Pizza is a scrumptious thing to make (and smell!) when you haven’t eaten western food in a long time. I followed the pizza dough recipe found in the More-with-Less Cookbook from MCC (added 3 tsp of yeast in place of 1 packet and let dough rise only 30 minutes before using); made tomato sauce from scratch (recipe follows); and added carmelized onions, pill red peppers and mozzarella cheese. Gurd, her son Nong Pon, and Nong Ket gobbled their portions up. I gave some to the students and stayed to watch Vission eat…he said it was good (yes!). I’m going to look for pepperoni in Chiang Mai next time – I couldn’t find any at Tesco Lotus.
I finally received my International Driver’s Permit in the mail and was given the ok to drive into town by myself (insurance reasons). Yay! So the first thing I did on Saturday was buy butter and chocolate chips (among other things) at Lotus. However, I knew I was going to be out and about all day and knew I had to work out how to prevent my butter from melting since I was driving a motorcycle. Turns out books are a pretty good insulator. I also had the good fortune of a grey, rainy day. I stacked my Thai-English dictionary, address book and novel at the bottom of my backpack, and placed a carefully packed shopping bag on top. In that bag, I placed the butter in the middle and surrounded it with other items. Tada! I came home at 4pm and the butter was still intact. It’s the same principle as wrapping a towel around your cold drinks when you go to the beach. Now…all I have to do is make the chocolate chip cookies!
Easiest Tomato Sauce
- 5-10 small or medium roma or plum tomatoes (known as “paste” tomatoes because they have less water content than their bigger, rounder counterparts), diced
- 1-2 onions, diced
- 3-7 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and/or diced
- oregano
- pinch of salt
- sugar (optional)
- Saute onions, garlic and oregano in oil until translucent. Don’t burn or brown them.
- Add tomatoes
- Add salt (helps release water from tomatoes) and sugar (if you want)
- Simmer sauce approximately 10-15 minutes
- Mash tomatoes into saucy consistency