We did not come to remain whole...

By Robert Bly

We did not come to remain whole.
We came to lose our leaves like the trees,
the trees that are broken and start again,
drawing up from the great roots.

michaelzeng1.edublogs.org

On Art + Writing

"My idea of art is, you write something that makes people feel so strongly that they get some conviction about who they want to be or what they want to do. It’s morally useful not in a political way, but it makes your heart bigger; it’s emotionally and spiritually empowering.” - Mary Karr

vice.com

Udder-less-ly Delicious

As a working class foodie, I love a good pizza and a good challenge. Can pizza be just as good without the pizzazz of cheese and meat?  Sacrilege, you say?

Last week, I treaded on this treacherous territory with some homemade vegan-ish inspired creations made my way. You might be thinking of the taste of card board boxes right now. But oh no, amicis! I knew that the secret had to be: 

1. Awesome dough (nicely rested dough. Rolled out thin, then on a heated pizza stone - everything in the oven no more than 10-12 mins on 500F). 

2. The toppings (fresh, tasty, seasonal ingredients from the farmer's market and local stores. Again thinly sliced).

So, as a baker, there was some dough I made with home brewed yeast conveniently sitting in the fridge. I had some fresh, post summer vegetables from the farmer's market. And some homemade pesto and red pepper sauce. Thai peanut sauce anyone? Surely, I was ready to make proper homage to the pizza gods.

As a lover of all food, I was highly, highly skeptical! But darn it, if you start with the best ingredients,  you won't be missing a thing. In fact, the pizza love ranneth over!

Here's some evidence. Can you just smell it? Sending you a slice :)

Buon appetito!

My name is alota...alota veggie....

zucchini, portabellas, peppers, red onion on homemade pesto and dough 

eggplant on red pepper sauce - before oven

after the oven - forgive me, some cheese was added on the other half for the boy 

thai peanut sauce, zuchhs, cilantro, whole wheat crust