Friday, October 29, 2010

woah

So T-Rex totally reads my blog. I don't think there's any other way to put it. I emailed the group at Machine of Death to say, 'hey, I want the Kindle version, I bought the book now send me the Kindle version!'.

And Ryan, T-Rex's manager, actually replied and two days later what is T-Rex talking about? Pasta sauce. What was I talking about two days ago? Pizza sauce. So yeah. Obviously I'm a muse by proxy. See, Ryan saw me talkin' about The Sauce and it got in his brain and then he mentioned it to T and, well, done & done. Wow...I'm a muse. Holy shit! I'm T-Rex's muse. I can probably die happy now. Like, right now.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

In the kitchen

Welcome back to Cooking With The Lights Off, the only show to freely admit that following the recipe isn't really that important and measuring instruments are a waste of money. Today we'll be attempting a Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Thinking about visiting the city for A Very Mayer Christmas got my mouth salivating and I didn't want to shell out $65 for the real thing, but how can I let my mouth water for two months, my appetite unsatiated? Conundrum.

Solution: Gather up a thing of flour, some warm water, a little oil (EVOO in this case), approximately some yeast, and a bit of salt. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, add the oil & salt, and start stirring in the flour until it is no longer sticky (TS hint: keep flour on your hands to keep dough from sticking!) Once you've kneaded in enough flour to keep the dough from stealing your wedding ring, cover it with a nostalgic, and in no way sexist, 50's era towel and let rise until it has roughly doubled in size (~45 minutes). While the dough rises you can work on the next part...

The Sauce. Unfortunately we're not talking about the good, top-shelf stuff, we're talking about marinara. Gather up your ingredients, we'll be using tomatoes, onions, tomato sauce, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, sugar, black pepper, and garlic powder. You may elect to use different spices and seasonings as long as you have the first three items you'll probably be alright. Probably. Anyway, stir it all together in a sauce pan over some heat, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer until you think it's done. (TS hint: 2 medium/smallish tomatoes is probably 1/2 a tomato too much and a little extra sugar wouldn't hurt the congealing process.)

Oh, hey, our dough looks like it's done rising! Pat it down and knead it a few times because playing with our food is the fun part! Grab a smallish handful and toss it back in the bowl - we'll use that as the top - the rest needs to be flattened out to whatever thickness you'd like your crust to be. Grab your lightly oiled cast iron pan and gently press the crust in. (TS hint: Moving a large, flat piece of dough can be a PAIN, roll it once around the rolling pin, and unroll it over the pan to reduce headaches and expletives.)

Now it's time for the fillings. Today we'll be stuffing our pie with Italian sausage, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and an obscene amount of cheese. I'll likely receive a fine from the FCC for showing all that cheese. I probably just earned my blog an 'adult content' tag. Sorry younger readers, you'll have to grow up a little before you can handle this site. So yeah. Throw all those fillings in then grab that piece of dough we left out, flatten it out and place it on top. Now tuck the dough that was hanging over the edge into the edge of the pizza, poke some holes in the top crust to release steam (or don't), slather on some sauce and extra cheese then bake it in the oven until the cheese on top is nice and melty and brown. Let it cool for as long as you can (I lasted about 25 seconds) and enjoy.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Post - oh my!

This is going to be a two-parter with the important and time-sensitive stuff in the first part. And the more wistful, dreamy, written-like-three-weeks-ago stuff afterwards.

First of all, there is a book


that you should purchase


but not until October 26th

Sorry, I don't really have a picture for what October 26th looks like. Plus, you guys! I turned October 26th into a link to Amazon where you can purchase the book. I know, I'm a swell guy, you don't owe me anything. Unless you don't buy the book. Then you owe me an explanation. The authors are trying to make it the best-selling book for one day (guess which one!) You can read more from the authors about this little experiment here and here, too! You can also read the comic that inspired it all here.

So that's the first part. Pretty straight forward, but let's recap anyway.
1.) There is a book
2.) People all over the world should buy this book
3.) You are one of those people
4.) You should not buy this book until October 26th
5.) You should still buy this book even if you can't afford it until after October 26th
6.) You should set a reminder on the wall of your cave to buy this book on October 26th

Hey, we made it through the first part! This second part is going to be old hat for most of you apathetic, hipster, news junkies, and yet, I post...

I've finally found something, besides more stuff, to spend my money on this holiday season, and of course, it's probably too expensive. Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity is set for October 30th in Washington D.C..
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rally to Restore Sanity Announcement
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRally to Restore Sanity
Unfortunately plane tickets and hotel would run somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 for one person (and ~$750 for two) and I don't have that kind of coin just sitting around nor do I plan on spending that much TOTAL on christmas gifts. So here I sit, refreshing hotwire, kayak, and expedia every 5 minutes. Santa, if you find yourself reading this post before the last Saturday in October, you know what to do. I have been a VERY good boy for the past several years.

Maybe I'll dress like I went to the rally as my halloween costume this year - sorry, authentic Pamplona running with the bulls outfit, you've been replaced.