My Amish Experience

I certainly didn't waste any time entertaining after picking up my New Dining Room Table way down in Amish Country.  What an experience it was.  Unfortunately they do not allow anyone to take pictures so you'll have to try to use your imagination when I speak of my Amish visit.  It was way back in October when we decided to have a table made my Meno.  He lives in Canton Mn which is about an hour south of Rochester.  My husband and I drove down with pictures of what we would like our table to look like.  Meno was more than accommodating!  It was such a treat to meet him and his family....all 9 children!  He even invited us into their home (a rarity) because he had a table similar to what we were describing.  There stood the mother braiding one of the younger girls hair, another daughter at the stove stirring up a pot of what appeared to be soup, and along came the next one with a bucket of just picked potatoes to throw in the kettle.  On the table were 3 loaves of bread dough raising ready to be baked.  It was going on 1 0'clock so obviously close to lunch time for them.  Nope we did not get invited to join them:-(

4 months later we received a call from Meno saying our table was complete and ready to pick up that Saturday .  Unfortunately we could not make it that particular Saturday and he politely said."sorry we do not do business on Sunday".  So the following weekend we took off about 10:30 am with a rented trailer and drove back down to Canton.  The Table Is Beautiful!  Meno and his three of his four boys helped wrap the chairs, leaves, and table in furniture blankets and in the trailer they all went.  We arrived back home safe and sound!  My brother and my mom were waiting for us to help unload.  By that time it was going on 7:30 pm so a very long day of traveling in wind, snow and terrible roads so we were exhausted!  After getting the table and chairs in place, we all sat down and were in awe of our gorgeous table.  Not a screw, nail, and all hand planed.  WOW.....a master piece to be treasured for a life time!   A long day but so worth the trip to experience how the Amish live with no electricity, ipods, computers, TV, radio,  and other luxuries we take for granted.  To end the evening we all enjoyed some pizza from KAREN'S HOMEMADE PIZZA and it was delicious.  A very good day and night enjoyed by all..........

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough            (My version of a crust taken from THE EARTHBOUND COOK) 

2 packets active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cup warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon of salt

Place yeast and sugar in a large bowl.  Add warm water and whisk to blend.  Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let mixture set until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the whole wheat and white flours in several increments (1 cup at a time) mixing until the dough is slightly sticky.  You may not need all flour however I did!  Stir in salt.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, 5 minutes.
Dampen a kitchen towel and wring it out well. 
Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in it, and turn dough over so that is lightly coated with oil.  Cover bowl with damp cloth and set it aside in warm, draft -free place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.......I left my set over night. 

Gently punch dough down to deflate and divide into thirds or in my case, 2 disks for larger pizzas!  The baking time is the same whether you make large or small pizzas.  Keep the pieces you are not working with covered with the damp towel. 

TO form a piece of dough into a ball, flour your hands and than pull opposite edges of a piece of dough toward the center.  Pinch them together to from seal.  Working around the circumference, continue pulling and pinching the dough until a smooth tight ball forms.  Repeat with remaining dough.  The dough is now ready to be used to make your pizzas.  You can also wrap dough individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for up to 24 hours or freeze them for up to two months.  However let the frozen dough thaw in fridge overnight before using. 

To make pizzas, position a rack at the lowest position in oven and if using a pizza stone like me, place it on the rack.  Mine is always in the oven!  Preheat oven to 550 if it goes that high or else 500 for at least 30 minutes before baking so stone is hot.

Lightly flour a work surface, and using a rolling pin or in my case, my ands and the pizza roller, shape the dough into a flat round disk or whatever shape fits your stone.  Rectangle is fine too:-)  (I use my hands to gently stretch the dough into shape, pressing outward from the center, rotating the dough occasionally to form a round or rectangle. ) 

If using a pizza peel or pan, generously dust with cornmeal. 
Transfer the dough to prepared pizza wheel or pizza pan or baking sheet.  Brush the dough lightly with olive oil, leaving a 1-inch border unoiled. 

Arrange the toppings on dough.  Slide the pizza off the peel and onto preheated stone, using a jerking motion to release it.  Bake until golden brown about 10 minutes.

Remove the pizza from oven by sliding pizza wheel under it or use a tongs to slide pizza off stone onto a cutting board.   NOW ENJOY!