I saw this set up and thought it was clever. The city put concrete barricades into the back of the utility trucks for traction last week when it was so slippery.
Extra weight for traction
marble chess aquarium decoration
I was at a thrift store last weekend, and found this lousy marble chess set for $3.83. Square cut pieces, lots of chips and broken off bits, but it was all there.
I thought it would be perfect in one of my fish tanks.
The office at night.
I wandered over to the office tonight, in the snow and cold. I took a photo. What do you think?
Pantry Pizza
Tonight, I just felt in the mood for Pizza. It’s raining out, my wife has the Trucklet, and I just felt like pizza.
I call tonight’s creation Pantry Pizza, well, because, I got it out of the pantry. Kinda an odd place to keep a pizza I know, but, it is what it is.
Lot’s of good stuff in this pizza! Whole wheat flour, olives, mushrooms, and… could it be… Secret Ingredient #3? Yes! Corned Beef! I coulda made BBQ Chicken Pantry Pizza, or Pepporoni Pantry Pizza, or Beef Summer Sausage Pantry Pizza or Genoa Salami Pantry Pizza or even Dried Beef Pantry Pizza (not doing Tuna Fish Pantry Pizza, sorry), but tonight I went with the Corned Beef. A most excellent choice!
I even had bell peppers on this pizza! I put some dehydrated bell peppers in a bowl of warm water to re-hydrate. I was quite impressed with them after I fried them up a little bit.
I sauteed most of the onions, putting some raw ones right in the sauce for a bit of variety. I love garlic, so it got browned a bit in my cast iron pan. (actually, it’s the lid to my dutch oven, but don’t tell it that, you would break it’s little cast iron heart!)
Lots of good stuff in the sauce. It turned out very good, if a bit acidic. I added more sugar then this to it, but it ended up a tad sweet but acidic. Any suggestions on de-acidifying tomatoes from a can?
Hmm… Corned Beef! Mushrooms and bell peppers too!!!
The pizza crust looks yummy, doesn’t it? The extra got tossed in the freezer for another day. The dough is half “white wheat” flour and half unbleached all purpose flour. I think I am a big fan of this white-wheat flour.
The toppings look all nice and tastey, don’t they?
Don’t let my wife tell you I make a mess in the kitchen, it is simply true! My cheese exploded all over the counter and floor. I think this was my penance for using something from the fridge and not the pantry. There aren’t many pantry-stable cheeses I would want to eat. I do wish I had a good root cellar, or cheese aging cave, but that’s for a different reality – one where I am not making pantry pizza, so it’s kinda defeating the purpose anyhow.
That crust looks pretty good after being blind baked, doesn’t it? I don’t have a batch of blind baking beans (they ended up in a neck hot-pad), so it’s kinda bubbly in the middle. I have a pizza stone I just leave in the oven all the time, so this got baked off on the stone.
That’s some darn good looking sauce! The chunks make it a bit difficult to swirl around evenly, but the taste more then makes up for it!
Full toppings, ready for some cheese!
And the final product! 1 perfect pantry pizza! 2 out of 2 people said it’s the best pizza they had all day. One person even said it’s good pizza even though they don’t like pizza.
Anybody want the leftovers? It’s more then I can eat!
New Pen Zebra F-301 Compact
I read about pens that are shorter then normal when closed. I wanted one. I found one at Walmart on Saterday – well, a 2 pack.
You can see how it’s a little shorter then normal when closed (on the bottom in the photo) so it will fit in my pocket better.
Here, you can see how the pen cap is very long, and the pen goes deep into it.
I took the belt clip off, and wrapped the cap barrel with a length of duct tape. i love carrying duct tape with me every where I go. Handy stuff!
The tape doesn’t interfere with writing.