The Dough Girls

In normal circumstances, being called a "dough girl" would be considered a derogatory term...especially right after the holidays. Can I still use that excuse two months after the holidays? Good. Anyway, being a "dough girl" can have such negative connotation, unless one is referring to the Sour Dough Whole Wheat Pizza Dough batch that my sister and I made at her house yesterday afternoon.

We attended a high-end cooking store's class on how to make pizza and calzones about two weeks ago. Since then, T'liese and I both caught the fever to make homemade pizza for our families! After loading up on all of the necessary supplies, we gathered at T'liese's beautiful home in Gilbert to make a double batch of dough. The plan was to each get several plops (Micah's technical term for a ball of the good stuff) of dough for the freezer.

I am nice to my sister for many reasons:

1)  She's nice to me, so I think it's only right to return the favor.
2)  She has a very cute son who is rather sweet, too. If I wasn't nice to her, she probably wouldn't let me wrestle and growl with Evan.
3)  She has a Nutrimill and Bosch Mixer, two things required to make proper pizza dough.
4)  I actually kinda like her, and being nice is just a reaction to that.

First, we ground up our very own whole wheat flour using T'liese's Nutrimill. This thing is amazing...and twenty seconds later we had enough flour to make a double batch. After grinding up the wheat, the kitchen was already starting to smell like my Grandma's House in Ideeho! Then we measured the rest of the ingredients and added them to the Bosch Mixer. As much fun as it would be to take credit for "our" pizza dough, this mixer actually did all the work for us. Once we got it to the right consistency by slowing adding more whole wheat flour, we left it spinning in the mixer for eight minutes before removing the dough hook. T'liese and I couldn't wait much longer for the rising, so she fired up the oven to "warm" and put the dough inside. Just ten minutes later, the dough had doubled in size and was ready for packaging!

We cut the batch into eight pieces. T'liese formed the dough into plops, and I greased the bags to get them ready for the yummy-smelling dough. We scared away all the air from the bags and then twisty-tied them at the top to allow room for a little more rising as they cooled in the fridge. After being cooled overnight, the bags will be re-tied close to the dough and put in the freezer. They should last about four months, but I know it will realistically be more like three weeks for John and me! I left one dough in the fridge for our dinner tomorrow...that will give the sourdough two days to work its magic!

Needless to say, my sister and I were quite proud of ourselves. We were being so domestic, healthy, and economical in one application! For about $20 a piece, we have enough ingredients to make dough for both our families for the next six months. It doesn't get much better than that. If I gain ten pounds in the next few months, you will certainly know that the dough was a success. And probably well-worth the weight gain!