And thats that..

Bill was high... had an "accident" and killed the 8 year old son of some chick I knew.. the chick that got the same kid her son a tattoo and caused a huge rift that almost became a war..

He treed it... she was belted in so was he.. the kid wasn't and became a projectile...

Hes been charged with manslaughter...fleeing a fatality accident... substance abuse and driving while impaired and some other stuff guanteed to make him die in prison... theres no one to rat on, nothing to trade.. hes all about being done..

To bad they didnt put a Glock in his mouth and dump a full mag.. not that the brooder deserves any better

And then this one time at band camp....

Jimmy got 10 years, Rob got 80.. Bill sold them to keep his weak ass out of prison... he got sold by his GF to keep out of jail....she went to lock up anyway because she didn't stay clean...everyone else is in jail... Controlled buys mostly and trafficing.. some receving beefs and mr tuffy got beat down with a baseball bat....

I dropped one of my gigs.... they did a back ground check on me and I passed.... a problem came up when a friend raised a question so I did a background check on them...

They didn't pass...... and that was that..

I hang out with some bad boys, but I know what the deal is...theres no pretentions or bullshit about criminals, drug addicts and whores..its who they are and how they live..but they are true to their natures...which one deals with...

a wolf is a wolf ....a dog is a dog.. they are who they are.. and I fit in, but live a straight life, except when Im cracking heads....and even then I keep legal...

This other bunch.. in the words of Brick Top...had all the qualitys of a dog save loyalty..and were slimy corporate bastards...

So I shift gears... I had suspicions....So I kept on with classes.. meetings, symposiums and all the little things I have to do...

I can make a nonprofit corporation just as easily as I can work for one....I can write the same, grants provide the same services .... keep the grant administration % and even pay salary for being a consultant....theres a lot of faith based preparedness money to be had and I know the language...

I try to see things from as many directions as possible... and be ready for whatever..I already have the forms from the corporation commission and I know stuff... I've been involved a time or two...

My foot is stiff as a carp but getting better...I still want that cane... silver head...all pimped out.. you know...like that.

My foot hurts

10 frigging days.... but I can finially hobble...a little..

I may need a cane.. but one which is stylish, maybe has a sword or flask built in...a silver head..secret compartments and stuff...

something I can wave an gesture with as I rave incoherently.. and heavy enough to cave in the hood of a Buick..

Im looking forward to it...

She has the notion I should read to her

Which is a good idea as long as no Sylvia Plathe is involved..

Whos your kitty...... I kinda like kittens, they kinda like me.. it was always a treat to have them climb up and sleep under my beard.. or stick their head in my mouth, cause they're fuzzy weridos...they have no idea we're a different species...or 400 times bigger...they demand to be fed..petted.. face rubbed.. smelled.. washed.

look at that face

we know who the future bad ass is..

The green and the red...

The color of the muck is now a nice olive green shot with red ..its made the journey from clear and foamy to clear.... to white and now at last green and red...

The red is why you avoid asprin..... the blood gets thinned and one hemmorages... then you end up dead from a lung bleed...

So I'd as soon avoid it.....and just not take the asprin......

Pandemic influenza 101......

I feel like road kill......not in a sense I'd enjoy some..... but in the "Oh God a truck ran over me" senario.. eyes running, nose running, coughing, sneezing.... sucking air as I cough till I get colic like an infant... gurgling...

We won't talk about dinner...or even think about it...

When shes not around

Its like the whole day is.........lacking

http://money.msn.com/shopping-deals/article.aspx?post=56c49c8f-8509-40ba-b035-26c2e5093b9b&gt1=33009

A study in South Korea suggests about 1 in 38 children have traits of autism, higher than a previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 100.

The estimate, which translates into 2.64 percent of children, is far higher than the estimated 1 percent rate seen in studies in the United States and Europe.

GMO import ban was lifted by Korea in 2008.....

SEOUL.....Tue Jul 1, 2008 3:19am EDT


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea may import more than twice as much genetically modified corn for food use as expected this year, a government source said on Tuesday, as soaring prices force companies to accelerate the switch to cheaper varieties...
 
Interesting no?

Monsanto... makers of Round-Up as well as the completely safe and non mutagenic agent orange...spray genetically altered food crops with round up to kill everything but their product.. it doesnt take a lot of brain power to put two and two together... its enviromental poisioning thats the cause of autisim.....Rather than spontainous and normal genetic mutation.....

Heart attacks went way up once hydrogenated oils became the general rule...

See also diabetes...and cancers of various types linked to chemical sweetners and modified corn sweetners... from GMO corn yet again....  add to that soy products and a pattern develops..

Califiorina is now producing GMO chick peas.... so Lo and behold they now have an 8 fold increase in autisim...

"Consider the prevalence of food allergies among children with autism. The fact that the incidence of autism has exploded in conjunction with the introduction of GMOs into the American diet may be a red flag that something is amiss"

Ya think?

Remember the tobacco lobby? Safe asbestos for schools... safe radiation...full body X rays for broken toes?



South Korea, the world's third-largest corn buyer, imported 330,000 tonnes of GMO corn for food use for the first time in May and June, and this year's total may rise to 1.2 million tonnes, or about 60 percent of the total demand from the food sector, a Korea Food and Drug Administration source told Reuters

erk

Im sick... its been on its way via sinus, fever, pain, pains....congestion... however my lungs are clear and lungs getting clogged is mostly what kills ya....

So... its all good..

I have a low tolerance for fevers, but too bad.. its not like its topping 142 degrees... which is about when a pork roast is done....

Ahh the G/F....

I just kinda want to crawl into bed and hide....

My skin hurts.....but that aside... I think about her fingers being cool and smooth as she draws them slowly and lightly tracing across my face ..

Bet that would make the pain stop....

One eye waters almost costantly and I have this sick dog thing going... replete with bad dreams and convulsions..(caused by fever) ...the worst thing is..Im not my usual cheerful and brilliant self...and I tend to flop over an go to sleep with no warning.. which fine with me since Im not driving....I just dont want her feeling slighted and neglected


hahahahaha.. except its 90 degrees and the hair on my arms stands up for no apparent reason...... then I shiver..

Awwww

I was deleted from news vine, its seems all you have to do to arouse leftist ire is be rational....

A news story pointed out that gay men had double the cancer rate of normal men... I suggested we needed a telethon to save them from the Darwinian consequences of their own actions...

Aids, colostomys, life spans 20 years shorter than the norm.... all tell the story.. and the story is... un-natural acts, have natural consequences... step off of a cliff and gravity passes judgement on you.... warning someone of those consequences isnt a hate crime....

The issue is natural law and cause effect.. which shows political correctness to be exactly the sham real people say it is...

Further, I think the health care system needs to exclude behaviour caused disease from treatment.... be it aids, drug and alcohol related liver destruction, junk food and big mack induced heart attacks, diet induced diabetes of smoking...

Further let McDonalds pay for their customers by pass surgerys and Diet coke can pay for their customers cancer treatments...or... people can just quit eating it.....
Geneticly altered soy beans and the use of round up/ agent orange....is another issue.... Korea has an autisim  rate of one in three...

Its not polio vaccine that caused it.....and its not an accident... 

Adventures in bone marrow..

What do you do with a surplus bone marrow?

I decided to saute mushrooms in it for breakfast..... which was a moment whos time has come...

I think I had a foodgasam...

Let the marrow melt and come to temp while you slice enough mushrooms to cover the skillet without crowding... when the temp is right....let the saute begin..

I turn the mushrooms individually... because its the best way to get them all the same color..

At the end when the fungi are brown, the seasoning begins... a couple of cranks on the pepper mill.. a fat pinch of thyme...and salt to taste at the last second...

I have a cookie tin thats used as a bread box... the tin is round.. the bread is round... so it makes sense.. the bread got tossed on the burner and breakfast was served.. no cumin for a change.. it wouldnt have hurt though...

That being said..

I have a new culinary secret weapon..  nobody uses marrow bones for much except for dog gnaw thingies.. which is stupid because marrow goes back a long way...cave men cracked mastodon and buffalo bones for it... the medieval types had long spoons and picks to get it...

it went like this...

I had a plan involving chicken stick food with spicy yogurt... flat bread, cumin etc...  which worked out.... I was looking for commercial application...

There was some un-fore-seen twists..... mostly involving the bone marrow I decided to slather on the skewered chicken as it cooked....

Eeehaaaaaaa.... theres still some more tweaking to do... the tatziki should be tighter so its not so juicy.... which can be fixed by hanging and salting the grated cucumber so the liquid is drawn out...

Service is on aluminized gyro papers....waxed paper.. or goggles, rubber gloves, an apron and a shower cap...

Oink.....

Mexican butchers love me.... Im so not a white guy when it comes to food... I found some NZ mutton for to make stick food which was unusual enough......... and then I discovered  pickled snout.. which amused them no end...they're telling me what it is and Im reading the jar which is in Spanish/Mexican... yo tendes mendes.... besides a snout isn't easily confused with anything else....  I plan on mutton/flat bread and tatziki in the near future... followed by 5 gallons of meneudo....

Ohohohohoh.... they also had beef face...or at least cheeks, which makes the best chili.. they also had bull nuts... which I don't eat because its more a novelty for poseurs than normal food...

I love Mexican markets... hahahnaha they have such good stuff cheap... and I don't  have a bunch of vegan twats protesting my dinner...

They were out of goat...... bastards..

El Patron...

The guy that looks out for me has been called up....my war with dispatch is a problem since I can't get in and update my available info.... But I can do "local" and I just got the call to have my little day bag ready..

Ha.,. Like I don't always have one... I'm sort of irked... out of the area its a commitment of 14-21 days.. local is hours or at most a couple of days...

Still....

Just because....

I need tatziki.... but still... sticks and curry were involved... I cooked the onions an garlic from the marinade...and used that instead of my beloved tatziki.. chicken on a stick...onions an what not  on the side......

Wrap it ... then slide the stick out... which just sounds dirty for some reason..

Add whatever.. cumin, curry spices, black and or red pepper, onions...

Then eat it..... which sounds dirty too......but its prolly just me cause I get like that.....The bread is just right..... and  the whole kabab thing would prolly make me money cause its better than anything I can buy.. the bread cost a quarter..one chicken breast made 3 skewers.. which was about a dollar for the three...soooo... the money is right.. if I sell for $3.50 each...even $2.50 depending on the market.. ahhh $3.50 each two for $5.00... with tatziki...onions and all that..

The red curry worked for me.... ha..

And the end result..

The line was crossed from Chapati to Naan only its Persian/Iranian not Indian... the differences are.....olive oil not butter...wild yeast/sourdough not a yogurt culture and no baking powder.. which is just lazy and nasty...and shows a lack of confidence in the leavening process..

Iranian naan has a few dead ringer recipes...which doesn't shock me at all..  most cultures do...

It took 10 minutes..there was more but I ate it... its all soft and chewey... dressed with oil, salt and cumin...

I had to pay nearly $5 for bread that was not as good or fresh....Im still annoyed....and not doing it again.... even a day old my bread is a week fresher than anyone elses...and not cardboardy...

Tameing the wild yeast....

First you catch the yeast... you make a flour, water and honey slurry... then take it for a walk out doors... sit in the shade, let it breathe.... and seduce the yeast thats floating around everywhere to come and grace your slurry with its presence..... 

Mine took about a week to get lively...adjusting the ratios till I got it at 50/50.... and twice what I need on a given day.... its all gurgley... one cup of the starter to one cup of flower... is just right...
since it works out to 1-1/2 cups four to 1 cup water...the magical 3 to one ratio... I use half the glass...... then fill it up again with half water an half flour slurry and it mutates into sourdough...

The reason I use a glass is so I can see bubbles come up the sides which tells me all is well on the yeast ranch... the critters are healthy an happy..... I use half of it each day an recharge the yeast food....I could dry or freeze it for later.... but this is easier... you can see the dough ball working in the background under the glass thanks to my little microbial slaves....

Sourdough....chapati

I keep doing flat bread.. I can make the sexy Italian an French types...but its the chapatti and pita that fit my life best... its versatile... I roll it out as thin as a match stick or thinner...but it raises on the burner..I stick it in the pizza oven and it goes mad because the heat is so even.. it gets this pretty pita pocket, swells up all at once an can't make it through the door.... I'm mentally stuck on open flame to make my bread... be it a gas burner or coals... BBQ or campfire... this is how the chapati starts.....rolled out matchstick rather than paper thin.... then it goes direct on the grate over a lit burner...

You can see how it starts puffing here and there...I move it around so it cooks evenly..the turn it over when its at a point I like it....

The idea is to keep it flexable...and a little char is ok with me...so I'm kind of lax about turning it...

Its just like I like it...

The grate is from my kettle grill......I use the thing everywhere...

food the other f word...

Today I opted for chicken liver pate... which I happen to like but only make every few years or so because of refrigeration issues... travel and logistics..

But today was the day.. I took 1.25 lbs of chicken livers an onion, a few garlic cloves.. random spices, a pair of anchovies cooked it all together.... braised the livers.. softened the onions till they were translucent... skinned an de-fatted the livers... then ran it all through a food processor..with a shot of vodka to punish the livers and a little olive oil to smoothe it out......an cause I didnt have chicken stock..or port

There other ways to do it.... you can add bacon, labani, cream cheese, port....mushrooms... pork fat... but. I figure salt, pepper, onion and garlic and an anchovie is pretty good for a start... I put parsley an red pepper on top... later a couple of hard boiled eggs are going to be chopped for a garnish..... the jar is a screw top... which I like cause they fit in in my carry on bag...and don't break.....they work fine for hummis, olive spread, pate and things of that nature...... tahini I carry in the jar from the store... an pack around it...

bits an pieces

You peel bell/sweet peppers the same way you do chilis.. char and blister them over a fire, then put em in a paper bag so the skin an flesh seprates.......then assuming you've finished peeling them........ yes then you toss about 8 bell peppers in 1/3 cup olive oil along with 3Tbsp red wine or "basalmic" vinegar.. 1/2 cup chopped scallions a crushed clove of garlic..salt an fresh ground black pepper to taste... a little rosemary..and its all good under the hood..add some to the hummis an make it pink... have it by its self...put it on kefta.. its sort of a condiment..but not...I can't find a rule saying you cant make a sanwich out of it...I like it out of the jar by its self..

Hummis is as hummis do....

I'm lazy...so I use canned garbanzos..I look at the labels, no salt.. just garbanzos AKA chickpeas and water..I was pretty irate after havin to pay $4+ for hummis...

You can get the dried beans an cook them yourself then instead of 75 cents or $1 you pay 10 cents... but thats on you...I use cans for speed... weavels can't get in the can...an Im lazy...

I usually pass the garbanzos through a food processor... and leave a little texture..but this time I used a blender an made it smooth like peanut butter....

anyway... you drain the garbanzos and empty the contents into blender with a couple of cloves of garlic..and enough olive oil or tahini so it doesnt clog up... you also add lemon and salt to taste.

The proportions are for a 1 lb can.. or 3/4 cups dried chick peas.. the recommended ratios are..

3/4 lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini..... yeah well..sesame oil...olive oil all have the same function....I do like tahini.. but its bitter in the back of the throat... you can get away with peanut butter... but its anarchy...

1/3 to 1/2 cup water.... if I use anything its the bean juice...but I like thick hummis..

The recipe says a clove of garlic...Ummm.... 3 is more on point, cause I like the burn from raw garlic...

Salt to taste... "they" say 1/2 teaspoon.. whatever... half of that will be just as good...

Fresh ground black pepper to taste.. I use red flake.. but...its always your world so you can have it however you want... you can peel an add sweet peppers,  chop black olives into it..green olives, clamata olives...herbs... anything you want...

Cumin on top of it works for me.....no tahini.. just olive oil.. but it changes all the time.

The days effort, the soon or whenever bread..... and a photo of what the hummis looks like, I recycled whats her faces container.... I have others that are better...but some days things are how they are..I have no idea how the photo got all tweaked.. but you can see the dough ball and how the hummis peaks, so its all good..

Container 101...at home I use whatever is close at hand be it the vile tupperware or ziplock storage junk....I'll reuse yogurt containers... cause Im cheap...and well, cheap... thrifty an frugal etc... but I want good quality if Im traveling...so I use screw tops... or did till I discovered the glass wire tops... which I intended to use for shaving soap, but happen to be uber sexy for holding my lunch...the thick glass keeps the temp even...I can see what the real is inside and.... screw tops leak no matter how good they are..

That being said...I made olive spread while I was getting busy with the food processor.... olives, anchovies, garlic..capers.. parmasean...

I got some chicken livers to make pate later.. just because... anyway.. lunch can be fun.. boiled or pickled eggs, flat bread, hummis,olive spread, pate, labani, pickled an marinated mushrooms... roasted peppers....cold cumber & yogurt soup...fruit..ya know?

If I want to piss people off ....I take a burner an make chapatis and stick food on the spot...

I love civiche...and leche de tigre...greek salads.. boccatini and grape tomatoes.. but thats all another day.. I need more glass containers...an bigger ones..

Sourdough updated...

The wild yeast capture operation was a success..... bread was made and eaten... more starter sits on the fridge.... I just wanted to make sure I have my skills where I want them.. I can also start a fire with flint an steel....rock bangin too if I have to.. 

But I digress.... I mostly make chapatti... with no yeast or other leavening soooo.. its an exercise in the arcane....in the end it was pretty classic sour dough...and a nice crusty thing... but chapatti work for me...

I ate half of the new sourdough before I decided to take a photo....

Then it started taking on porn overtones...

Ha...together at last...

It all comes together..... the shiny oven, the copper plate/s and the horribly expensive but  not exactly fresh store bought bread.... which reminds me the clerk was a snotty vegan asshole with out enough male hormones to develop facial hair... he was big, but soft..no defined features or muscle mass...he lacked a chin, an adams apple or any male attributes... I tried being polite...but it sorta went south... don't like your J-O-B? Q-U-I-T... faggot.

I was the first customer of the day so he had no stress issue other than being told to "get fucked asshole"..after he got snotty...which I provided as therapy and trust me he deserved it..  had I had a little more time....I'd have had a chat with his boss and fixed his issue.... but whatever.. he has enough problems being him.... its gotta sting to feel like your life should be better but  your stuck being an apron wearing douche....  sort of like Starbuck uber superior "barrista" or clerks/"intellectuals" in any mega chain book store.... hahahahah... so young, so bitter, so mediocre and less than average.... so not original...sooo...zero impact...

Twat.... other than that... I scanned the plaza after class, it was full...easyups were all over... vendors here an there..business was being done, money made..I need to come back soooooon
the town was a beauty... serious it was just what I needed.. cept for the over priced bread..

While the bread rises

The sourdough starter is active.. and the dough is rising..

I was in the mountians yesterday... so I stuck it in the fridge and now it has to wake up an puffify the pizza base....

While I was in la pueblo de tourista e yuppie tools... I went to the store and bought lunch.. flat bread, hummis, yogurt, fruit the usual..... I make some expensive food cheap... the bread was $4 and not 5 minutes ago fresh.....the hummis between $4 and $6 it was good, but..I know what it costs to make....I dont even want to talk about tapenade or any of that.. $10..

The thing is, it all costs less than $1 for me to make....an Im kinda thrifty/frugal ....I wont do that again..

OOOoohhhoooo

The famous copper plates.. they're 12" across and pretty heavy, Im sort of likeing them as plates or chargers...so I wanna keep a couple... not that I forget they have destiny..

Till then they need polishing...

Projects...cooking and doing hand-work are when everything comes together..  its my zen and when everything else goes away...

It was a long day I went from desert floor to over 6,000 feet...

Trees

Long day...

I got those copper plates from Bill  finially, so the still project is about to start up again.... there were 7 pieces.. which means I get to try my hand at making a few copper pans as well... so Im excited..

I also got my deployment number and ID...

Long story.... but its a good thing involving multiple background checks which I passed, but I kinda knew I would.. I take pains to color inside the lines and know where I am legally no matter whats going on with my hooligan pals who are all locked up now except Bill...

Im to pretty for jail....

Class tomorrow, its over 3 hours away..but whatever its not like I don't do it on a regular basis..

I have sourdough starter.... and bread in the works.. so now I keep feeding the starter like a virtual pet that Im going to eat...

I think I need to do a market or two and generate some cash aside from everything else.. and the soap thing is looking good... its just about getting ingredients by the 55 gallon drums....

Ha.... plotting and scheming.. over and above what I tell....

Keep it simple....

I think its a desert thing....

 

"By bread and salt we are united".

Moroccan Proverb

 

Bread signifies all God given provisions,
the abundance in simplicity, the Giver and gift of life in its continuous flow,
first things in the day, essential priorities.

"A traveler on the mystic path
is content with a loaf of bread;
By its light he may be turned
towards the Light of God."

 

Rumi

 

Aish, "life," is an ancient Arabic term for bread;

Accordingly, it is treated with reverence throughout the Muslim world.
Before kneading dough, the baker blesses it with "Bismillah," and again before putting it in the oven. Mistreatment of bread is a sign of disrespect toward the Source of all sustenance.
If a piece of bread is found on the ground, little time will pass before someone picks it up, kisses it, says "Bismillah," and sets it in a safe, clean place.

In most homes bread is served at every meal, and is used to scoop up food; dunk into soup, stew or tea; or roll up with cheese, olives or herbs...

Theres a few reasons I make my own bread.....

Deja Vu all over Again...

Ahh dinner..tomato an eggplant pomodoro...mushrooms... chopped olives three different cheeses and a couple of anchovies which are the hairy eyebrow looking things.. rosemary and thyme were involved... along with crushed red pepper...and that seemed to do it...

It went like this.....

Glycerine soap base...check
Glycerine... check
Vitimin E oil....check
Myrrh essential oil.... check....
Bentonite clay... check

Sexy and expensive fossil soap thingie/jar which I have a fetish for... check

I like the ammonites and little shells of proto clams and a scallop or  two and what not

Phaze two... when you add bentonite the color of the soap isn't so pretty, its more..bleh

Up close its kinda... greyish, bluey and I dunno...... the fact I made it on the fly and slopped it around didnt help..but my intent wasn't presentation it was function..and as far as function went it was pretty cool

Seriously the lather was as thick as whipping cream... dead white and lasted forever... the glycerine was just the thing to smoothify my leathery exterior.. Im thinking aloe next, balsam and some other add on luxurys, not that myrrh wasn't a nice touch... I don't want to add colorants to the soap.. so next go its kaolin to see it that gives a better look... theres a red clay that looks nice but I need to find a primary source or I can make soap without clay.. its only in the mix to make it slippery...so a control sample without clay is prolly a good idea... how much slip does it give vs the fugly factor being the question.. I got a good shave out of it regardless..an now Im all soft an pretty...

I'll think about colorants a little, titanium dioxide is what gets used to make soap white its also an ingredient in sunscreen..soooo who knows..I reserve the right to a Darwinan evaluation

Sharp and shiny...... its just like that...

The random collection.. guess who is going to barber school to learn how to give a razor shave, which is becoming a big deal again for manly men....

I haven't forgotten about rebuilding razors or pimping them out with ivory or pearl handles...

 This one needs some cosmetic love polishing and a honeing..its a Geneva Cutlery razor and a little collectable, which means zero to me cause I like to use them... but its a little different..and Im thinking it might be a nice graduation thing... polish it.. hone it, give it some strop time...

Im workin out some shave oil and soap formulas so she can be all exclusive and mysterious..

Some things evolve...

Ok, now its on a pan and the reason for that is its a soft yeast dough that cant support its-self and will ooze through the grate... and you'll notice its a yeast dough.. not the usual unleavened chappati....  it helps the cheese brown too...

And there it is..... the pizza is olive, mushroom and cheese...which works for me, the dough is whole wheat and leavened.. plus I went for low moisture mozzarella instead of really fresh made the same day stuff I like.....No sense being a snob.....I was thinking it would keep the crust nice.... which it did..

I'm thinking it (the Pizza) should cool on a rack like other breads, so the steam can migrate..

Its 4 mushrooms..I tablespoon, chopped olives and cheese to cover.. you can go wild if you want and add anything.....actually you should...

As the bronco bucks and the clown dives into the barrel

So we switch projects back and forth...

Shes busy trying my recipes and fixing em for the kids.. which seems to be working out all around.. the food is good, not pricey and enough out of the ordinary its exciting.... but not in the Anderew Zimmer lets eat the monkey schlong kind of different..

Lets just do real food... not a plateful of BDSM animal wang freak show....

Bread, Pizza, Sourdough, Bruschetta, Spicy Yogurt/Tadziki, Hummis and stick food.... Civiche, Labani, and now Mozzarella to enhance pizza thats already way over the top.

Shes seen how much my favo stuff costs..its uber expensive to buy, but cheap it is to make... like my beloved olive, anchovy, garlic stuff..... that doesn't include recipes I snag from all over cyber space to show her how varied recipes for the same foods are...

And how its ok to tweak hell out of things......

That being said...... I'm on soap detail till she catches up...food recipes I exude like a honey bee exudes honey...

But soap.....ahhhh a challenge..  glycerine or coconut oil based what physical propertys do I want, what scents... which oils and clays... since it is for shaving soap... I have some distinct ideas about foam density.... how long it lasts and how much slip factor can I get for a straight razor... do we need aloe, almond oil, lavender, myrrh (which I actually like) lemon..... classic manly stuff that doesnt smell like a dead hooker in a vat of chemicals...

Olive oil soap is good..but the lather is lacking....

Anyway the division of labor has put that in my lap.... or on my throat rather.. since I use a razor..I need to be the judge....

Shes taking a class to learn how to do razor shaves.....so I need to see she has a custom and very exclusive shave soap...plus a sexy razor or two..

I've been shaving with straight glycerine...then I added some to my regular shave soap.. and it was pretty sexy...I found out how to cure drag with bentonite....so I have some things to find out..

Its science baby.... not metrosexual stuff, seriously I take better care of a saddle than I do my face...(let the metaphore go.. I mean it literally) .... most guys do...

So Im on it...

Don't ask...

3 oz Olive Oil (Refined 'A' Grade)
2 oz Castor Oil (1st Press)
1 oz Jojoba Oil, Clear (Organic)
1 oz Kukui Nut Oil (Organic)
1 oz Rosehip Oil (Virgin)
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) Frankincense & Myrrh Natural Fragrance Oil

I had a food boner....

Instructions are in the blog before this one........ the only thing I'd do different would be to leave off the salami and goat cheese... the rest of goat cheese has its destiny in a salad or spread on bread....

And it doesnt have to be round.. exact or any particular way.. you can even have it on a ugly plate you dougnt for 10 cents at a yard sale... which reminds me, I still need a pizza peel...or wooden serving boards...

Like this...

One... pre-measure your flour and water..

Two......add a tablespoon of honey or sugar to to the water....
Three... add the water to 1/4 cup of the flour and make a thin slurry thats baby bottle warm...

Four.....sprinkle yeast on top of the flour water honey stuff.........

Then you let the slurry sit till it bubbles and foams so you have proof the yeast is alive and doing its job....  i'll take 10- 30 minutes...

Five...Then you add the proofed yeast slurry to the flour.... along with a Tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.. and stir it all together till the bowl comes clean...

Then you turn it out on to your work surface..... knead it smooth.. form into a ball then put the ball in a bowl, cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it double..

Except in this case because the air is so dry here..... I oiled the ball and covered it with a clear bowl so I could keep an eye on it..the dough ball gets oiled in any case because it helps it not stick and raise freely....

The dough doubles... then you get busy, in this case I made four rounds... I didn't roll it out, I stretched it...because I like the little bubbles...which is what makes bread lite..

Then the next bit..the dough is shaped and docked to keep it from balloning up like a pita, I used my fingers mostly...I did poke around with wooden fork.... but fingers were better.. you also want the edges thicker than the center to hold stuff in place....

And the pizza building begins... I don't use red sauce a lot..there are to many other options like garum which is about 2000 years of old school

And now some more, I was experimenting today, Italian sausage, goat cheese, dry salami, green olives..roasted peppers..

And a little more... the salami was sweating which has gotten it eliminated from future pizzas for the same reason the pepperoni was...I don't like greasy pizza.. actually I do like greasy pizza, its just not the best choice one can make.. but I don't eat enough for it to make a big difference if I indulge every year or so... Italian sausage is fine if one wants a meat topping.. and it can be pre cooked then drained..

Anyway.. it gets a little fancier..

Then you cover the whole thing up with mozzarella to hide the salami evidence... I like fresh rather than pre-shredded.. but its pretty much personal preference.. the cheese is like a lid and keeps everything succulent as its cooked..

And we're so near the end..I'm doing the rest on the oven rack... green olives with pimento, dried basil, rosemary, thyme

I gave it 5 minutes then took it out because I was food horny..

Then it gets whacked up into 8 pieces

Do yours how you like it.....an let the haters, hate....

They don't have pizza..and you can't make it out of tofu

Ok then....

Dough..

Two cups  whole wheat.. or white.. flour.... you can use half white/half wheat...you can grind your own flour with a quern stone.. which I'd actually do because Ima freak about medieval cooking and baking.. but I digress....

Two cups flour....

One cup water...

One Tbsp olive oil... I just use the cap from the bottle... so who knows..

About a half teaspoon of salt... and thats it..

Its a dryish dough.. if you want it more elastic use more NEXT time....

Mix wet and dry ingredients in a bowl till it all pulls together... then knead the resulting mass on a work surface to develop the gluten and it all smooths out..

Let it rest, covered with a damp towel....or in a plastic bag... so the dough relaxes a bit..

Sneak up on the dough.... divide it into golf ball size wads, shape into balls... then roll out into thin 7" circles.. the thinner the better I think.... but you do it like you want it.... you don't have to make them perfectly round.. everything is "Ish" they can be ovals.. starfish.. rectangles.. your going to eat them...not make engine gaskets

Its like a chapati...or thinnish pita.. I mostly pre bake them...  in a HOT oven, under the broiler, or in a skillet (NO oil....NONE)..... even directly on a gas burner... hot is what you want so it puffs from steam inside and doesnt become card board.. I've used a BBQ grate.. done it over live coals.. short of the bread catching fire.... anything works.. and even if it catches fire.... its still good...

I don't use red sauce on pizza much....  mostly I like chopped olive, garlic and anchovie spread..

On top of that goes whatever sliced mushrooms you have.. cooked and drained sausage (if you like it)... whatever melty cheese you like..or combination there of....I/E pepper jack/mozzarella/parmasean ...Feta doesn't melt.... goat cheese is sexy, but Im obsessing about goat cheese this week...

On top of the cheese....pepperoni if you like it.... and not the lard stick type... the good stuff..

I like green olives on top... marinated red peppers for color....and hot red pepper flakes...for heat..

After that.... under the broiler it goes.. cheese gets melted, maybe sort of browned a little....

Pizza gets eaten and the cycle is repeated till someone passes out... the dried rosemary, red pepper flakes and basil gets put on after the cheese is melted.... so they dont burn or burst into flame..

I make a yeast and a sour dough too... but Im really liking this type... the Fluffy one grated parmasean into her dough..which works too.. its your world..your dinner..there are no rules..

And the side effect...

I dont buy pizza.....reason being..... I notice the boxes tend to be soaked with grease on the bottom.. and its seepage from the pizza, not something the box sat on.... and I can't think of an acceptable reason for it to be like that... other than cheap ingredients and bad practices..

I never cared much for commercial pizza dough either. it was always a lot like calling wonder bread, "bread" and Im not goin for it..

So.. I make my own breads and pizza doughs..... sour dough, whole wheat...herbs in the dough.. cheese an whatever.... its all about using the real stuff... not "tastes like" not "cheaper" not "easier" or "we save .35 cents per unit for 500,000 units a week and corporate gets a cashgasam"....

So.... its about whole wheat...which actually has a flavor... real cheese.. non greasy sausage and pepperoni..  I like dried herbs... cause the flavors are more concentrated..... but a nice fresh basil is kinda sexy... so is fresh mozzarella... kalmata olives, goat cheese and morrel mushrooms once in a while...

Why pay for something that you can make better that you buy?

The bottom of my pizzas didn't have one spot..no supporating grease anywhere.. even cold.. it was still clean.. none of that crisco pie thing when it sat for a while......

Point of the diatribe being.... its worth the trouble to do... on every level.. and pizza doesnt have to be a heart attack in a box..

I like it for kids.. they engage with the whole pizza thing... and like setting up their own toppings, doing designs and and experimenting.. its time together and pretty much fun... a non-fucked up interaction with an adult or two...by which I mean the kids...not me...

Kinda fun with a girlfriend too, its all impressive cooking together and you can ply her with red wine....till she thinks your cute..and maybe do-able at some point...

Feel the peel....

This is what Im ranting about, turns out they have just what I want at Target with a short handle....

Make that Bed Bath and Beyond cause their photography is better, their peels are cheaper

not to mention having a subtil get your pizza freak on vibe

Oh so you wanna be bad and eat pizza?   It looks like what one needs to binge purge and smack that ass all in one stop...

I think I need a leather apron, shoulder length black rubber exam gloves and steam punk goggles to go with this.. You gotta beg for that extra cheese.. and you know you want it..