When the Moon Hits Your Eyes Like A....

A couple of weekends ago, Steven and I went to Annapolis to meet up with Julie and Shawn while they were in the area. We had a delightful lunch out on the docks overlooking the water (a duck walked right by our table as we ate!), and after lunch, we wandered around window-shopping in all the stores.

One of the stores was called "The Cook's Revenge." And inside that very store, I discovered one of my best purchases of 2008. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you....



The Pizza Paddle. (Eee!)

I have made quite a few homemade pizzas in the past year or so, with homemade dough. It is especially fun to let the dough rise outside in the sunshine during the summer. (Also, it makes the neighbors wonder what you're up to...)



Especially when you're out on the porch every 20 minutes, peeking under a towel into a big bowl. The guy on the porch next to ours gave me the strangest look. (I should have told him it was a human head or something. I always think of these things too late.)



However, in my pizza-making ventures, I would get the dough all stretched out and covered in toppings but then I'd hit an obstacle. How do I transfer my droopy pizza dough laden with cheese and pepperoni into a 500 degree oven and onto the pizza stone without seriously injuring myself or the pizza? Or both?

Enter the magical pizza paddle. Toss a little cornmeal on the paddle, situate your dough just so, add toppings as you please, and when it comes time to toss her in the oven, all it takes is a little flick of the wrist, and the pizza slides perfectly onto the hot pizza stone.



Crispy crusts, perfectly melted cheese, and no more third degree burns! This might be my new favorite kitchen implement ever.