knowing how to make pizza. He is Italian and arguably they invented it. It is also said that they invented concrete but that's not what this post is about......

I have tried to make pizza dough a few times, and I have made other yeasty doughs for bread or crumpets with reasonable success, but I relinquish pizza dough to the Department of David (DOD). He just has that thing...a special way with it.

Last year we decided that the addition of a wood fired pizza oven would be a good investment in our hobby of gathering our friends and family around with food and drink and conviviality. And it has proven to be hugely successful.

By Popular Demand....

Every cook will tell you that there are certain dishes that they always get requests for. Maybe there’s a party or a gathering,and one poses the question ‘what can I bring?'  The answer is invariably the same thing over and over.

My most requested item is my Raspberry & Brandy Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

Which is fine by me because they are very easy to make and I usually have the ingredients on hand in my pantry. It only needs 1 bowl for the preparation and no mixing equipment other than a whisk or a spatula. It's so simple that my children regularly put it together instead of me. Everyone (unless they are those freaky people who don’t like chocolate) loves it. And its flexible ie it can be cut into small pieces as a nibble to have with coffee, or you can serve it as a dessert, and plate it up with cream or ice cream and a fruit coulis.

The way to their heart........

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I'm willing to bet that most women would be more than impressed if a man cooked something amazing for them.

Personally, one of the defining moments of my early relationship with my husband, was when David baked a cake for my birthday. It was an espresso buttermilk cake with a warm chocolate sauce poured over it. The cake itself was highly impressive of course. But it was the gesture. The fact that he had made something special and given me something that could not be bought, that really made me pay attention.