We went to a newly opened local pizza place today - had coupons, feeling adventurous, yadda yadda. My first impression of the place was that it was pretty generic - white walls, red vinyl cafe chairs, napkin dispensers on the tables, etc. And when we got our first tastes of the pizza it was also pretty generic. I think we were lucky that they hardly put any sauce on because what small flavor it gave was more acidy/spicy than we like (which seems terribly common in California). The pizza as a whole seemed more texture than taste - even though the motzarella cheese melted nicely, it didn't have much flavor. And we think they cooked it in a convection oven - the mushrooms (on John's half) looked rather dry, and it ready to eat VERY quickly. The one good thing was that it wasn't very greasy, although some grease might have added a bit more OOOMPH. I won't tell you the name, but it had a basic patriotic theme... I wonder if this place will last longer than the flags on the SUVs did.

In general, I'm sorta weirded out by the names of a lot of pizza places around here, since I come from NY where every pizza place was either an Italian or Greek name - ahhhhh. ;-) Here we have Mountain Mike's Pizza (went there once - dry as a board), Straw Hat (that acidy/spicy sauce again), Cowboy Pizza Company (have never been there, will never be there), Round Table (okay eat-in, but the transport home actually loses something?). The one place we've found that we can eat regularly is a independent place called Bevo's, which also serves plates of various kinds of pasta, and subs and ice cream as well. (It's not gourmet, it's a pizza joint - and sometimes that's just what you want.) Eventually, however, I WILL learn how to make my own pesto sauce at home and then I'll go nuts with homemade gourmet pizzas. *grin*
posted:5:51 PM | link |

Spring has certainly sprung here - electric marigolds outside every strip mall! *grin* And there's nothing quite so modern-heathen-esque as celebrating spring with chocolate Cadbury eggs and Dove dark chocolate eggs. Each one layed by a furry pink bunny in Happy EggLand - LOL! (chocolate buzz... can't... stop... babbling....)
posted:6:10 PM | link |

You can't tell from the thumbnail, but this photo of my eye is actually divided up into four quandrants and a different filter was applied to each area.

Speaking of art (we were speaking of art, weren't we? Or maybe I was just thinking of it - oh, well, no matter), I found this really cool online artist community yesterday called Wet Canvas. I haven't had a chance to wander around in it much yet, but it has over 7000 members and a huge number of forums from watercolors to art shows to digital to photography to selling art on the internet.
posted:10:47 AM | link |

A few days ago, John banished me from the kitchen whilst he was busy creating dinner. He wouldn't tell me what he was making, and I was left to guessing based on the sounds and smells I experienced from the other rooms. In the end, he came out with a homemade potato focacia bread, stuffed with cheese and sauteed onions and a ranch dressing/sauce - fantastic! Will have to put that up on our recipe section soon. :-)
posted:9:30 AM | link |

Well, you gotta have a hobby. *grin*
posted:9:22 AM | link |

This photo looks like it comes from an old Alfred Hitchcock set - something a zillion crows would cover with their feathery wings and their squawking. Look upon them with fear and run! RUN!!!! *grin*
posted:5:12 PM | link |

Ooooh - Dual Horizontal LCD screens. Of course, there's also a triple and a quad as well, but we don't want to be greedy now, do we? [dramatic pause] Sure we do! ;-)
posted:9:19 AM | link |

The first prerogative of an artist in any medium is to make a fool of himself." - Pauline Kael (via pixelpile)
posted:9:05 AM | link |