Time for levity - pizza party photo

12 years ago

Here is a photo my sister took at my pizza party, which shows a so-worker helping me top one of the pizzas. She was the only one who was helpful with topping the pizzas. My sister volunteered to help, but she did a terrible job, and so I stopped her. She also took a lot of very unflattering photos, and some of my friends were not happy about that!

The photo was taken in Kevin's art studio, which has access to the patio and also has a skylight, which gives it very good lighting. I'm wearing an apron that I received from loves2cook4six and is embroidered with "Lars Cooks With Fire" on it. I changed clothes after I was done cooking the pizzas - I normally would not wear a white T-shirt at a party, but it was hot that day (in the mid 80s), and I needed to keep cool. Kevin took better party photos, and he posted them on his facebook page.

Lars

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Comments (9)

booberry85
12 years ago
I'm sure no one wants to boot their own sibling when they are trying to be helpful, but sometimes no help is better than bad help

Glad you found someone to help you, Lars. Hope the pizza party was a success!
Lars
Original Author
12 years ago
My sister is good at some things and not at others. I'm a Pisces and she's a Virgo, and so sometimes we are just simply opposites. She gets a bit carried away when she starts cleaning, and I do not want things rearranged. I place a high priority on aesthetics and taste, and she places a high priority on time management and cold efficiency. That's why she's a banking lawyer and I'm a designer.

Everyone had a good time at the party, and my sister mostly stayed outside, which is where most of the guests stayed most of the time. Our yard is a lot nicer than our house, I think, and on hot days, it's more pleasant to be outside. The only bad thing was that Kevin's guests did not show up. My sister was impressed that the CEO of the company I work for attended. She got along well with him, but he gets along with everyone. My dentist also showed up!

Lars
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I was going to start a new thread for the pizza I made, but since you brought this back up, I will post the pizza photos here:Pizza right out of the oven and onto a trivet on my counter. Pizza moved to cutting board, and lifted to show the bottom of the crust.Leftover slice, the next day. The pizza did not at all stick to the cast iron; in fact, it shrank away from the sides a bit, which made lifting it that much easier. I used a cake lifter (shown in the second photo) to move the pizza to the board. I did not want to cut it inside the cast iron, and I needed to let it cool for a couple of minutes anyway. I put the dough into a cold pan (although I had been told by others to heat the pan first) because that is much easier, and I wanted to see if it would work, and it did! After stretching the dough into the pan, I let it rest/rise for a while because I was not ready to bake it yet. When I was ready to bake it, I sprinkled the crust with a supermarket blend of dried Italian herbs (very lightly), and then I sprinkled it with a bit of mozzarella cheese and baked it for 5 minutes at the highest temp my oven would go, probably 550°, with the convection setting on. Then I took it out and put the rest of the toppings on, which included thinly sliced strips of mesquite smoked turkey breast (with Kevin could not even taste), the sauce with jalapeños that I had made, and a mixture of mozzarella and Asiago cheeses (about 1 part Asiago to 2 or 3 parts mozzarella). I then finished baking it for 8 minutes more, and that seemed to be the exact amount of time it needed. It was not as thin a crust as I normally make, and it puffed up around the rim, but it tasted better than my thin crust pizza. Kevin and I were both very happy with how it came out, and I now prefer it to my thin crust pizza, but I did have to fold the slices when I ate them. I'm also glad that I sanded my pan before I used it, and I'm sort of glad that the pan is not too heavy! As for peppers - I also grew a mild chili called Tobago, which I think are similar to what you call Cachucha - they are mild and are supposed to be related to Habaneros, but for me, they do not have as much flavor, even considering the loss of heat. My favorite chilies now are the chocolate Habanero, but I neglected to plant any this year - so far. I might still start some, but it is difficult to get them to germinate, and three of my plants from last year have started regrowing from the base of their stalks, and so I am hoping to get more chilies from them this year. I still have sauce leftover from last year's crop, but I've noticed that the heat diminishes during storage :(. Since the name "Habanero" comes from Cuba, I thought that Cubans would like heat, but perhaps the name is misleading. I highly recommend this pizza pan! It is so easy to use - no need to heat it before adding the pizza - and I think it makes the best pizza. The main limitation is the size - it is only 13" diameter inside, and I used to make 14"-16" diameter pizzas. I have a pizza screen that is 17" diameter, but it will not fit in my oven, and I can use it only with the BGE. Here's a video of me stretching dough onto a 14" screen and a 16" screen: I made this video at the request of a friend's son who had had pizza at one of my pizza parties. These pizzas I parbaked in the oven and the finished them in the BGE.
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dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
12 years ago
There is no challenge throwing an outdoor party in your area. You always have perfect weather. LOL!

I don't do Facebook, so I can't see other pictures.

Was that Michael Lynton CEO? Very impressed. When I was at Sony's cafeteria, my friend pointed out to me, across the way to the Executive dining side; the CEO was lunching there.

dcarch
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
12 years ago
Pizza is so easy to do at a party. At ours, I make the dough from leftover sour dough starter.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c mature Sourdough starter
1 T olive oil
1 t Salt
1 1/2 c Flour

Now I wing this a lot. It's basically equal parts starter and flour with some olive oil and salt........ That's where it gets fun. It always turns out, but you could just buy pizza dough.

Everyone gets a ball of dough to roll out in any shape they want. These are flopped on a hot grill for a minute, flipped over to grill the other side, given back to the artist who then oils and tops them with whatever they wish. I have bowls with various toppings set out. Pizza's go back on the grill on the side with NO fire, lid down, and they bake for 8-10 min.

Always fun, and then we sometimes have contests as to whose is the best. This photo is all I had. We wanted plain old fresh mozzarella/basil/tomato that night. The breakfast ones are really cool!
mustangs81
12 years ago
What fun. The CEO was there? I'll bet your pizza is worthy of a raise!

Too hot outside?? Try 95 degrees and 87% humidity.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
12 years ago
If you want to impress the CEO this fall or winter, throw a "Stone Soup" Party. Google Stone Soup if you don't know what that is.

Everyone brings something from their fridge, and it all cooks in a big pot. We served ours in bread bowls. This was so impressive, our international company did it in all their offices! We invited customers, and it was a HUGE hit.

Of course, we had a big kitchen in our offices. This promotes community participation. Everyone feels good and there is no pressure to bring something expensive. Our stone soup was killer good! Some brought sausage and bacon, onions, carrots, potatoes, pasta, herbs, canned stuff... OH MY! Helps to have a list of ideas of what to bring......
Lars
Original Author
11 years ago
It wasn't the Sony CEO (where Kevin works) - it was the CEO at the furniture company where I work. Kevin did take our sister to the Sony cafeteria and gave her a "back lot" tour.

It is not my goal to impress anyone - just to make food that I like and that others may also like. People were impressed with Kevin's art, however - those who had not seen it before, and it would be nice if he could sell some of it, since we have more than we have room for in our modest house. The one thing I try to impress people with is the comfort and functionality of the back yard. People did very much enjoy that. It is so tranquil and relaxing there that my dentist stayed much longer than I expected. She seemed to be chilling out after a morning at the office - she works half days on Saturdays.

The CEO did say that he appreciated my "artesanal pizza"! We'll see if I get a raise - he is not my boss - I report directly to the owner, and she is also his boss.

We do have pot luck lunches at work for certain holidays, such as Thanksgiving, and those are fun, but I would not want to host one at my house. I could host an after-hours Happy Hour, however!

Here's a photo of Kevin and BIL at the Sony lot:
westsider40
11 years ago
looks like a terrific party and your pizza sounds delicious. I enjoy your posting of pics of your real life. Too bad for me that I dont do Facebook either.

I remember there was a California meeting of cf people a while back. You posted a bit of Kevin's paintings. I liked seeing his work, then. I am a very mediocre Sunday painter, kind of lapsed! But art makes me happy and is important in my life. Way more than cooking or eating, blasphemous here.

Thanks for posting, Lars. Very enjoyable.
lpinkmountain
11 years ago
Cute pic Lars! I like your glasses! :) Party sounds like a blast.

Time for levity - pizza party photo

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Time for levity - pizza party photo

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