JULY PARTY!

grilled pizza and pasta salad.
no.
really.
not at the same time, but in a row.
uh-huh.
that's good for you.
pasta salad is the most summery of summertime things to me,
and you know i made two kinds, too.

yup.
gluten-full rainbow squiggler jauns,
AND gluten-free brown-rice yummers for my breezy lady.
we got red, orange, yellow, and green peppers,
red onion, cucumber, baby grape tomatoes, and chick peas all up in it to win it.
and this version has some fancy expensive organic italian dressing
all over it to slip and slide it full of molto delicious flavor, bro.
that's real.
if you don't eff with pasta salad, you're effed up, and that's a fact.
mmmmm.
i love it, and i look forward to summertime specifically because of it.
ha.
i'm serious.
*
and what's better than pizza?
nothing.
not once. not ever.
grilled pizza, with open flames and high heat and woodsmoke
and outdoor summertime sunshine power?
c'mon, neighbors-
if you need some happiness in your life.....
...maybe what you really need is pizza on the grill.
hey. just consider it; it might actually be true.
wood and charcoal and iron grates and great times.
that's phase two of the fourth of july.
phase one was sweating and playing with all those kids outside.
then the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress woodshed got raided
for some fresh-split kindling to burn hot and bright on the raised coal bed
of my elite luxury handfire grill.
that's expert.
and the pizzas were too.
check the fireworkin' teleport:

WOOOOOOOOO!!!
and another:

YEAHHHHH!!!!!
too much is the right amount, right?
right!
the cashew chee' was perfect:
-
*
CASHEWMOZZ'!
-
in a high-speed blender, combine:
1 cup + 2 T boiling water;
1/4 tsp sea salt;
1/4 tsp GPOP;
3 T tapioca;
2 T lemon juice;
1 cup raw cashews;
2 T nootch.
pulse it until totally uniformly blended,
then transfer it to a small non-stick pot to thicken over medium high heat.,
stirring a LOT.
that's essential.
how easy is that?
when it pulls away clean from the sides, it's done.
and a few scooples of it on a pizza is tiiiiiiight.
-
so, you HAVE to grill the dough  first, before you dress your pizzas.
rules is rules,
otherwise it doesn't work at all.
so,
make a stiff dough, bro.
so you can scorch and sear and firm it up without it oozing between the grates.
-
*
TWOZZA DOUGH!
-
this'll make a couple pies, guys.
in your stand-mixer, as always, with the hook on it, combine:
2 3/4 cups king arthur flour;
1 T sea salt;
3 T olive oil;
1 pkg fast-actin' yeast;
1 tsp bread machine yeast;
1 tsp sugar;
1 tsp wheat gluten;
1 1/4 cup warm water, + more as needed.
beat it up for 11 minutes, then let it rise for twenty or so.
punch it down, divide it, and dunk each in flour as you stretch 'em on the peel.
45 seconds per side is all you'll need over short flames
to season and prepare 'em for topping.
EASY!
-
and i grilled some tomatoes in one of those stainless baskets,
and i firesteamed a bunch of broccoli in foil, with oil salt and pepper,
and i caramelized some onions,
and i plucked garden fresh basil,
and there was fried garlic slices,
and rosemary sprigs,
and crushed tomatoes,
and olive oil,
and joy.
the joy of pizza outdoors and excellent.
that's my idea of a perfect display of freedom.
no animals got chopped up and burnt.
nobody had to have a bad time.
there was only competence and capability and pizza.
oh.
and pasta salad, too.
so simple, but so good.-
i didn't watch the fireworks.
i just don't wanna anymore.
i did do a bunch of exercise, and watch the flash on netflix, though.
that was better.
dang, dudes-
i used to be an adventurer.
and now i'm pretty much just a heavy-handed hard-style hermit,
but that's just fine with me;
never quiet, never soft.....