Pizza! The Trial Run…

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I learned something new tonight. Did you know a pizza can catch fire? 😮

The curing process for the new wood-fired oven was pretty tedious. Especially for someone like Victor who’s ready to jump in and play with his new toy. Keeping the temperature low is no fun. Lots of monitoring the temp, adjusting to make sure it doesn’t get too hot too fast. Luckily, he had company with the pups. And several neighbors stopped by to check on the progress and keep him company as well.

FINALLY! Tonight he got to take it for a test spin, cranking it up to 900 or so degrees.

Tomorrow night, to celebrate our upcoming trip to Italy and break in the wood-fired oven, we’re planning to fire it up for our weekly potluck. With tonight’s test run, we learned a few things we’ll do differently next time around. But we suspect that it will take a few attempts to get it right. The pizza was half and half: pesto and a homemade red sauce, with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and mozzarella on all. It got a little toasty and even caught fire for a second! Exciting! But was pretty tasty nonetheless.

However, the pizza dough from Toscano & Sons was fabulous! Puffed up and was tender, crunchy and chewy as it should be. Let’s see if we can improve upon it for tomorrow night!

Global Growers’ Dinner

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Out in the Decatur Cemetery. Really.  Amazingly beautiful and lively! Fun for a good cause, with Peter & Colleen Morich and Dayle Hosack! Victor was of course at the Alliance for the preview of Bull Durham: the Musical.

In the auction, Dayle and I tried to buy the Hog Heaven item with the stipulation that we’d be able to spare the pig’s life. Got outbid, but at least they had to pay more, and it helped the cause – theirs and ours!

As you can see from the photos, there was great food (and wine!), in addition to the great company. The outstanding menu providers, from a vegetarian perspective, were:

  • Course 1 – No. 246: Summer melon salad with house curd ricotta salata, local herbs – fresh, light!
    (Twain‘s pickled okra gets an honorable mention, even though it was on the plate with chicken…)
  • Course 2 – Chai Pani: Sookhi bhindi (okra) masala with green tomato chutney, holy basil and coconut – sublime!
    (Coconut – that love it or hate it ingredient – in this dish made me love fresh, raw coconut)
  • Course 4 – Steinbeck’s: Miso smoked eggplant, poached bantam eggs, herb salad – delish!
    And Brick Store Pub: Warm sweet potato greens salad, roasted butternut squash, muscadine vinaigrette – yum!
    (Props to the chefs of both for providing our veg versions senza pork so we didn’t have to pick around it)
  • Course 5: Leon’s Full Service: Mushroom spaetzle, fortsonia cheese, onions and herbs – OMG!!!!!
  • Dessert – Cakes & Ale: Profiteroles filled with muscadine jelly, cashew cream and toasted sesame – elegant finish!

Thanks to the organizers: Robin Chanin, Judy Turner, and former mayor Bill Floyd. A great evening!

Cena Al Di Fuori: Ricordi d’Italia!!!

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Cena da casa Preston!

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Per celebrare la prima di primavera, abbiamo cena con gli nostri amici Anne e Clay. Clay cucina il cibo favuloso:

  • Tortellini in brodo (fate in casa!!!)
    • Con un po d’olio tartufo bianco, e pecorino romano!
  • Zucchine con aglio e olio
  • Chard in olio

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E vino italiano, certamente!

Molta buona! Che una meraviglioso strada comincia la primavera!