It's only fair to share...

1 FineÂ Cookie is out-of-control busy.

WithÂ Halloween orders,Â catering, cooking, and blogging, I contemplate running away and joining El Menudo.

That kid has some major cojones hitting on an older woman. Perhaps EL MenudoÂ started the whole cougar thing. By the way, someone ( who happens to be older than me!) said that I am practically a cougar. I’m 29. Does it really start that early? He ended up going home at 10:45. I stayed out and drank.

If I don’t run away to join Menudo, I will join DMXÂ and his Ruff Ryders:

WARNING!!! CONTAINS A COUPLE OF OFFENSIVE WORDS. WATCH ON MUTE IF THAT SORT OF THING UPSETS YOU. COME TO THINK OF IT, IF THAT SORT OF THING UPSETS YOU, YOU PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE AT MY SITE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

With DMXÂ in and out of jail (and hospitals) so much, the Ryders need a new leader.

That way I can ride a motorcycle on one wheel and shove my face in the camera. I would release the dogs on chains, though. The Ryders would just have to accept that.

Just to further doom myself, IÂ decided toÂ adopt a puppy. You can call me crazy.Â “Hey, I think I want to start a business AND get a puppy! That sounds like funnn.”Â MoreÂ about that another day (or in theÂ meantime,Â visit my Facebook fan page for photos).

So.. with all this business I had to come up with something quick. Behold, pizza in a jar. People are obsessed with things in jars. I can’t help but give the people what they want.

The cool thing about this, is you can make ahead and bake whenever. These would be cute for a party food table, or to do with the family. Kids would pull hair out of their heads to make/eat these things. Just grab a fork and go to town. No sharing required, which in my experience, is a kid’s top priority.

You can add any toppings you like. You can make it all from scratch or buy your sauce and dough from somewhere else.

The point is that it means less mess, it’s transportable, you can prep early and cook later, oh yeah… and it’s “cute.”

Here’s what you need for your pizza in a jar,

– pizza dough ( homemade or store-bought.. you can find a wonderful recipe for pizza dough on my post for Savory Pizza Cake, here. just follow the ingredients and instructions for the dough portion)

– tomato sauce ( there is a recipe for homemade tomato sauce, which can also be found in the Savory Pizza Cake post, here)

– mozzarella cheese

– mason jars (You can order a case here , or the smaller ones here might work better as they have less space to fill.)

-Â optional: basil

– optional: toppings, such as pepperoni or vegetablesÂ

Basically, all that you will be doing is layering your pizza ingredients into the jar. Here’s the thing, though: if you want more than one layer of pizza dough, you need to bake the layer that is not on top. See how the bottom layer is dough? I learned the hard way, that it comes out slightly soggy because it is not exposed to air.

You have two choices:

1. Only top off your ingredients with the dough, that way you can bake it all at once.

2. Add some dough to the bottom layer. Bake it at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until it is beginning to crisp and brown. Then, add your other topping layers and top off with more dough. Bake again.

Either way, you will bake at about 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. When you bake it, place the jars in a deep baking dish that is filledÂ with water.Â submerge the jars into the water (standing up) and place on baking rack to bake.

Each oven is NOT created equal. This means that although 375Â for 15-20 minutes worked for me, it may not work in your oven. Do a trial and bake one jar first, keeping you eye on it (Careful about opening the oven door too much, this changes the temp. Try to look through the glass window of the oven with the light on as much as possible!).

Serve immediately.

Once you know what works, bake the rest of the jars, for maybe a few minutes longer than the jar by itself (heat displacement).

Mine puffed up quite a bit. I filled it to a little below the neckÂ of the jar. If you want toÂ be able to screw the lid on , I suggest filling it up less.

mmmmmm…….

Now excuse me while pump the iron. Gotta prep.

stop. drop. shut em; down, open up shop….. That’s how Ruff Ryders roll.

****If you are considering posting up photos or ideas from this or any other posts I am truly happy that you are excited and find my recipes interesting enough to share with others. Please see copyright standards in the footer (bottom) AND follow them!!!!