Baking a pizza on a hot summer day doesn't sound like a great deal of fun...but lest you forget, I live in Seattle where we never have hot summer days! At least, not this week! So warming up the kitchen early in the day is one of the ways I choose to keep warm...it's a balmy 60 degrees out this morning! Pizza dough is easy to make - especially when you can use your standing mixer to do all the work. I love my Kitchen-aide mixer - don't know what I'd do without it...my mom gave it to me for Christmas several years ago and I use it practically every day...thanks mom...it's a life-saver now that my shoulder is out of whack! 
Kneading the dough by hand is another option - it'll take you about 10 minutes to get it "just right" and by then you'll have broken out into a sweat - so be careful not to let it drip into the dough!
This recipe makes enough dough for two pizza's...I made a Margherita Pizza...using olive oil as a base I added fresh tomatoes, basil, and cheese with a nice finishing drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper...I love salt on a pizza! On the second pizza I used a red sauce as the base and added mushrooms, cheese and onions ...it was great!
You decide what toppings you want - I'm just going to give you the best pizza dough recipe out there!
Homemade Pizza Dough - Adapted From Baking Illustrated
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting work surface and hands
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray for oiling the bowl
Corn meal for dusting stone/peel
In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, measure the warm water (110 degrees) and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let it stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room-temperature water, sugar and oil and stir to combine. Add salt and stir. Slowly add in half of the flour, then remove the paddle and insert the dough hook attachment and with the mixer running on low speed, add in the remaining flour and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes on medium speed. Remove dough from the mixer and shape into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (I turn my oven on to 200 degrees, and when it reaches that temperature I turn it off and then put the dough in to rise.)
Press the dough to deflate it. Divide and shape the punched-down dough into two balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30. Working with one piece of dough at a time, and keeping the other covered, shape the dough into a large circle, then transfer to a pizza peel baking sheet that has been lightly dusted with cornmeal. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, add your sauce and toppings as desired. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until top is bubbly and crust is lightly browned. (If you are using a pizza stone, heat it in the oven for at least 30 minutes before transferring the crust to the stone.)
"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance." Jane Austen
