The vegetable with a heart
Mar. 12th, 2003 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zyzylyIt's officially artichoke season in California. Each spring the produce shelves sprout the tantalizing green globes, and I go for it all the way. As long as the price stays reasonable, we'll have artichokes almost every night. I like to drizzle them with oil, steam them and serve with green onion dip. Mmmmmmm.
Since they were prominently featured in today's paper, I just assumed they would be on sale at "the store", so I mentally added them to tonight's menu. Artichokes will go well with the homemade portabello mushroom pizza I'm planning to prepare. When it is my night to cook, I like to have interesting food.
At "the store" artichokes were $1.99 each. Bummer. Way too expensive. I decided to stop at the "other" store and see how much they were. I don't like the "other" store. It's aisles are backwards and things are never where I expect them to be.
Anyway, artichokes were same price as "the store". But by now, the idea of artichokes had firmly planted itself and taken root-- "the menu had been printed", so so to speak. I picked out two great looking 'chokes and a lonely roma tomato in search of a good home, and fell into line.
The cashier rings me up. Two artichokes and a tomato: $10.30. Wait a minute! That can't be right. "Sir, if you had one of our preferred savings card, it would be much less". I hate those stinking cards. "The store", where I usually shop is the only store in town that doesn't make you use the stupid things, and that's why I shop there instead of here.
So she scanned some dummy card they have, and it resulted in a $6.00 savings. I still didn't see how I could save $6 on two artichokes that were only $1.99 each. She looked at the tape and gasped--literally! She had charged me for 4 artichokes instead of 2. She deducted them, leaving a total of $2.32. So I paid with a debit card-- for the amount only. She then hands me $1.85 in change. I have no clue as to why. All I know, is that it is artichoke season, and my first two artichokes cost 12 cents (the tomato was 35 cents).
I gotta make some dough. See ya later.
Since they were prominently featured in today's paper, I just assumed they would be on sale at "the store", so I mentally added them to tonight's menu. Artichokes will go well with the homemade portabello mushroom pizza I'm planning to prepare. When it is my night to cook, I like to have interesting food.
At "the store" artichokes were $1.99 each. Bummer. Way too expensive. I decided to stop at the "other" store and see how much they were. I don't like the "other" store. It's aisles are backwards and things are never where I expect them to be.
Anyway, artichokes were same price as "the store". But by now, the idea of artichokes had firmly planted itself and taken root-- "the menu had been printed", so so to speak. I picked out two great looking 'chokes and a lonely roma tomato in search of a good home, and fell into line.
The cashier rings me up. Two artichokes and a tomato: $10.30. Wait a minute! That can't be right. "Sir, if you had one of our preferred savings card, it would be much less". I hate those stinking cards. "The store", where I usually shop is the only store in town that doesn't make you use the stupid things, and that's why I shop there instead of here.
So she scanned some dummy card they have, and it resulted in a $6.00 savings. I still didn't see how I could save $6 on two artichokes that were only $1.99 each. She looked at the tape and gasped--literally! She had charged me for 4 artichokes instead of 2. She deducted them, leaving a total of $2.32. So I paid with a debit card-- for the amount only. She then hands me $1.85 in change. I have no clue as to why. All I know, is that it is artichoke season, and my first two artichokes cost 12 cents (the tomato was 35 cents).
I gotta make some dough. See ya later.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-03-12 04:25 pm (UTC)Hope you are feeling better!
Pizza
Date: 2003-03-12 05:16 pm (UTC)Pizza dough:
Add 1 1/2 tsp yeast to 3/4 cup warm water and 2 tsp sugar in a bowl. Let it bubble for about 10 minutes, then add 1 cup bread (high gluten) flour, 2 tsp of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix until smooth and add another cup of flour and mix until forms into a ball. Knead for about 10 minutes, then roll into a ball.
Put the dough in a glas bowl and add two tbsp olive oil, turning to coat. Cover with plastic, and either let sit for 1-2 hours at room temp, or place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
When ready to cook:
Place your pizza stone in the lowest shelf of the oven and heat the oven to as high as it will go.
If you refrigerate the dough, take it out divide int o two balls (makes two medium size pizzas), and let sit for a half hour under a towel. Flour your work surface and flatten the dough, making a lip around the edge. Gently pull until it is thin. I do this on a floured pizza peel (the wooden thing). If you want thin crispy crust, prepare it and cook it now. If you want a thicker, chewy crust, let it sit for a half hour. Add sauce, cheese, and whatever else you want. I use three cheeses: fresh mozzarella, freshly grated parmesan, and any other cheese I have lying around. Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake until crust is golden brown (5-8 minutes). Let it sit for a few minutes before cutting, then eat.
no subject
What would I know? I'm from West Virginia. Spring, we have ramps.
Ramps
Date: 2003-03-13 09:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-12 11:09 pm (UTC)Of course, you realize that it is your fault that I am now going to go steam some artichokes at 11 pm.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-13 05:45 am (UTC)