PIZZA, THAT IS
We Participate
neighbors yuk it up
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| WALLPAPER: CAST IRON PIZZA |
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.. With a "DAY" for every imaginable thing and occasion our national mercantile mentality invades everything, both sacred and profane.
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| NEVER SAY DIE |
.. We are waiting for the national fly fishing day. Or perhaps, the national dry fly day. Or even, "I WET MY WADERS DAY."
.. There are a few of us here in the neighborhood that enjoy the many ways to enjoy pizza and, we happily participate in today: we started yesterday.
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| MICROWAVE PIZZA IN A CUP |
.. We have a pizza pan. We haven't used it in years. We have a couple of fly rods made by Leonard. Haven't used them in decades.
.. We had pizza in Hawaii in the 50's. We think that Spam and Pineapple are a novel combination for the Hawaiians to enjoy. We preferred the mango sunday.
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| HAVE A SLICE |
.. Pizza can be made in a cup - in the microwave in five minutes - we're still perfecting that one. Toppings range from classical to idiosyncratic. We usually stick with the classic - sometimes even an anchovy or two - spinach pairs well with mushrooms, basil and a few hot pepper flakes.
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| PIZZA FIXIN'S |
.. Despite the street wisdom that pizza was invented in America, it can be traced to neolithic times. Flat breads throughout Europe were augmented with garlic and other herbs and were common with many regional varieties.
.. The pizza that we know is definitely Italian in origin. With the adoption of the American tomato the first pizzas, (that we would recognize,) were probably innovated in NAPLES. The word is older than the pie. 10th century manuscripts from southern Italy often refer to augmented flat breads.
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| THE OVEN AT 500° |
.. Today the pizza pie is one of the world's most popular foods. From China to Australia and from Chicago to Johannesburg there are many local varieties that go by the name.
.. Recent pizza foodies are busy with inventing toppings to match their favorite national or ethnic foods: Mexican Pizza, Canadian Pizza, Icelandic Pizza, Tierra del Fuegan Pizza, Peruvian Pizza, Mississippi Pizza, New Orleans Pizza, etc.
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| VERY DEEP DISH PIZZA SLICE |
.. Chicago prides itself in a supposedly unique deep dish pizza. In actuality the 'deep dish' pizza is a regional variety from Southern Italy and Sicily. The Sicilian form is essentially focaccia bread topped with tomato sauce, olives, and some sort of sausage. Cheese is frequently added. It is called "
sfincione."
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| CAST IRON PEPPERONI & SODAS |
.. The nice thing about pizza is that it can accommodate many palates and eating habits. Fold it, roll it, knife and fork it, eat it cold, eat it tomorrow, freeze it, etc., it's a great way to indulge.
.. We've got the oven heating up. It will hold a little bit higher than 500
°F. That's good enough for us amateur pizza folk. A proper pizza oven, (electric, gas, wood fired or not,) should be about 700° F. That temperature does the crust justice and briefly gets the cheese to a molten state.
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| IN CELEBRATION OF THE TOMATO |
.. Our standard pizza is a slightly thick crust that resembles a thin focaccia with crisp outside topped with too much Mozzarella, a bit of Asiago, some Parmigiano Reggiano and thick sliced pepperoni.
.. Happy pizza day. Time to indulge.
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| TIME TO TRY THE WINTER REJECTS |
.. Some wispy white flakes are falling out of the sky. This is a foretaste of good things to come. Our snow pack and snow water are finally acceptable. BUT, there is a little bit of winter left. Predictions at this point are fraught with danger and we remain hopeful that the Spring and Summer will be filled with good rivers, good fish and good friends.
.. For an excellent and, pretty sagacious prediction of the coming fishing conditions. Check out the blog post from PARKS' FLY SHOP, [
LINK.]
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| WALLPAPER: MUSHROOM, PEPPERONI, MOZZARELLA, ASIAGO |
