San Francisco's youngest pizza maker

Introducing Alex, 7, a real up-and -coming talent in the cutthroat world of pizza making. Having an adult party where only one kid is invited presents a challenge of sorts. How to keep the kid occupied while the adults have their, well, adult and uninteresting to kids conversations. Our idea was to put Alex to work rolling out and then assembling the pizzas for our dinner. Well, this went over way better than we could have hoped. With minimal instruction, Alex took over his job with enthusiasm, patience, and an eye to aesthetics, the likes of which we hadn't ever seen in a kid his age. The results were unbelievably excellent. Look out all you expert pizza chefs, you've got some real competition looming on the horizon. Here are some more images of Alex in Action...actually, I can't figure out how to post these images below, they keep appearing above, so this post is a bit disorganized, in direct contrast to Alex's pizza-making style.

Vegetable Soup tonight

with some steak added. Well, if you love the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as much as I do, then your favorite line of the movie was Tulla's claim that "He is a Vegetarian" so, Auntie says... "OK, he can eat lamb, no problem",---how do you get out of that? Now, you would love my husband's recipe for Vegetable Soup, which he can't remember when I ask him (so he says) , so, I can't tell you. But, it's a recipe that starts with the honest intention of being completely vegetarian--incorporating carrots, celery, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, peas, corn, lima beans. Obviously, we got off-track when the (gently simmered, excess fat removed, and delicately seasoned) broth from the left-over steakbone was added to the soup...Vegetarian was sooo a moment ago, now, not so much.

The Best Chicken Ever!

Inspired by my dear friend Ann at Forest Street Kitchen, I not only took my own advice and photographed the finished deal, but I also decided to give it a go and write about it. Normally, I would brine chicken and grill it by spatchcocking it (another really fabulous word I took from a post at Forest Street Kitchen). This time, no brining as I was roasting it over a bed of vegetables. All the green, red, yellow, orange and green (green is good) you need to thrive. Another good cook-friend Anna K. taught me this recipe on a snowy night when a roasting chicken is possibly the most delicious smell in the world. And it's incredibly easy. My favorite part is tying the chicken legs together to hold in the lemon and thyme. So "Barefoot Contessa".

20 Brussel Sprouts-stems pared off, outer leaves discarded

3 Celery stalks-lightly peeled to remove tough outer threads, cut into chunky-1" pieces

6 Carrots-peeled and similarly cut like the celery-1"

12 tiny Red skinned potatoes- OR 3 large potatoes-cut into quarters

1 Fennel bulb-stem pared, green removed, cut into quarters and dissembled

1 Onion-peeled, quartered, dissembled

8 garlic cloves-husk removed, whole

Lightly coat with olive oil---very lightly--quick spray if you have it, toss and...

Roast 20 minutes at 450

Chicken is washed, patted dry.

Sprinkle cavity with Kosher salt and pepper.

Stuff with one lemon cut in half and sprig of thyme.

Tie legs together with string.

The "Julia Child" secret: rub butter all over the chicken skin and end by tucking a couple lumps under the skin over the breast.

Reduce oven temperature to 350.

Place chicken on top of the vegetable bed and roast for at least one hour and, of course, longer if the chicken is big. Better to roast it longer than not. Baste every 15 minutes with turkey baster as skin begins to brown. Ready when juices from the thigh-skin cut open, run clear.

Mmmmmmm!

Pizza Party

We had the recent good fortune of a visit from my father and his wife. It had been way too long since their last visit. As is natural, a lot of hope, excitement, expectation and planning on both sides were piled onto this visit. Some highlights were expected: fabulous seats for Wicked, my sister's recent engagement, meeting "the new dog"-see prior post--but the unexpected highlights turned out to be the most lasting and priceless. A little backstory...

My dad loves to cook. He's had a lot of experience with what works, what doesn't and knows that staying with the "tried and true signature" dishes is the way to go. I totally agree with this philosophy. So imagine the fun and hilarity that ensued when we decided to give each family member a ball of fresh pizza dough*, assorted pizza toppings and made it a "contest" for the best pizza.

My dad had never made home-made pizza before (or so he claimed). Of the six of us present, we ended up making five pizzas (the last dough-ball was saved for the pizza in the picture above) Four of the five pizzas were consumed that night. The fifth was lunch the next day-(and. it. was. fabulous.) Here are the entries--I regret now that I didn't take pictures. I know better now.

Pizza #1--mine--fresh mozzarella slices, fresh pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella

Pizza #2-- a combined effort from our spouses(mine and my dad's)-fresh pesto sauce, parmesan, light dusting of fine mozzarella

Pizza #3-- Dad's--fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, onion, prosciutto, olive, green pepper, tomato, rolled out with gusto and proudly served.

Pizza #4--sister's fiancé--fresh tomato sauce, fresh heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and olives (if I recall correctly).

Pizza #5--collective effort--all the leftover toppings were used up, but since we were all chock-full of pizza by then, we stuck the last one in the fridge for lunch the next day.

Of course, they were all great. My dad's pizza and the Pesto Pizza were really close in our opinion and it was really hard to decide which was the winner (although my dad felt his was a run-away, more so in that it was his first attempt, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of doubt, or at least beginner's luck).

Making home-made pizza is a great dinner concept--everyone loves pizza and you can tailor the toppings to each person's individual tastes. The secret is fresh pizza dough and a pizza stone which somewhat compensates for the lower temperatures of a conventional oven versus a real pizza oven. I put an asterisk next to fresh pizza dough so I would remember to tell you that, if you live in San Francisco, the best place to get fresh, authentic and cheap pizza dough is Lucca Ravioli on Valencia street. Three dollars for enough dough to make three pizzas. Of course I picked up the pizza sauce, mozzarella, pesto, prosciutto and parmesan there, too.

A simple salad and ice cream for dessert! A dinner party where everyone participates. That's a priceless memory! Have fun and Buon Appetito! Don't forget to have enough wine on hand, neither!

When Greyhounds collide...

...they snarl at each other. So we found out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Ocean Beach. Taking your dogs to the beach is a treat in so many ways. Obviously the best is the unbridled joy the dogs find running down the beach, loving every second of sight, sound and smell. Today was the most crowded the beach has been in more than twenty-six years of wonderful experience with sunny days and San Francisco's most popular beach. And there were more dogs of every size, type and temperament--each one intent on doing his or her favorite thing: chasing sticks or balls, running into the water, faithfully following his or her owner--or in the case of our dog Argie, (pictured above)--chasing other dogs. As a recent and beloved addition (see earlier post: The new dog) we're just discovering Argie's potential when he gets a good clip going. We've only been able to speculate at Argie's bloodline. Even to casual observers, it's clear that there's a lot of "greyhound" going on. There's obviously some "sight-hound", too. That's why Argie spotted him first.

The black breyhound was cantering toward us: the black dog's eyes locked on his owner, craning his neck as the owner was trying to keep up. Argie froze and fixated on the approaching dog. The moment the black greyhound spotted Argie, it was Game ON!

"I think we got ourselves a race-track here, Folks!" The two dogs gave themselves over to their genetic inheritance and raced each other in ever-tightening circles to the delight of some, the horror of others. The absolutely jaw-dropping demonstration of how fast Greyhounds can run and avoid obstacles was on display for everyone to see. As their last lap was coming to a close, they collided slightly with each other and both let out a ferocious snarl before trotting happily back to their owners with a genuine look of "did ya see me beat him there???"

Dogs show us our truest nature...just watch how easily they go with theirs.

Jesus...you're big!

One of the few truly indelible memories of my life will always be the "reveal" of this unexpected and breath-stealing moment. Our local friend got us inside this still-being-built church on a high hill in central Mazatlan. Our local friend led us into this domed room, the Crucifixion was hidden behind the blue curtain. She stepped up to the base, and yanked a rope. We were stunned into silence. It lasted a long time. I felt tiny. Our friend in the lower left-hand corner is a graphic representation of my own self-awareness at this unveiling. A beautiful, terrible, mysterious and redemptive "quality" fell over the room. The pews hadn't yet been built-the room was still cavernous, but what struck me was that Jesus was already here and HE WAS BIG. I think if I had come into this church as a little kid for the first time, I might have been scared shitless by this huge, overwhelming, bloody, tortured, dying man on a cross. One thing is for sure, I will never, ever forget it. Now, when we went to the lower level, there was a collection of the various Latin American Incarnations of the Blessed Virgin...stay tuned...

The Cat Overlord

This is the photo we took when we were taken on the tour of the house. This cat is still part of the house and kitchen, just hidden beneath a very thin coat of white paint. Not visible, but still there...for sure. Even, or I should say, because of Buster, our dog, we knew that the cat was still looking, looking, looking...