I'm an American in New Zealand pursuing a PhD in public health. My research will identify predictors of weight gain in a sample of mid-age New Zealand women to be targeted by an Internet-based weight gain prevention intervention.
Today, I was invited to a tea for two ladies leaving MInT. We were all asked to bring a plate and normally I would look forward to finding a new recipe to test, but without a proper kitchen and ingredients (sorry, New Zealand, things just aren't the same) I didn't want to come up with another failure (refer to the breakfast pizza incident for more information). So, I decided to stop at Poppa's Pizza to pick up something delicious (it always smells SO good when I walk by!).
I went for the vegetarian pizza because it had corn and pineapple on it. When have you ever seen that combo (plus peppers, mushrooms, olives, onion and tomato) on a pizza?! I was taken aback by the cost, however. $16.50 for something no bigger than 8" in diameter. For real. (You can see the A4 size paper on the wall in the lower right corner for reference: I bought the regular size.) So, family and friends, I'm not kidding when I tell you that New Zealand is expensive! The pizza did not disappoint and that's all that matters. If you're in Dunedin, go to Poppa's Pizza now!
No posts until today because I have been licking my wounds. I tried to impress the Department of Preventive & Social Medicine faculty, staff, and students by making breakfast pizza for morning tea on Monday. In my previous experience in the workplace, coworkers absolutely adored the person who brought in breakfast pizza to share; I think I've even heard of a few people getting promoted simply because they brought in such a treat. Yet, instead of accolades, requests for the recipe, and guarantees that the rest of my three years in the Department will be smooth sailing, a few people said it was a "nice" idea.
I actually called out my co-advisor when I noticed he hadn't tried some, but then I had to confess that my flatmate didn't say it was very good either.
I grabbed the overnight pizza dough recipe from Epicurious.com. Surely, with a 3.9/4 rating, it would be the best pizza crust they have ever tasted. Topping it with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and diced tomatoes, green peppers and onions could only tantalize their taste buds even more. To be honest, I was expecting to create something so delicious that it'd overwhelm people to the point of recreating that unforgettable scene Meg Ryan had in "When Harry Met Sally."
I'm pretty sure I wasn't the problem here. I tested out a very basic peanut butter blossom cookie recipe a few weeks ago and thought it tasted like crap. Seriously, how does one screw up a recipe with the most delicious ingredients known to man: peanut butter and chocolate?
I blame the ingredients. The peanut butter isn't the same as it is in the U.S. - there's not enough sugar. The flour I used was actually wholemeal flour and had a flaky consistency instead of a powdery consistency. Not good when the texture of your cookies or pizza dough is at stake.
In any event, I'd like to give myself an "A" for effort here based on the before picture:
And the after picture:
I am determined to redeem myself. How can the girl who once hosted Muffin Mondays at the Office for Aging be known in New Zealand as the one who bombs breakfast pizza?
Please, dear readers, take pity on me and send me your fool proof recipes. Preferably recipes that don't get warped into something-that-could-have-tasted-good-if-it-weren't-for-the-fact-that-I-have-to-covert-cooking- temperatures-and-measuring units-and-use-non-American-made-food-products.
