I confess openly and whole-heartedly to having a certain single mindedness when it comes to pursuing a goal. If you’re looking for someone who’s prepared to stand in front of a microwave, fork and thermometer in hand, stirring a bowlful of flour every ten seconds for half an hour, then yes, I’ll be the one to do it!
I make my own puff-pastry, I bake my own loaves for bread sauce and my children enjoy eating our homemade chicken nuggets. Quirky, obsessive, nerdy? Perhaps I’m all of these … and happy to be so!
Having builders working in our house again has moved the goalposts slightly, however. The gloopy plaster that they carried through my kitchen in a large bucket yesterday was the closest I’ve come to seeing anything resembling a cake batter in there these last two weeks! Whilst I’m reaching cloud nine on dreams of my soon-to-be-installed Rangemaster Induction cooker, my actual opportunities for baking much this side of Christmas are severely limited.
Taking advantage of this enforced hiatus in my baking obsession, my elder daughter and I have become huge fans of a super-easy ‘pizza’ bread. It takes about as long to prepare as cheese-on-toast, but it’s oh so much tastier.
It seems absurd to talk about a recipe for this – we basically spoon some tinned tomatoes over a slice of bread (err, yes, I did make the bread …), top with slices of cheddar cheese and sprinkle with dried oregano and freshly-ground black pepper.
Pop it in a hot oven until the cheese melts and oozes over the edges. Mmmm … delicious!
amerrierworld.com 
Jeannette
/ December 14, 2008Sounds really tasty, Kate! I bet it hits the spot every time. I bet you are really looking forward to your new cooker, and you will appreciate it all the more for having waited for it. We were down in Ottery last month but chose the week when the floods hit the town, so didn’t venture far at all. We were down there to look after Jasper, the little dog, so that my daughter and family could visit London. The night of the storm was our first night and I thought the world was coming to its’ end!!!
amerrierworld
/ December 14, 2008Oh, I do hope your daughter’s home wasn’t affected by the floods, Jeannette. The neighbours of very close friends just down the road from us have had to move out for 6 to 7 months to allow their house to dry out … it really makes you stop to think. Otterton Mill has also been flooded, I hear – apparently they are still selling bread from a van in their carpark, but tours, restaurant etc … all suspended.
Melinda
/ December 14, 2008I do hope your super-dooper range oven makes it in on time for Christmas. That would be a lovely present for everyone!
I like easy pizza right along with the more complicated variety pizza. What can be wrong about toasted cheese on bread?
Love it.
amerrierworld
/ December 15, 2008January 20th is our target date for the delivery of The New Cooker – our builders are working on the plumbing before Christmas in fear that we’d be left kitchenless over Christmas if they ripped out (‘stripped’, I think, is the official term!) too much before the New Year. But it will still be a lovely present whenever it arrives!
chiffonade
/ July 2, 2009Your pizza bread reminds me of the English Muffin Pizzas my mom made for my brother and me when we were kids. (This doesn’t mean I couldn’t still go for one!)
Your blog is beautiful – Rose Levy Beranbaum linked to it on her newsletter.