Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pizza Bears



Are the kids being out on summer break driving you stark raving mad yet?  It only took 4 hours to hear those dreaded words "I'm Bored" around here.  I got really behind with work and some other projects and figured summer would be the perfect time to catch up.  Why am I always so delusional, why?

I did get started on a painting I promised my niece and I survived a work audit.  Having everyone home and in my grill 24/7 should be delightful and refreshing, shouldn't it?  Wrong - way wrong, when is summer break over with anyways?

I put a batch of pizza dough in the mixer in the morning and pulled out some coloring books and markers to make the day go a little quicker.  Staring down at the smooth, supple bowl of pizza crust I made an executive decision that this dough wasn't going to be any ordinary old pizza.

Pizza Crust
1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
3/4 cup water, 110 degrees
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Also needed:  Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, garlic salt, 1 egg + 2 teaspoons water, sliced black olives and roasted red peppers or tomato slices

Add the yeast and water to a large bowl or bowl of a mixer and let proof for 5 minutes.  Once the yeast is a little bit foamy add the salt, flour and olive oil and mix with a dough hook until the dough is starting to climb up the hook.  Or mix by hand and turn out on a floured board and knead by hand for five minutes and return to dough to the bowl.

Cover the dough with a towel and let it rise for an hour or so.

p.s.  If you want go buy some pre-made dough from the store, my lips are zipped.

Place the dough onto a floured cutting board and cut it into four equal pieces.  Cut a big portion for the body, a golf ball sized piece for the head and a small 1-inch strip and cut the strip into 2 legs, 2 arms and 2 ears.

Flatten the body portion and smear the middle with a little pizza sauce and then place a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of that (a couple pieces of pepperoni would be tasty too).


Gather the dough up with your fingers and twist to close.  I like to push the cheese in a bit with my finger while I'm pulling up the edges.  Place the body on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment.  Flatten the body a bit and shape into an oval.  Take the head piece and flatten and insert a bit of cheese and pinch and twist just like the body piece and place it on top of the body on the baking sheet.  Roll the legs, arms and ears into small balls with your hands and place them next to the body.


Make all 4 bears and cover them with a clean dish towel and let rise for 40 minutes.

Beat the egg and water together and brush over the bears.  Sprinkle the bears with garlic salt and place two black olives for eyes and a strip of roasted red bell pepper for the mouth.

Bake in a 425 degree F oven for 18-22 minutes until nicely browned.

Serve with a bowl of pizza sauce and grated Parmesan cheese for dipping.


Hopefully these cute little bears will put a smile back on your face, because let’s face it you know you missed me while I was on my little break.  I missed all of you, sniff - sniff.

Enjoy,

Gina





28 comments:

  1. Gina so happy to read a new post from you. As you can see since I'm the first one to comment that means I missed you the most;) The little bears did put a smile on my face. I may not have kids in the house but the kid in me really wants these. So freaking cute! I hope everyone settles into a new summer routine and leaves you alone, lol:) hugsies

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  2. Hehe, these are just too cute! I don't have kids, but I would definitely enjoy these just as much as a kid! My brother and I would definitely have been acting out scenes with our food bears if those were in our house when I was younger ;-)

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  3. Dudette says they're too cute and that I should make them some day. I have to say that I'm with Ravie Nom Noms up there. This is just as adorable to me as it is to her and I'd dive in face first. Yeah, summer will be VERY long (as the little lady runs by kicking a ball in the house). Very long. Gotta go yell.

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  4. Oh, those are too cute, Gina!!! You are so creative. I'm listening in on a conference call that I don't have to participate in - just listen - and I about giggled out loud when I saw them :-) Summer will fly by as always and you'll miss the kids once again... Hugs, Kate

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  5. Oh, Gina, your adorable little pizza bears put a huge smile on my face...I could actually vision the first one waving to me, and me waving back...saying, "I'm gonna get you, and eat you up...either, because you're too cute, or because I never had a pizza bear"...OK, that sounds too creepy now, but I can't take it back, so otherwise I will not and could not eat such cute little creature that look so authentic!

    Let's just stick to the traditional pizza...at least for me:DDD
    Very, very creative, but you never cease to amaze me!
    xo

    p.s. thank you for mentioning Prince, I do miss him very much, and so does his younger sibling, Mush (the little Persian) she is still crying for him at night, and looking for him...so, sad!

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  6. Three cheers--one for pizza bears, one for your return, one for a happy summer! HIP-HIP-HOORAY x 3!!! :)

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  7. Thanks ladies, I happened to enjoy eating them as much as the girls did.

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  8. Okay, those totally made me giggle the moment I saw them. My kids would go nuts for those! It's nice to "see" you again!

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  9. Okay, those totally made me giggle the moment I saw them. My kids would go nuts for those! It's nice to "see" you again!

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  10. Welcome back! These bears are so cute! My son is sitting next to me now and loves your creation too :D

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  11. Nice to see you back with such a creative pizza recipe. They are really cute.

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  12. Your cute little pizza bears definitely put a smile on my face! Your kids are lucky! :)

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  13. oh my god these are adorable! love it!

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  14. Gina! Good to see you back on Blogger;-) I love your creativity in all it's forms and in this case a sweet Teddy Bear made out of pizza dough, I'll bet he was real yummy! Look forward to seeing you soon;-)

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  15. I am loving the pizza bear... it made me laugh a little. I would still eat it even though they are cute. Summer break is kicking my butt to LOL! I always have these dreams of how great it will be to have the kids home and spend time with them... but man I get nothing done ever lol.

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  16. These are so cute! I don't have any children, think my husband would assume I was nuts if I made these? LOL

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  17. Gina, Tell Spicie Foodie, that is isn't true. I missed you more:) I was busy getting ready for the Relay for Life, and baking Fight Back Brownies to see at the event. More about those later. So glad that you are back!

    I love your little pizza bears. Hope that your girls liked them. They are almost too cute to eat, I said almost. Maybe I'll have to try these with Anna and Emma:)

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  18. These bears are so darn cute...and yummy, too! Good to see you back, my friend~

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  19. These are ridiculously cute my friend :D
    Welcome back!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  20. Glad you're posting again. That was a nice long break. Pizza bears are cute! Anyway, welcome back.

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  21. You always come up with very creative and fun idea, Gina! Your children is lucky to have such a fun mom! I'm sloooooooooooowly practicing my baking with the kids. =D Hopefully I can lead them to make fantastic baked goods, but most likely they might catch up with me and they will teach me make a cake. I love this pizza bears! I just show it to my son and he said "Mama can you make these??" Um....we'll see!

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  22. Gina, these are too cute my friend! I am feeling guilty for even thinking of taking a bite in those cute puffy moist juicy bears? Yummmm... I will bookmark this idea and make them for my niece when she's older.. Hope all is well with you.. have a wonderful summer break.. xoxo

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  23. Very Very adorable, gina! "i'm bored" does sound really really familiar, and awkwardly, annoys me to a certain extent. Must have been past experiences with hyper-active nephews.

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  24. Of course I missed you :) These are just too adorable...such fun!

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  25. These are so cute! What a wonderful idea for the kids!

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  26. These are adorable! Great idea to do with my son before school starts (which can't start soon enough)

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