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Making pizza step by step

Serve 4 (make two 11×12 inches crispy pizza or one)

Ingredients and instructionPizza Dough: Makes 2 11×12 inch thin and crispy pizzas (or 1 thick pizza)

• Step 1

• 1 cups water (120°F)

• 1 envelope (7g) of active dry yeast

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• mix the above and let sit for 10 minutes

• Step 2

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 2 teaspoons salt

• pour the mixture from Step 1 into a large bowl, add oil and salt and gradually add flour and stir well until the dough does not stick to your finger. Sprinkle some flour on your hands and on a clean and smooth surface such as a plastic chopping board. Knead the dough by hand (see future photos) for 10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Store the bowl in the microwave for 60-90 minutes.

• Step 3 (most challenging part!)

• The dough should have doubled its size by now in the bowl. Remove the plastic cover and punch the dough down on the smooth surface so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half and form two round balls of dough.

• Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough. Flatten it with a rolling pin. Then starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to stretch it further.

• Put each of them on a cooking sheet. You may need to stretch them further on the sheets. Gently pin some holes all over avoiding the hedge with a fork.

• Pizza Toppings

• Step 4 (funniest part)

• Basic toppings

• 200 g tomato sauce or paste

• 100 g mozzarella cheese, shredded

• Other toppings

• 1 bell pepper, sliced

• 100g mushroom, sliced

• 100g salami

• Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

Preheat the oven at 425 and bake for 15 minutes until golden.

中文食譜按此

Academy of Sciences in San Francisco reopened on September 27 last year. They offered free admission on the reopening day. We did not pass on this opportunity. We expected there would be a lot of people, but did not expect that many….

Long lines everywhere

Even toilets formed a long line

According to CBS5, by noon, there were over 35,000 people in line but the Academy of Sciences could only allow 4,000 at a given time. So for those who did not get in, they just wandered in the Golden Gate Park. Some people visited other museums nearby instead. I think other than the museums got a lot of visitors, food vendors and the company provided the toilets also benefited.

Ingredients:
Chicken drumsticks 1.5 pounds
Bread crumb 4 tablespoons
Garlic powder 1 tablespoon
Salt 0.5 tablespoon
McCormick Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning 1 teaspoon

Instructions:
Preheat oven at 375℉
Mix bread crumb and all seasoning in a medium bowl.
Rise drumsticks with water. Do not wipe dry. Coat each drumsticks in the bowl one by one.
Place them on a slightly oiled baking pan.
Bake at 375℉ for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
P.S.: If you couldn’t find the Steak Seasoning, you can substitute it with black pepper, red pepper, dill seed and coriander seed.

This sandwich is easy, yummy and nutritious. Suitable for breakfast and light lunch. You can prepare it in less than 5 minutes.

Ingredients::

Hard-boiled egg 1

Mayonnaise 1 tablespoon

Pork-sung 2 tablespoon

Toast 2 slides

Instructions:

1. Mash the egg with a yolk in a small bowl

2. Add mayonnaise and mix well, and it becomes egg salad.

3. Spread the egg salad on the toast. Add pork-sung evenly.

P.S.: Pork sung is also called Ronsung Click here for enlarged photo. It is made of dried pork meat and in a flossy form. Due to the saltiness of pork sung, you don’t need to put salt in the sandwich for seasoning.

Today we drove up to San Francisco to see the exhibition by Andy Goldsworthy. It is located in Building 49 (adjacent to Presidio Officers’ Club) in Presidio. Andy Goldsworthy grew in England, he is famous for creating sculptures using materials found at the site like branches from mature trees, rocks and leaves. He has been featured in the film Rivers and Tides directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer. This exhibition offers visitors insights of Goldsworthy’s arts and the making of and a 11 feet model of Presidio Spire. Goldsworthy lived in Building 49 and you can see a mini Spire inside one of the closet.

After visiting the Exhibition, it is a must to see the actual Spire. We followed the direction, parked near Presidio Golf Course Clubhouse and took a short walk to the Spire. Finally, we arrived at the 100-foot-tall permanent sculpture Spire. From the photos below, you can see how tiny the two people became standing next to the Spire. Many seedlings were planted around the Spire as part of the Presidio reforestation. Many years later, the Spire will be infused into the natural settings.

Gazing at the sculpture, I suddenly remember I also have a sculpture-like piece at home: a tomato cage created using stakes from an old garden umbrella and bamboo stakes. It may not be at the same artistic level but if we use our imagination we will see a better world everyday.

It took place at Presidio of San Franciscio. All the cars shown are at least 100 years old.

Bentley

Rolls Royce

MG

1928 Duesenberg Model A

1917 REO M-6

A Car from Cars

After picking strawberries, we drove Highway 1 South. Passed several beaches and I was attracted by one of them. This beach is located near the parking entrance of Ano Neuvo State Reserve. It was sunny and windy, temperature was about 70℉。Around 15 surfers were enjoying the ocean.

It was almost 6pm after we visited the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Since there are a lot attractive beaches in Marin County, we decided to visit the closest one, Drake Beach. This beach has a lot of park spaces and the toilets are pretty clean. In West Coast the places with ocean view are usually facing West. However, Drake Beach is located in Point Reyes National Seashore and it is facing South. I know it may sounds wired but since the beach is surrounded by cliff, you can find a natural shaded space in the afternoon on the beach. What a good news to those forks who are sun-sensitive but love to have a sun-bath!

Jun to October is the season for harvesting strawberries.  Last weekend, we went to Swanton Strawberry Farm. It is a you-pick farm which offer organic berries. It is located 20 miles north from Santa Cruz, California along scenic Highway 1.

We tried several strawberries and they tasted super sweet, even better than the one we bought from farmer’s market. We ended up picking almost 4 pounds (US$2.5/lb) in half an hour.

If you want to find out more farms, please refer to the following web-site:
http://www.pickyourown.org/CAsanfran.htm#listings

Point Reyes locates one hour north of Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. We walked half a mile (about 15 minutes) and bought a ticket at the Visitor Center. Walked down-slop 303 steps further from the gate. Point Reyes could be so so windy that, when it is too foggy or windy (more than 40 m.p.h.) no visitors will be allowed to walked on the steps to the lighthouse. Opening hours is Thursday to Monday, from 10am to 4:30pm.

History of the lighthouse

Point Reyes Lighthouse has retired, now only serves historic and tourism purpose. Point Reyes is the windiest and second foggiest place in North America, visibility could be only hundreds feet which can be very dangerous to the ships entering and leaving San Francisco Bay. Therefore, the lighthouse was built in 1870 and finally replaced by other newer lighthouse in 1975.