20/20: (non)day 19

i didn't get dressed today.
(note: i wrote this yesterday)

i wore pajamas ALL DAY. 

and a hat. 

i decided it was okay to skip one day, because i actually only wore 19 out of my 20 pieces this whole time. 

i had originally included those maroon pleated stretchy pants in my twenty pieces (see this post for reference), but never found a way to successfully style them with the rest of my pieces. so you're actually getting 19 pieces in 19 days instead of 20 ;) tomorrow is the final day (and then it's christmas eve!) and then i get to pull out my boxes of clothes that have been hiding these last three weeks, play, and decide about "twenty pieces" before the new year!

i didn't get dressed, but i DID cook :) i made pizza! all homemade (crust, sauce, etc) - and i'm gonna share my recipe with YOU! it's really a compilation of three recipes: Crust (my childhood best friend's family recipe), Pesto (Joy of Cooking), and the rest of the toppings (Cooking Light)

i included this picture so i could talk about how much i HATE these pop cans! for no reason other than they startle me and it stresses me out ;) also, sometimes to make things easier/faster, i do just pop one of these open... but you'll see, my homemade crust is WAY better ;)

Newell family pizza dough recipe:
microwave 2 cups of water for 2 minutes. pour into large bowl and sprinkle 3 Tablespoons yeast on surface. add 1 egg, 1/4 cup oil (to make it healthier, Kim's mom used safflower oil in her recipe - i usually don't have any on hand, so use canola or whatever vegetable oil you have), 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 6 Tablespoons honey. whisk to combine. then add 6 1/2-7 cups flour (i have used both white and whole wheat flours in the past - both taste great!). you know it's the right consistency when it's tacky, but doesn't actually stick to your fingers. transfer to two oiled pizza pans and stretch to fit.

Pesto:
put in food processor and grind to a rough, slightly chunky paste:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
(i actually used Romano this time because i forgot to buy parmesan - still good :)
then slowly pour in through feed tube with machine running:
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper (i ALWAYS forget these)


spread evenly over dough, leaving a half to an inch around the edge.
this recipe makes enough for both pizzas (or make one and freeze the rest for next time! or use it tomorrow in some pasta - mmm i love pesto...) the first time i had pesto pizza was in Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy - and i made my own version a bunch of time after getting home. but once i found this Red Grape Chicken Pesto pizza recipe in Cooking light, i converted :)

Toppings:
add 1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, halved, scattered across pesto.
top with 8 ounces shredded rotisserie chicken breast 
(i've measured this at about 1 1/2 breasts, if you don't have a scale).

top with 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

sprinkle 3 Tablespoons grated Romano cheese
and a little black pepper

bake in 475-degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until crust is golden!

sprinkle with 1/4 cup sliced green onions (i also always forget this step, but i had to include a shot of it in my post because of the lovely ombre color effect - heck yeah - fashion and food crossover - that's right! ;)

for the record, if i WOULD have gotten dressed today, i would have probably tried combining number 10 (teal lacy anthro top) with number 18 (striped off-white/blue skirt) somehow, and added some leggings and boots ;)