Here's a simple way to make a couple of pizzas -- and become the hero of your household on a snow day or winter evening.

• Get this: Two packages of yeast and mix it with 2 cups luke warm water. Get five cups of all-purpose flour (or, really, any kind of flour you have in the cupboard), some salt, some olive oil. This is enough for two thin-crust pizzas like the ones you see served in the trattorias of Italy.
• Get a big bowl: Mix the yeasty water with the flour slowly, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon at first, then your hands. Add about a teaspoon and a half of salt, and about two tablespoons of olive oil. Have fun mixing the dough; it will feel warm and soon rubbery.
• Dust a large cutting board or clean kitchen counter with some flour, then work the dough there again until it feels smooth.
• Return it to the big bowl and cover it with a damp cloth or towel. Leave it in a warm place where the dog can't get into it.
• Come back in two hours with some tomato sauce and mozzarrella, or steamed, drained broccoli, or lighty sauteed garlic and onion, black olives, some pepperoni, whatever you want for a topping.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Get two pizza pans or cookie sheets, whatever is available.
• Oil them up a little.
• Cut the risen dough in half with a sharp knife. Work one half onto the pan slowly and carefully, so that it stretches but doesn't tear. This takes a little patience. The dough may seem resistant to stretching at first, but your fingers will do the magic.
• Once the dough is spread nicely across the entire pan, add your toppings -- don't overdo it, this is supposed to be a thin-crust pizza and you don't want your sauce and cheese to drown it, nor do you want your toppings to tear through it.
• This pizza cooks quickly -- maybe 10 minutes tops -- so don't stray from the kitchen. If you want a thicker crust pizza, that's up to you, and you need to adjust the cooking time.
• Repeat the whole process with the remaining hunk of the dough.
  You'll make everyone in your house smile on a winter's evening.