Why I Oughta...

In her white dress for her cousin's first communion in Park Ridge. Also a test post from the blogger android app.

Back in November, I shared a moment of enlightenment about various styles/types of pizza.  Specifically, after reading a book about pizza, I came across a list of terms defined including Sicilian and Grandma pizza styles.  The 2 descriptions can be found on my post:  Sicilian vs. Grandma Pizza . Up until this week, the discussion was completely academic because I hadn't been to a place that had them side-by-side.  That's no longer the case.  While in NYC this week, I stopped by a slice joint and came across both of them right next to each other.  That's the Sicilian on the right and the Grandma on the left.  With both, you pick your slice and they throw it into a faux-wood-burning oven that is really just an open gas burner to reheat your slice.  I really don't love this whole reheating process, but it seems it is the way New Yorkers roll. See how much thinner the Grandma pie is?  They're both cut into "squares" - really rectangles - and t...

On my walk back to my hotel yesterday, I spotted this Patsy's location on 23rd Street .  Knowing it is on the list of must-eat pizza places, I had to at least stop for a photo.  I had other plans for dinner (or so I thought), so I couldn't stop in and eat.  Besides, they don't sell slices, so it isn't portable.  I believe the East Harlem location is the original/best but as far as walk-bys, this one will do just fine for me.  They operate a coal-fired oven and from the sounds of it, turn out some incredible pies.  There's some dispute (I think) over who had the first pizza joint in New York - both Patsy's and Lombardi's claim to be the first. Patsy's claim of being first here . Lombardi's claim of being first here . 

We couldn't have had more fun at Wilder Park this past weekend both during and after the Easter Egg Hunt.  We spent more than an hour on the playground doing the swings and one of her favorites:  the slide with Daddy!  Nat snapped this photo with her phone and I've shared some of the photos I took of the day over on the Babe's blog.  If you know that address, you can go over there to see some shots of the Easter Egg Hunt. 

Just like last year , our little $5 Wal-Mart tree is the "little tree that could".  You can read the post about how and why we bought $5 trees from Wal-Mart here , but this *should* be the year that they begin to payoff for the landscape.  We're in the "Leap" year of the Sleep, Creep, Leap cycle and based on the blooms of this Cleveland Pear, we're on track.  The tree gets these really pretty pink bouquets of blooms on each of the tips which open up to little flowers shortly after. The difference in just one year of the maturity of the tree is pretty striking.  Last year , the blooms were tiny, sparse, and mostly close to the trunk.  Now, the tips are alive with blooms everywhere.  The tree is still pretty small by most folks standards, but I'm thrilled with how it is filling out and up.  Here's a (blurry!) shot to give some perspective on how it is faring. What happens in year four?  Does the Sleep, Creep, Leap cycle start over again?

Look what the Easter Bunny brought me:  Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson the owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco .  My brother-in-law has the caught the bread bug (more than I have) and has tried (at least) one of the recipes from this place and said it was spectacular.  Can't wait to wake the starter later this week and give some of these a shot. Of course, I couldn't help myself and I immediately thumbed to the index and looked up the "p's".  Found a few listings for pizza.  Interesting that he kind of mocks the pizza craze and that it seems his dough recipe for pizza skins is just his country bread recipe. Of course, I loved everything I got (more haul posts later), but I have to note: the most thoughtful gift the Easter Bunny gave me was a set of paint brushes and paints as well as a notebook.  We were just talking the other week about painting and how I enjoyed it back in my early 20's.  She was paying attention - as great friends do!

See that grey-ish liquid on the top of my starter?  This is what they call hooch .  I'd heard of it, but never had it on my culture before.  When I took my jars out of the fridge ( earlier this week ) after a long slumber, the hooch was thick.  I dumped it out, then got started on the feedings.  As I mentioned earlier this week, the culture snapped right back to life.