I'm Just Sitting on the Shelf

Around here, I like my pizza. Pizza is almost always composed of my three favorite things: cheese, bread, and garlic. When I was a kid, crazy hectic nights were sometimes (not that often in the grand scheme of things) accompanied by Papa John's. In college there was Pointer's. Pizza delivery until 2:00 AM - they knew it was me on the caller id. And probably suffered a profit loss after I moved.

Then came Trader Joe's Herb Pizza dough. I hate making dough, except for pies. You're never starving when you make a pie, but you are when it comes to dinner - and a quick one at that. Nothing saves me like my TJ pizza dough. (I've tried the whole wheat. Herb is the way to go.)

It takes 20 minutes to come to room temperature, but I microwave it for 10 seconds. It takes 6 minutes to bake. Toppings are endless.

Rather than write a recipe, let's just bask in the glory of the pizza dough while I conjure up a list of former toppings:

• Cheeses: Goat, Parm, Feta, Blue Cheese, Gorgonzola, Mozz, and Gouda.

• Vegetables: Broccoli, Green Beans, Edemame, Sweet Corn, Red Peppers, Roasted Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Onions, Shallots, Green Onions, Spinach

• ETC: Pesto, Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant spread, Hummus, Veggie Bacon, Tempeh, Meatless Meatballs

I love you, pizza.

Spring break came and went. I did not spend it how I had intended to (visiting family, old friends, cooking a lot, taking a lot of walks, etc). Instead, I was hacking my lungs out with bronchitis (thank you students) and dodging my roommate's entire family.

Something about 6 people, one bathroom, and the in-advancement of modern day plumbing to accommodate that many showers made life in my home a bit less enjoyable.

There was very little cooking. Evan made these amazing Greek Hand Pies with Greens, Mint, and Feta. I made some hummus. I failed to make these pavlovas. Twice. There was a huge strawberry sale in Charlotte, so I ate probably 4 qts over one week. Alex and I grilled romaine, and added goat cheese, almonds, and strawberries for a cook-out salad. We won't mention the bag of cheetos I polished off over the past week.

So in light of that, I have no recipe.

So sorry. Maybe next time?

To Be Surprised

I haven't posted in a while because, well, I just haven't made anything spectacular in a while. I've been pretty "blah" lately, remaking things I enjoyed before in the past. A few nights ago I got an itch to cook; however, that was stamped out when Evan suggested "taco night" because he really wanted "lettuce and cheese."

I don't know. And now I am on spring break, so I may stir up something over the next couple of days. Currently, I am the only person I know in Charlotte. Everyone else is on some exotic spring break destination. I have taken a vacation in solitude. My friend Miriam did this over winter break - no disruptions, no plans, nothing. I bought some new bedding today:

"Vintage Paisley"

This was an important accomplishment for spring break, since my dog ate my other bedding. Luckily it was just a tapestry and a mattress pad, nothing huge. I've been hacking a lot as well. I must have some kind of upper respitory thing, but I don't feel "sick." I have a stack of books to read (for fun!), and I'm going to visit the local art museum on Tuesday (since its freeeee on Tuesdays!), and Friday I am going hiking.

The only thing I can think to post is dessert from last weekend. Our friends Nate and Lisa came over for a dorky night of gaming. Evan went all out with a baked pasta dish, Nate and Lisa made a salad, and I provided dessert. I wanted something "springy," and the only thing I had on my mind was shortcake. I settled on a baked rhubarb recipe, and threw in my own shortcake. Nate really enjoyed it, I thought it was ok, and every one else said it was great.

Baked Rhubarb with Ricotta

• 6 stalks of rhubarb
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• orange zest
• fresh ricotta
  
• shortcakes

Preheat oven to 375. Clean and cut the rhubarb. Slice into 3-4 inch pieces. Place in a baking dish, and add the sugar. (I know this seems like a lot of sugar, but you need it!) Add 2-3 cups of water and a tbsp of orange zest. The rhubarb should be floating. Place the dish into the oven, and bake for roughly 45 minutes - 1 hour. When finished, remove the rhubarb stalks from the watery syrup in the pan - but DO NOT throw out the pan water! Put it in a sauce pan over low stove heat, and make a syrup! Let the rhubarb cool to room temperature. Place on top of shortcakes ( I make Jiffy Cake short cakes ), and add ricotta. Top with syrup.

I read somewhere that if you only had access to store brand ricotta, forget it. This is sound advice, store brand ricotta is pretty gross. Unfortunately, I no longer live in the land of Italian ancestors. Fresh ricotta is foreign to Charlotte, I believe. Next time I make this, I'm adding strawberries to the stove syrup - I think that would give it that sweet kick it needs.

One last thing - change in seasons means change in seasonal beers! I love spring and summer ales. They're light and flowery. I don't like my beers to be a liquid meal for me, so most winter ales are out. This year I'm excited to try all of these "eastern" beers I see everywhere. One that I thought was an 'eastern' beer ( but that's brewed in Oregon ) is Pyramid. They have an Apricot Weizen that is spring in a bottle. So, that is my dessert for tonight, and probably the next few nights.


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Sondre Lerche "To Be Suprised"