September through the lens

IMAGES & VIBES OF EARLY AUTUMN.

 a time for reading and reflection

 

 for enjoying the color and warmth

  for celebrations

 and a time for introducing a very special guest to S.G.T.C

THE GIF!

 

 should the gif be a permanent guest?  Or a one-time stand-in?

thoughts?

Taste of Summer

Ah that beautiful thing they call summer.  Sky high temps, radios playing, gatherings, so much water, and summer school...?

Well ignoring the last part, it's been a pretty good run of the middle months so far!  But friends, that is not why I have gathered you here today.  The fact of the matter is: I have a cooking secret that just might change the way you look at a certain homemade delectable forever...

BE PREPARED.

..but first...behold what glorious free aquatic festivities are found in my current city of residence!

Well that was fun wasn't it?  The cherry to that most beautiful day you might ask...well prepare yourselves lovers of Neapolitan pizza everywhere, because this just might change your life.

 The answer my friends: A CAST IRON SKILLET!
 
I don't think these photos can possibly do it justice, but this method produces gorgeously bubbly and perfectly charred crust, not to mention excellently melty cheese!

I don't exactly remember how this all came about, but I was thinking about how one might make a nice oven fired pizza without the brick oven, and suddenly it hit me:
THE BROILER.
Pour ol' broiler is so forgotten and overlooked when it comes to homemade pizza (at least in the circles I run in) but it should be glorified and celebrated!  Anyway...a quick internet scavenge later I had discovered that this method had been done before and was relatively simple.  It is now with great excitement that I present to you the directions for a fabulous (and cheap!) pizza experience.
1.) Prepare you ingredients

Get a nice high-protein dough or whatever floats your boat (I'm not exactly sure what I did...as usual I didn't follow the recipe) and get your toppings 100% prepped because this baby is time sensitive!
2.) During the prep:
-  set your broiler to high with the rack moved up
- get a cast iron skillet on a heat element cranked up pretty darn hot
3.) Now that your pan is smokin' and your oven is ready the fun begins...
- stretch out your dough to the size that will fit your pan
- quickly dust the skillet with four/cornmeal/whatever
- throw the dough on the fiery skillet and artfully place your sauce/toppings on an quickly as humanly possible.
This is going to give your bottom crust a nice toast or char (depending on the time/temp of the skillet) and start things going in the right direction.

4.) After about a minute check your dough with a spatula to see if the desired amount of char has been reached.  If satisfied move onto the next step, if not leave on, but proceed with caution!
5.) Stick the whole darn thing (skillet and all) into the oven on the topmost rack with the broiler on high.  Let that crust and cheese bubble like a happy cauldron until everything looks good and ready!

6.) EAT IT AND ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUR NOT-SO-LABORIOUS-LABOR!

 

(holy yum batman.)

For more information that you could possibly want see link:

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/09/how-to-make-great-neapolitan-pizza-at-home.html#

It is also good to note that the author of said link claims that reversing the order (broiling, then stove-topping works better for puffier crust.  I did not use this method and was still pretty happy with my crust, but also my crust was sort of weird to begin with as it was rather recipe-less so I'd say try both!  The more pizzas the merrier right?

 

I would love to hear if anyone tries this method - after all, summer is pretty much ultimate pizza season.

Happy pie-making! (don't let it get in your eye though...)

Adventures in Alcohol (pt.1)

It all began with…

21 years:

That's me with a representation of my one-true-love aka my bicycle.

You may know this, you may not - but on your birthday every year (unless you have some sort of magical twice-a-year event) many establishments will give you free goodies!  How lovely is that?  So naturally, I took it upon myself that day to bask in the free glories as much as possible.  I call it deserved mooching.

That's a free bagel (with added extra accoutrements by me) and mocha cappuccino.

And here's the product of one of my presents: a milk frother!  I am in love with frothed milk, I have no idea why.  I would probably drink warm, frothed milk on the daily if I really wanted.

And now the moment you have all been waiting for with undoubtably baited breath…

(that's baited alright)

THE SIP!

THE verdict:

Pear cider actually tastes surprisingly good!  Slightly fermented-fizz on top of a nice light and fruity base with minimal perceivable alcohol to ruin the experience.  (It actually was quite high; 

6-point-something which is a lot by my standards!)

THE friends:

THE me (at the BOGO free froyo birthday special)

Being the big 2 - 1 is looking to be a pretty good age after all.  Although despite many people's best attempts, I still sort of hate alcohol, and really don't appreciate bars.  As a college student, this grants me many looks of confusion and concern (as illustrated by the gentleman below).

Still, that can't get me down!  A birthday puts you on the top of the world! (or at least the top of a very slippery and treacherous metal sculpture…)

Join me in the next post for:

Adventures in Alcohol part 2: The Unexpected Bartender!