pizza is patriotic.

duders,
when you're forlorn,
forsaken,
forgotten,
but still forged in hot fire and lightning,
how do you forgo a furious flash of freshness
on the fourth of july???
ummmmmmm,
you DON'T!
don't be dumb.
i may have been all by my lonely,
and that may have been a letdown,
but i devised and improvised some bootstrap-and-spirit-lifting big action
and it brought me right back to brighter spots and greener pastures,
what was it that made it all better?
what was it that brought the funtimes back?
what was it?
what was it?
it was that P.M.A.
y'know?
Pizza Munching Activation.
hahahah.
neighbors,
did i get down with four pizzas, for freedom, on the fourth?
YUUUUUUUP.
check the pizza-party-type teleport:

PEE EYE ZEE ZEE AYY!!!!
c'mon.
that's the stuff.
in fact, that's the stuffed crust,
and the deep dish,
and the square,
and the white mountain white pie.
you'd better recognize the expert techniques at work here.
cold-proofed high-hydration heavy-semolina sourdough-infused dough.
-
two cups of ap flour
a big shake of salt
one cup of semolina
half a cup of sourdough starter
a cup of warm water
bakers' yeast
a pinch of sugar
a T of yogurt,
and time.
why so much extra stuff in there/
because it's a pizza party, for one,
on the flippin' fourth of july.
240 years of america,
and you think i'm just gonna use four ingredients?
get on my level, y'all.
this recipe was good,
and it swelled like sails in the wind-
no joke, it doubled in bulk twice before i put it in the fridge,
and still rose considerably while it developed in the chillbox.
that's rad.
-
y'wanna hear about each of these big, hot, delicious doses of decadent dopeness?
you do?
thank goodness.
i thought i was wasting your time for a second.
teleport:

* garlic-and chee'-stuffed crust!
with cashew-nootch-crusted fried italian eggplant
(the little italy jauns have thin sweet skins, so you don't have to peel 'em)
salted, rinsed, dredged in a nootchy falx'd cashew-almond milk slurry,
dipped in ground cashew, nootch, and GPOP'd starch,
and fried in canola until they smelled like my nana's house.
with seitan-broth-braised broccolini florets,
sauteed garlic scapes,
minced red chili,
and shaved vegan gouda,
all atop crushed tomatoes and underchee', of course!
i wish i'd made a 20" version of this.
it had all the great taste of a heavy italian parm sub,
only twenty times more elite.
i'm very happy with how much more edible this attempt at eggplant was
than with how the results of many of my previous forays into aubergine were.
lucky me.
i polished off almost all of this one,
first, because it was SO dope,
and second, because eggplant is an A*-hole about reheating.
real talk.
wanna see a thing of beauty?
ok.
check the green-and-purple-type teleport:

WU-TANG!!!!
*white mountain white pie!
no sauce, just underchee' and daiya chee'
topped off with grilled leeks,
braised asparagus-
which was very local, but very skinny,
as the season closes and the plants are tired.
terrible news for the folks making asparagus on it's own,
but incredibly good news for pizza time.
skinny asparagus melts in your mouth and there's nothing bad about that.
neighbors,
while the oven was preheating,
i was roasting baby beets.
yup.
beets.
i know,
i thought beets were on the short list of vegetable i don't hang out with,
but,
i've grown as a person, and expanded my tastes,
and those mutha-F*ers are delicious.
how do we sexxxy up something so beautiful?
fried garlic sprankles, obvi.
that's right.
because when it's time to make pizza,
it's time to activate all the sorcery at our disposal.
mmhmmm.
i do that.
MORE?
you got it:

*deeeeeeeep dissssssssssshhhh!
friends,
i did it right.
underchee', daiya cheddar,
chopped and sauteed house-blend vegan sausage and pepperoni,
caramelized onions,
shredded baby kale, daiya mozz',
crushed tomatoes, nootch-blasted fresh vine-ripened tomatoes,
and a two-tone straight-outta-the-garden basil combo.
stacks on stacks on stacks are what's good.
vegan cheesy veggie deluxxxe hottness is what's great-
and both of those things are present in this sunovab!tch!
expert!!
here's the thing, friends.
too much is the right amount,
so my fourth for the fourth had to be explosivo.
i'm into it.
i like that sort of thing.
and i figured i could take it to eleven in a sort of grand finale
without having to leave the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress.
the bombs were bursting in my mouth, man.
check the betsy-ross-type teleport:

AMERRRRRRRRRRRICA!!!!
hey, yo, that's IT!
three chee',
star-cut pepperoni,
grape tomato stripes,
and a siciliano square to ensure that our flag was still there.
star-spangled super-official cheesy-pullin' pizza is the TRUTH.
if you aren't about it,
get outta here.
*
today is the day.
a short day at work,
a long day with the dog,
and an even longer night with just the two of us.
i don't feel like cooking at the moment,
so maybe i won't.
i mean,
there's still a slice or two of pizza.
hmmmm?
...well, no;
i didn't eat all 50" of pizza.
and you're right-
generally i do avoid leftovers,
as used food appeals very little to me.
but,
it's PIZZA,
and there's all sorts of dispensations regarding that.
i'm lucky to have the opportunity to make food like this.
i'm grateful for the time i've been given,
and the vision i pursue for my plates.
nothing is perfect,
but everything is getting there.
it's all really happening,
and i guess there's no getting away from it;
never quiet, never soft.....