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mermaidcamp

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Fermented Full Moon Fun

February 13, 2017 — 1 Comment

Luke’s Pizza
Luke’s Pizza
towel toss
Luke’s Pizza
Hop Shop menu

The Metal Arts Village has a party every month with open artists’ galleries, live music and food trucks. This month was special because there as a DJ’d yoga class in the parking lot, and some acrobats on silk fabric hanging from a big tripod. The crowd was happy and the entertainment was fantastic.  The fuel that kept the fun going was as ancient as human partying itself–fermentation. Beer is a fermented beverage, and pizza dough is a fermented grain product as well.  Brewers and bread makers often combine to use the leavening from a beer in a bread. This kind of artisanal food production is rampant in Tucson, which is a happy thing for us.  I am not the biggest beer drinker, and try to keep my pizza eating to a minimum, but do indulge when the time and the quality is right.  Full Moon Party at metal Arts Village is just such an occasion.

I drank a glass of excellent stout aged in a bourbon barrel as a starter.  Bob had a more bitter stout, which he stuck with for the day. I switched to a cappuccino stout from Lagunitas Brewery that made me happy.  We sat with a couple drinking a red pilsner that was yummy also. This is the kind of place where people taste each other’s beer, no fear of cooties.  Our table companions were interesting and cool with two dogs under the table.  We enjoyed chatting with them.  We all noticed Luke of the pizza truck trowing a towel in the air, pizza style.  From a distance is certainly looks like dough.  I went to investigate the situation and enjoyed learning about Luke’s dough and fermentation process.

He uses a sourdough proofing to create an amazing crisp thin crust.  His wood fired oven takes 4 hours to heat up, but once it is hot the pizza cooks quickly. We ordered the pesto pizza from the menu and added jalapeño and garlic. This rates as one of the pest pizzas we have ever eaten.  We will now become groupies of Luke and follow him around town when he parks at breweries and events.  I can highly recommend this pizza with Lagunitas cappuccino stout..it is dreamy on the tastebuds.  It would be good with any beer….or without beer.

The flying acrobats were fabulous, but the night was still young.  One of my favorite artists in Tucson had set up a table top sell little stuff from her garage, and I was able to buy a piece of her art for almost no money. I now own an original signed Lynne Rae Lowe metal sculpture, that was derived with an amazing story.  It is a Shabbis angel. She is highly symbolic, and now has a place of honor in front of a lamp I made myself.  This is huge, and unexpected.  I bought her on Shabbat, right before sunset on Saturday, then I walked home.  OY!!!! Magic Moon!

 

No Kid Hungry Dine Out

September 12, 2014 — 7 Comments

No Kid Hungry

No Kid Hungry

This week you can dine lavishly so that others may simply dine. We have a problem feeding hungry children in the United States. This should be an embarrassment to the wealthy.  If you feel that you can help this worthy cause by just taking your restaurant business to a participating local partner this week, please do. Just enter the zip code where you live and you will discover which places are involved in your area.  When you mention the program your partner restaurant will make a donation to No Kid Hungry based on the amount you spend.   In our area the participating businesses are mostly bagels, Denny’s, and pizza.  One of the pizza places making donations is near our home and we have never eaten their famous coal fired pizza.

Grimaldi’s Coal Fired Brick Oven will be whipping out some weekend party food for our house.  They are a chain, but a relatively small one.  Here is a glimpse of the Grimaldi’s in Denver:

I look forward to trying the crispy crust, but even more I will keep them in mind because they are supporting this very worthy cause.  I like to spend my money where my mouth is…in this case many mouths will benefit.  Join me this week to help end childhood hunger, while I deal with our adult hunger in a creative and tasty way.

Vero Amore, True Love at First Bite

January 6, 2014 — 1 Comment

Vero Amore Pizza has opened a new and very snazzy location near my home, so we tried it yesterday. Everything about it was outstanding. The new space is super open and contemporary, with a view of the kitchen and wood fired oven at work.  The staff is friendly and very prompt with service.  We had beer and a cocktail, both unusual and delicious.  Bob loves prosciutto, so he enjoyed a personal pizza without sauce.  In our minds pizza is all about the crust, and at Vero Amore the authentic Neopolitan style pizza is light and crisp.  I ordered manicotti which was rich and well balanced.  The sauce was garlic enhanced just perfectly.  My Oso Nero cocktail with honey bourbon and blackberries was fresh and complimented my seriously cheesy good manicotti.  I am glad I had not ordered anything else because I just a rely was able to finish my dinner, with a little help from Bob.  Next time we want to go for happy hour so we can sample smaller plates which all look very good.

We gave our server Matt a challenge by asking him to prepare a take home pizza checca to be ready when we finished our meals.  He did it perfectly, presenting the bill right when we finished with exactly enough time to settle it and walk out with our fresh from the oven pizza to share with a neighbor who stayed home.  We give Matt A plus in service.  In fact, from the manager to the bartender to the kitchen staff everyone is genuinely pleased to serve the guests and it shows.  We will return to explore the extensive menu and outdoor party patio.  This is a wonderful addition to the dining options in our neighborhood.

For catering the company owns a mobile fire truck with a wood fired oven that they bring to a party.  The pricing on this fabulous service is reasonable, and I am sure any event would be popular with authentic pizza cooked on site rather than boxed and delivered.