Apple, Onion and Bacon Pizza (and Fruit Sodas)

When I told my husband that I was making Apple and Onion Pizza for dinner, he said, "Why can't you just make normal pizza?"  Then I told him there would be bacon and that helped.

But to his surprise and my complete satisfaction, this pizza rocked.  It put plain ol' pepperoni to shame.  It was family movie night so along with our pizza, I wanted something special to go along with it. Usually, that would have been a coke but we've both been doing so well at avoiding them and I didn't want to break the streak, so I made my own fizz (recipe below).

We slid the coffee table out of the way, loaded up our brand new rug with big pillows and watched Despicable Me with homemade pizza and fruit "sodas."  It was one of those nights that you just don't care to be anywhere else. :)

Apple, Onion and Bacon Pizza

Begin preparing pizza dough at least 1 hour before, to allow time for dough to rise.

3-5 slices of thick bacon (We get Beeler's brand from our co-op grocery and if you can find it, you should get it!)

1 large onion, chopped

2-3 gala apples, chopped

olive oil

block of white sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Fry bacon slices in a hot skillet and crumble into a bowl. 

Cook onion and apples in the remaining fat until onions are translucent and apples are just soft.

Set aside toppings and flatten dough onto pizza pan.

*Preheat oven to highest possible temperature*

Brush generously with olive oil and spread apple/onion mixture onto dough.

Sprinkle bacon evenly on top and then top with shredded mozarella.

Stick in oven for about 10 minutes until dough is golden and toppings are just seared. (Is seared the right word? You know what  I mean.)

Homemade Fruit "Sodas"

A few handfuls of your favorite frozen fruits (We did berries but you could get creative with mangoes or peaches)

2-3 tablespoons of sugar

1 bottle of sparkling water

Few cups of cold, filtered water

Put your frozen fruits into a sauce pan with a couple tablespoons of sugar and let simmer, stirring occasionally until a thick syrup forms from the juices.  I used my spoon to press the fruit until they surrendered all their goodness.

After it has cooled a bit, drain the syrup-y juice into a pitcher and pour in the sparkling water and filtered water.  You'll be the judge of the ratio, depends on how fizzy you want your drink to be!

Funnel into bottles or pour into individual glasses.

Just a note, those little glass bottles of Honest Tea are only $1.39 at our grocery store, so Annika and I occasionally get one to congratulate ourselves on a long, productive shopping trip.  The pomegranate tea is super good and the bottles are perfect to save.  I've filled them with tea or lemonade and then chilled them the night before a road-trip.  So much better than gas station drinks... only challenge is actually remembering to grab them on the way out. ;)