Pizza Dough

Dissolve yest in half-cup of the warm water. Add three cups of the flour, as well as the salt and baking powder, and one more half-cup of the water. Mix for a short while (until it starts getting gooey). Add remaining flour and water. Mix with spoon. Add additional water and/or flour as needed to get a nice mixture, not too sticky and not too lumpy. This will probably take several adjustments. Knead by hand. Beat the hell out of it. Dough should be soft and pliable, and cling slighly to your skin but not grab and stick. Coat inside of large bowl with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Roll the dough around in the bowl to coat it, then place in bowl and cover. Keep the bowl in a warm place. Allow to rise for about 90 minutes. Dough should double in size, if not more. You may notice that this is a rather large amount of dough. It can be divided in half for two largish thin-crust pizzas, or used to make a bad-ass thick crust pizza (my preference). Notes: Add seasonings to dough when mixing it. I like to add some oregano, some garlic powder, and other italian seasonings. Even some grated parmasagn cheese. This makes the crust much tastier, and often seems to keep the yeast happy. Allow dough to rise for 20 to 30 minutes after shaping it in pan or on the pizza stone. This makes a big difference. Get a small bag of corn meal. Sprinkle and spread some on the pizza stone before putting the stone on. Adds some nice kick to the crust, helps it cook better, and makes it easier to get off. :)