Friday, May 18, 2012

Stuff That Works: Cast Iron Pizza Pan

Lodge, the cadillac of cast iron cookware, has come out with a 14" cast iron pizza pan. I got my daughter-in-law one for her recent birthday and when she gave it the thumbs up, I decided to get one myself (from Amazon). It works great. My daughter-in-law made her vegan pizza dough from scratch—she was only eight-and-a-half months pregnant; what else does she have to do?—but I used a Tofurkey vegan pizza as a base (comes as veggie-vegan pizza, ready to heat and serve) and added a bunch more stuff to it (spinach, peppers, seitan, mushrooms, broccoli, tomato, Eden's pizza/pasta sauce, vegan parmesan, nutritional yeast—totally forgot onion slices. Obviously, I went a little too heavy on the pizza/pasta sauce that leaked out the side when heated.).

I put the iron pizza pan on top of the sandstone pizza stone I've used for years and it came out beautifully. I put a very thin coat of coconut oil on the surface of the pan and the pizza lifted right off. Because I had to scrub pretty hard to get the baked-on juices off, I re-seasoned the pan after using. (All Lodge iron cookware comes pre-seasoned now, but it never hurts to keep it well seasoned.)

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Camouflage

I'm not sure how my eye catches these little guys—this one was lazing happily in the cool of the morning on a Swiss chard stalk, just happy to be unseen. I have to say that they are very accommodating. This is not a crop from a telephoto shot. I shot this with a 100 mm macro lens—the first one from about four inches away, the second from about two. When I moved in closer his modeling moment was over and he disappeared into the green.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Me, Someday, I Hope

Great picture on the cover of the current Peloton magazine—somewhere in Europe (Italy, I assume, judging from the "For Sale" sign on the door?), a group of old-timers, Spandex and all, taking a break from logging the miles on their bikes (four of the five, anyway). Click the picture for a larger version.


Not Everyone Will Think This Is Funny

I laugh until I cry every time I watch this—an Australian newsman interviewing the Dalai Lama, using a variation of the Zen-Buddhist joke about a sandwich/pizza/hot dog: "Can you make me one with everything?" (If you don't laugh at that, you won't laugh at this video.)

The Dalai Lama is a good sport, but clearly has no clue what the interviewer is talking about.

This is on a compilation of TV newsroom gaffes, so you'll need to fast forward to 1' 13" to begin this segment. (I haven't watched all the remaining pieces—I'm only recommending this one.)