In my Kitchen ....

..... is pizza!

We both love pizza, but they (pizza shops) never seem to make it the way we like it (apart from 1 particular shop which is a 25 minute drive away, but we go there every now and then)

We have spent many years trying to find the perfect 'ready made' base as I am absolutely hopeless at making a pizza base from scratch.

Enter the bread maker :)  we tried some Laucke Pizza & Focaccia dough mix and have produced some great results.

Now, with a little bit of forward planning, we can have Pizza, the way we like it, whenever we want it - win, win!

Linking with In My Kitchen for April.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

UPDATE: Review of Becco on The Parade

some of you may recall I did a scathing review of Becco on The Parade last year.

Well, it was time to get our tax done again (yes, I know, we are late), so we took the opportunity to return and see if Becco had improved.

If you want, you can have a quick read of my previous review HERE before you proceed :)

Are you back?  well that didn't take long did it?

here is my review for 2015:

The service has improved - with the staff being more on the ball, however, Mr Fixit's pizza was last again ............. arriving at our table 6 minutes after the other pizzas.

They got the drinks right for our table, but I observed some drinks being returned to the counter :(

The dessert I picked - German Apple Cheesecake - was absolutely beautiful, and yes, they remembered to take the plastic off before serving.

I was so pleasantly surprised, I actually forgot to take photos!

And just because I don't like a post without photos .............. here is a photo of a cappuccino made by yours truly!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Review: Becco on The Parade, The Parade, Norwood, SA

it is not very often we dine out, so when we do, I expect to be impressed with food quality and/or service - hopefully both!

We have eaten at this establishment many times since it was originally Mama Carmella's and Cafe Palazzo and was expecting the good standards to carry on with the new owners - dining at Becco on the Parade was a disappointing experience.

We met up with Mr Fixit's brother & wife for lunch at our usual haunt Cafe Palazzo, on The Parade at Norwood.  When we first walked in, we were pleasantly surprised to find it a bit quiet considering it was a Friday - we should have realised then something was amiss.

On selecting our table and perusing the menu (complete with ????? on some of the prices) we realised that our favourite restaurant had recently undergone a name change, and presumably a change of management.

We were all in the mood for pizza, so we ordered 4 pizzas, 3 soft drinks, and 1 glass of wine.  After about 10 minutes, the waitress came over to advise that they were out of Moscato, so I requested a Rose.  Another 4 minutes or so passed, where I could actually see our drinks on the counter, but no staff to bring them to us.  It was then I realised that there was only 3 staff on duty - 1 to take meal orders, 1 to make drinks and 1 to bring deliver food and drinks to the tables (and quite badly I might add).  I witnessed this obviously new waitress walk all around the cafe attempting to deliver an iced coffee whilst dribbling every where she went :(  When I did eventually get my drink, they also came over to offer a refund .......... as they had inadvertently charged Mr Fixit for a bottle and not a glass :(  Mr Fixit was quite relieved when they mentioned this, as he thought the charge was a little on the high side LOL

From where we were sitting, we could see the pizza maker madly making pizzas - they certainly seemed popular :) and the smells were wonderful, becoming almost painful as we waited for our meals.  In the end, we waited 30 minutes for our pizzas - the wait made even more frustrating when we could see our pizzas out of the oven and sitting on top ready for waiting staff to bring it to us :( (I timed it from the first moment I observed the pizza on top and it was a full 5 minutes before we got it - I have no idea how long it was out of the oven before I saw it)

Everyone agreed, the pizzas were very nice :)  but a bit dissatisfying for Mr Fixit as his was a bit cold :(


We ended our meal with desserts and coffees - the coffee was nice, but the dessert was a bit disappointing - I got the Snickers/Picnic Cheesecake - not very sweet, and not very cheesecakey :(  and I had to unwrap it myself!  they left the plastic protector on it when serving!


Surely this plastic protector is for transport and storage ............... shouldn't it be removed just before serving?

All in all, a bit of a disappointment really :(  looks like we will be on the hunt for another place to get a good pizza on The Parade.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Tryout Tuesday - Pizza

We have been experimenting with making our own pizzas - with not a lot of success ;-(

I tried something different last week and think we may be on a winner ;-)

Please forgive the REALLY BAD photo - I was eager to eat ;-)

Kitchen Helpers - there are benefits! ;-)

My SIL Sharon had a party recently, and we all helped out in the kitchen - as you do!

From Left to right:  my niece Lauren, my other SIL RosaLia and me (in red)

There are benefits to helping out in the kitchen .......... you get to taste test things first ;-)

CCC followers may notice I am serving up pizza wheels (see my blog HERE)

The surprise is however, I did not make them ...... my niece did!  It seems they are popular with all generations!

P.S. Looks like we have not hidden our Coolabah  ;-)  do you hide yours?  ;-) (just a little aussie humour)

Cook's Club Challenge 19 - my turn

Over on CCC19 it was my turn to pick the dishes for the challenge.

I chose a quick & easy theme - Savoury Nibbles - Pizza Wheels, Pasta Carbonara (no cream)

Choc Banana Muffins.

The Pizza Wheels won the vote - they are my favourites too!

I have enjoyed participating in these challenges and do intend to keep trying new things - time just gets away from me sometimes.

The forum is very friendly and there is no pressure to participate, you are made to feel most welcome when you do.

Check out the www.taste.com.au site it is a great visit!

Cook's Club Challenge 7

in Challenge_7 I tried all three recipes

The Butter Chicken has to be my all time favourite - I make it up just for myself, with some rice, and divide and freeze in single portions.

Unfortunately, even given the number of times I have made it, I usually forget to take a photo.

Next success was the cake - very nice. Hubby liked it a lot and took some to work the next day.

My next project was to make up a pizza from scratch - not bad. I did not make up the dough, but bought some premixed dough and used that. The pizzas were OK and a bit of fun to make up with friends, but I think I will leave the pizza making to the professionals LOL
All in all, I am enjoying my Cook's Club Challenges very much.
stay tuned for the next installment.