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.)

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.

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.)