New Year's Eve

Whoo hooo!!! It's New Year's Eve!!! Makes is sound like we're having a wild time, huh? Not so much. It's about 5:00 pm and I'm curled up under a quilt writing this blog entry, the Boyfriend is napping (though will be woken up soon by me if he doesn't rouse on his own), and it's snowing outside-- again. It seems that we've gotten snow at least once a week for the past month and I have to say, I'm getting a little tired of it. Sure, it's picturesque-- frosty trees, the snow cat in the neighbor's yard, snow capped campaign signs in front yards--but it's also cold and wet. And, we haven't seen the sun in ages. Ugh. But, the new year is upon us and the weather is supposed to warm in the next few days, so things are looking up.

In other news, I successfully took the GREs this morning. (Successfully meaning that I emerged in one piece unscathed by gnarly algebraic equations.) I took the GRE about seven years ago, but wouldn't you know that your scores are only good for five years, hence, my morning of test taking fun. The verbal section was a-okay, but no one is going to mistake me for a would-be mathematician or statician. That said, it's done and I feel fairly confident that I will never have to memorize quadratic equations ever again. And, after finishing the test by 11:30 am I was able to spend the rest of the day lounging on the couch and taking in a Law and Order marathon in between catnaps.

We're planning on a cozy evening in to welcome the new year, complete with a festive dinner of homemade calzones. We had these for Christmas Eve dinner and liked them so much that we decided to make them again. They are incredibly easy to make and taste fabulous. While you could make these with store bought dough, the dough is super easy to make at home if you use a mixer. I used a recipe from the Baking Illustrated cookbook and it was a snap.

Here are a few pictures, from mixing to eating:

Mixing the dough in the mixer using the dough hook.

The dough resting in an oiled bowl, pre-rise.

Post-rise-- two hours later.

I divided the dough into six sections, two of which are resting here on the baking sheet waiting for us to shape into tonight's calzones.

The Boyfriend, pictured here, closes his calzone filled with vegan ricotta (homemade!), vegan mozzarella, vegan sausage, red peppers, and roasted garlic tomato sauce.

The Boyfriend and my calzones, stuffed, shaped, and ready for the oven.

Fifteen minutes later. Mine is on the left.

A peek inside the inside of my calzone-- ooey gooey with peppers, ricotta, and mozzarella. Yum!