I saw that, hummersteve, and hoped it was you!

Wow. So generous of you to post this-- I wish everyone did this after 4 years! It's quite different than "I've had this for a month and love it!" Very useful information indeed.

Love the house! I'm probably new to you all here, I do post now and then but I was more active on the kitchen forum for a while, and sometimes the garden forum. My house, if any of you sort of know, is a 1915 Craftsman with some Victorian elements (I suspect the original owner had this built to their very specific specs). I had a historian take a look at photos and even they were a bit puzzled at all of the different types of Craftsman homes it draws on. Having said that, we're always in the middle of doing "something" here. Over the summer, I had my landscaping professional done, including a paver patio put in; some continuing electrical upgrades (like, we needed outdoor receptacles on the house and garage), emergency gutter repairs, etc. Right now I'm at kind of a standstill because I'm waiting on contractors to fit me into their schedules. I'm having my chimney/fireplace repaired to the tune of $6000 (it needs to be brought up to Code and the firebox has some damage needing repair). But scheduling them this time of year has been difficult to say the least. I had an attempted burglary and they compromised my sliding door in the kitchen so I'm waiting on the new one to come in which will mean taking down some masonry and the stairs to re-install. Also waiting on several new windows for the basement since one of the fell in on it's own accord (they were ancient). I had schedule the house and garage to be painted but this can't start yet - because of the masonry at the sliding door having to be repaired (I'm already 1 month behind on that and concerned now it might get too cold to do it). All of the gutters were about to be replaced BUT when they came, they discovered the fascia boards were rotted - so now I'm waiting on a price to add new boards also (I saw the condition of them - yikes, don't know how the gutters were even being held on!). I have regrading to be done on one side of the house, and installation of underground piping from the gutters to the street. That contractor left for Italy right as I made the decision to do the work. Expected back I think this week. And, I need 5 new doors. Front door, 2 sides (one is in my living room to the original car port which is now a covered patio), the garage door (not the pull-ups, we had those done already) and last is the door leading from a bedroom to the upstairs balcony. I have no idea what this is going to run me yet *terrified* I've picked what I want for the most part, but still have some questions for the contractor and am waiting on him to stop by to discuss. I really wanted all of this done by the first week of November. I have a TCO on the house and I've renewed it twice already. I think all of this work would have cleared it out but it's clear that I'm going to have to renew for another 6 months. Oh well. I'm sure the Town will be happy to have another $25. On a good note I finally bought a small flat screen TV for the kitchen. I got tired of running back and forth to the Living Room while cooking to see what was happening on my favorite shows :D

Great seeing you both again, too! You've seen the counters (thanks for the compliments). They too haven't changed. :) Leela, I'm so sorry about the hunger! But once you really get into pizza it turns into a great vehicle for leftovers! Keep dough balls in individual bags in your fridge and freezer. Turn on the oven to heat up your stone or steel. Take out your dough and let it come up to cool from cold. I put it on top of a sprinkling of yellow cornmeal, on a silpat, and also put cornmeal on the peel. Next grab some leftovers that look tasty and get out the right utensils (maybe you need a spoon, maybe a knife). Stretch your dough to a pizza shape, and let it rest while you portion and or cut your leftovers. Brush with sauce. Add thin things like herbs or thin slices of veg or meat. Sprinkle with cheese (optional) then add your toppings. Don't lay them on too thick. They shouldn't be taller or denser than the dough. By now your oven is ready. Transfer the pizza and cook for 8-12 minutes. Let it go as dark as you can before you think it looks like it'll burn. Let it get all bubbly and nice. Remove. Cut. Plate. It's less work than making a salad, though does use a lot of electricity or other fuel and will heat the kitchen (some people have great luck making pizza on the grill in the Summer). I've recently made: Barbecue chicken pizza: Tear up a chicken breast and combine with barbecue sauce. Tear up a slice or two of smoked gouda from the deli drawer. Cut up a few tiny tomatoes and a baby bell pepper. Brush pizza dough with extra spicy barbecue sauce. Add toppings and, if you have it, corn and pepper salad. YUM! Huevos Rancheros pizza: Veg refried beans thinly spread instead of sauce--I don't recommend this. It tasted great but overpowered the eggs. Spread salsa picante. Add baby pepper rings. Fry up a couple/three eggs sunny side, well seasoned, but not fully cooked on top. Make sure your pan is smaller around than the pizza. Cook pizza halfway then slide on the eggs. When it's nearly done, add more salsa and cook for another minute. Add diced avocado. Serve. Veg: Tomato sauce, basil leaves, roasted eggplant spears, cut in chunks so they're easy to bite through, leftover cauliflower, tomato slices, grated Italian cheeses, and handfuls of baby kale. The kale goes crispy but doesn't burn. Very yummy. If I want to make a pizza, I just look at what needs using and that's what it is. :)