1. What are you thankful for? Yes, I just asked that. I know you’re not ten. I’m genuinely interested. The typical response: close friends and family.
2. Do you like pizza? I love pizza, but I can't do tomatoes anymore! <sobbing in sadness over here> They cause gut inflammation for me. But the pizza you had sounds AMAZEBALLS.
3. Have you been to Italy? NY? Phoenix? I live in Phx and that Pizzeria Bianco is overrated. Mr. Ex and I used to live across the street from one. We wanted to experience what all the hub-bub was about so we went over one day and put our name down. One hour. The wait was one. Hour. We looked at each other like, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" So, we walked back across the street to our condo and waited for the text. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with them. Like, at all. Italy is on the bucket list, so thank you for sharing about the pizza ting. I had a feeling it was going to be like that. Like, whn you go to Mexico and get AUTHENTIC Mexican food vs, y'know, Garcia's or something.
Ok, this going to sound like a total sacrilege, but, in my current state, I would give anything for an authentic, g-f, Italian pizza, just like above--except tossed into the vitamix with a little bone broth so I could get it through a jumbo straw! 6-8 more weeks of liquid diet. Posts like this sustain me!
Belated Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for many people and things, but especially for my husband and our boys. I’m also super grateful for being able to write - it’s the happily ever after I wasn’t expecting!
Not just Italian pizza... Roman pizza. I think I'm drooling right now thinking about it.
The thing about Roman pizza is you don't have to look for somewhere good. You just have to find the nearest place and it will be good. Sadly, New Zealand has mostly learned about pizza from America.
😂 I can really empathise with the food intolerances. I am always convinced that when we have holidayed in the med I have been able to eat a wider range of foods. Now I am sat here salivating at the thought of your Italian pizza 🍕 but about to go and eat a much less exciting meal...
Pizza, YES! Any day, any time! I recently read that when pizza was initially introduced in the US, there were 3 cities that were the epicenter of such deliciousness: New York (of course), Chicago, and Columbus,Ohio! Most of the workers in the quarries in Columbus were Italian immigrants and brought their wonderful cuisine to us!
Farina 00 (00 flour) is the basic type of flour here in Italy. But that's better for cakes and crostata. The ideal for pizza is 0 flour (just one zero). The thing is, though, that there are a gazillion different brands of flour for sale, and knowing your way around that maze isn't immediate. I tend to lean toward artisanal ground flour, made by small, companies that employ an organic process. But making a good pizza (one that doesn't make your belly swollen) isn't only a matter of choosing the right flour. The water (more than 60% of the dough is water) and the time you leave it there rising are key. The more you let it rise, the more digestible it becomes (otherwise, it rises in your belly because it hadn't finished to rise naturally before making the pizza). Some good pizzeria let their dough rise for 72 hours before spreading it.
Loved this piece. This made me laugh so hard: "Then there was that awkward silence when there’s nothing else to say and your food is getting cold. “Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.” But they’re still sitting next to you so now you avoid eye contact."
Thx so much for this lesson! Makes sense to let the dough rise for 36 hours otherwise it does so in the belly. I wondered about the 00 flour. Everything you said makes perfect sense.
Happy Thanksgiving CK. I am thankful I met you here in the Substack universe! Right place, right time and all that.
I am glad to hear how great the GF food is in Italy. This post makes me want to visit it even more than I did before.
I had the best pizza of my life in a little place in a tiny town in British Columbia this fall. I have thought about that meal a dozen times since and will go back there some day.
There's a place near me that's all gluten-free and they have the best (truly, ask my world-travelling chef friend) focaccia. I suspect it's made with rice flour. Maybe not 100% all rice flour, but a good portion of it. Of course, I'm supposed to be grain-free as well, so I was only able to enjoy it in my "bad" phase. No more! So maybe cut the 00 with rice flour? Or try the Cup-4-Cup flour (I couldn't; it contains milk). I do miss pizza. Forager makes a better "cheese" than Daiya. When I really miss it, I make socca bread and slather on some sauce and faux fromage. It's not the same same, but it ticks a box and doesn't fill me with regret. xo
You should be able to get Forager at Whole Foods; that's where I found it (they also make yogurt and kefir). LA can be hit-or-miss in that area, though, believe it or not. And it's hard to find a "normal" place where I can find one damned thing to order (which is why I'm so reliant on fries, FFS). BUT, I just found a Mexican (Michelin rated) place that makes their own cassava tortillas, has vegan options, chicken and fish, and full carnivore plates so my foodie friends can enjoy it, too. Plus, vegan chocolate pudding for dessert and all their margaritas are "skinny". It's a much farther walk than my Greek place with vegan moussaka (which is so good!), but now I have two places to take friends where I can dine like a regular human, and they don't have to compromise. I've been craving those damned chicken tinga tacos since I had them on Monday...I think I'll be hoofing it over on Friday to write, imbibe and indulge. xo
1. I am thankful for my happy, more or less healthy, family.
2. Do I like pizza? Put it this way... I hope they serve pizza in heaven! If not, it's a bit of heaven on earth. I love pasta, too. If I were restricted to nothing but pizza and pasta for the rest of my life, I'd still be happy, even of it meant giving up chocolate. So, yes, I do indeed like pizza! 😁
3. I've never been to Italy or Phoenix - I'm not much for traveling. I've been to Geneseo, NY a few times for rocket launches, but I've only been to NYC twice, but I don't think they really counted as "visits." Once was a high school field trip to the Statue of Liberty - I remember racing up and down the stairs multiple times and on the way home the bus driver had to plead with the more rambunctious students to NOT stick up their middle fingers at the window washers. The other time was at the Transit Authority when my husband and I took a Greyhound bus to South Carolina to pick up a van my hubby had purchased on Ebay. The most interesting thing that happened that time was when an elderly woman opened her bag for inspection and a huge ham fell out and rolled across the floor - the inspector kept trying to explain to her that she couldn't bring the thing across state borders, but apparently she couldn't speak English. He eventually gave up, especially when he realized that the rest of the passengers were on the woman's side: What kind of monster would take a ham away from a sweet little old lady? 😂
Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope you find the gluten-free pizza of your dreams. We're celebrating the weekend after next - no turkey, but I have a turkey-shaped cake mold, and will be making a cheese-walnut-oatmeal loaf for the celebration. 😊
Heh, glad to give you a chuckle. Heavenly pizza.... aren't they all heavenly?
The eBay van was awesome - most vehicles from down south are in decent condition (no - or rare - snowstorms leads to no salt on the roads leads to minimal rust). I need to have something fixed on the my native NH Subaru's exhaust system every few years (two years ago it was some pipe that only my hubby and his mechanic can identify, this year it was the muffler) - the salt helps keep the roads safe in the winter, but eats cars for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I don't know how ham ended up on the naughty list, along with the more obvious stuff like guns and drugs. It was a pretty heavy ham, making a good loud thump when it hit the floor - maybe they were afraid she would drop it on someone's head? 😂 Though based on how quickly the inspector dropped the issue, I suspect he thought it was a kind of dumb rule, too.
First, happy Thanksgiving! We had ours last month 🇨🇦
Never been to any of the places you mentioned and probably never will. But Yellowstone? I can drive there from my province. I have yet to go but it's next up on my list.
PS: I probably would've asked that couple the same thing 😁
1. What are you thankful for? Yes, I just asked that. I know you’re not ten. I’m genuinely interested. The typical response: close friends and family.
2. Do you like pizza? I love pizza, but I can't do tomatoes anymore! <sobbing in sadness over here> They cause gut inflammation for me. But the pizza you had sounds AMAZEBALLS.
3. Have you been to Italy? NY? Phoenix? I live in Phx and that Pizzeria Bianco is overrated. Mr. Ex and I used to live across the street from one. We wanted to experience what all the hub-bub was about so we went over one day and put our name down. One hour. The wait was one. Hour. We looked at each other like, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" So, we walked back across the street to our condo and waited for the text. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with them. Like, at all. Italy is on the bucket list, so thank you for sharing about the pizza ting. I had a feeling it was going to be like that. Like, whn you go to Mexico and get AUTHENTIC Mexican food vs, y'know, Garcia's or something.
Love that you lived right across the street from the overrated pizza place. Hehe. Any restaurant that makes you wait an hour loses its flavor.
Ok, this going to sound like a total sacrilege, but, in my current state, I would give anything for an authentic, g-f, Italian pizza, just like above--except tossed into the vitamix with a little bone broth so I could get it through a jumbo straw! 6-8 more weeks of liquid diet. Posts like this sustain me!
Oh doll. Glad this gave you something to drool about. I gave you wrong link. See if there’s any healthy liquids at thrivemarket.com
Happy Thanksgiving! I was vastly hoping to read that you had Thanksgiving Pizza :-) That sounds delicious (so does the pizza you had in Italy!).
Belated Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for many people and things, but especially for my husband and our boys. I’m also super grateful for being able to write - it’s the happily ever after I wasn’t expecting!
I loved this essay! I hope your Thanksgiving dinner was just as fabulous as that description of the bite of Jeffrey’s pizza!
Haha. Fab in a different way.
Wow, you got it going good! A mother's dream I have yet to achieve --
1. The kids (and the son-in-law at that) tolerant and understanding of their mother's quirks, or just simple being a mother!
2. Italian pizza ---- I have yet to taste. Half of your post talked about it! Must be that good!
❤️❤️🙏
Not just Italian pizza... Roman pizza. I think I'm drooling right now thinking about it.
The thing about Roman pizza is you don't have to look for somewhere good. You just have to find the nearest place and it will be good. Sadly, New Zealand has mostly learned about pizza from America.
Roman pizza. Drooling over words put together is powerful.
Sorry NZ. A double bastardized pizza recipe. 🙏
I still puzzle over Americans calling pizza a "pie". It's pizza. 😁
You're right! It's pizza pie right here in Asia too. Well, we are westernized after all. Americanized, to be precise.
Asia too? Pizza tentacles everywhere. 😃
Really, I've never heard that,. We have a large Asian population in Australia, never hear anyone describing a pizza as a pie.
Filipinos do. lol. Especially the older generation. Pizza pie!
Wow. Definitely Americanized, not westernized.
So true! The only thing in common is that they are both round. It ends there. 😃
😂 I can really empathise with the food intolerances. I am always convinced that when we have holidayed in the med I have been able to eat a wider range of foods. Now I am sat here salivating at the thought of your Italian pizza 🍕 but about to go and eat a much less exciting meal...
Sorry for the salivation. 😉 I salivated while writing this piece but probably ate hummus and Mary’s crackers for lunch.
Pizza, YES! Any day, any time! I recently read that when pizza was initially introduced in the US, there were 3 cities that were the epicenter of such deliciousness: New York (of course), Chicago, and Columbus,Ohio! Most of the workers in the quarries in Columbus were Italian immigrants and brought their wonderful cuisine to us!
Thank you for your wonderful pueces!
Ohio! Who da thought? But yes, follow the Italian immigrants. ❤️ Bank of America was started by Italians. 😃
Thx! 🙏
Farina 00 (00 flour) is the basic type of flour here in Italy. But that's better for cakes and crostata. The ideal for pizza is 0 flour (just one zero). The thing is, though, that there are a gazillion different brands of flour for sale, and knowing your way around that maze isn't immediate. I tend to lean toward artisanal ground flour, made by small, companies that employ an organic process. But making a good pizza (one that doesn't make your belly swollen) isn't only a matter of choosing the right flour. The water (more than 60% of the dough is water) and the time you leave it there rising are key. The more you let it rise, the more digestible it becomes (otherwise, it rises in your belly because it hadn't finished to rise naturally before making the pizza). Some good pizzeria let their dough rise for 72 hours before spreading it.
Loved this piece. This made me laugh so hard: "Then there was that awkward silence when there’s nothing else to say and your food is getting cold. “Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.” But they’re still sitting next to you so now you avoid eye contact."
Thx so much for this lesson! Makes sense to let the dough rise for 36 hours otherwise it does so in the belly. I wondered about the 00 flour. Everything you said makes perfect sense.
Glad you laughed too. 🙏❤️
Happy Thanksgiving CK. I am thankful I met you here in the Substack universe! Right place, right time and all that.
I am glad to hear how great the GF food is in Italy. This post makes me want to visit it even more than I did before.
I had the best pizza of my life in a little place in a tiny town in British Columbia this fall. I have thought about that meal a dozen times since and will go back there some day.
There's a place near me that's all gluten-free and they have the best (truly, ask my world-travelling chef friend) focaccia. I suspect it's made with rice flour. Maybe not 100% all rice flour, but a good portion of it. Of course, I'm supposed to be grain-free as well, so I was only able to enjoy it in my "bad" phase. No more! So maybe cut the 00 with rice flour? Or try the Cup-4-Cup flour (I couldn't; it contains milk). I do miss pizza. Forager makes a better "cheese" than Daiya. When I really miss it, I make socca bread and slather on some sauce and faux fromage. It's not the same same, but it ticks a box and doesn't fill me with regret. xo
I knew you would have good suggestions. 🙏 Will have to look for Forager. LA has great restaurants for those of us with belly issues.
You should be able to get Forager at Whole Foods; that's where I found it (they also make yogurt and kefir). LA can be hit-or-miss in that area, though, believe it or not. And it's hard to find a "normal" place where I can find one damned thing to order (which is why I'm so reliant on fries, FFS). BUT, I just found a Mexican (Michelin rated) place that makes their own cassava tortillas, has vegan options, chicken and fish, and full carnivore plates so my foodie friends can enjoy it, too. Plus, vegan chocolate pudding for dessert and all their margaritas are "skinny". It's a much farther walk than my Greek place with vegan moussaka (which is so good!), but now I have two places to take friends where I can dine like a regular human, and they don't have to compromise. I've been craving those damned chicken tinga tacos since I had them on Monday...I think I'll be hoofing it over on Friday to write, imbibe and indulge. xo
1. I am thankful for my happy, more or less healthy, family.
2. Do I like pizza? Put it this way... I hope they serve pizza in heaven! If not, it's a bit of heaven on earth. I love pasta, too. If I were restricted to nothing but pizza and pasta for the rest of my life, I'd still be happy, even of it meant giving up chocolate. So, yes, I do indeed like pizza! 😁
3. I've never been to Italy or Phoenix - I'm not much for traveling. I've been to Geneseo, NY a few times for rocket launches, but I've only been to NYC twice, but I don't think they really counted as "visits." Once was a high school field trip to the Statue of Liberty - I remember racing up and down the stairs multiple times and on the way home the bus driver had to plead with the more rambunctious students to NOT stick up their middle fingers at the window washers. The other time was at the Transit Authority when my husband and I took a Greyhound bus to South Carolina to pick up a van my hubby had purchased on Ebay. The most interesting thing that happened that time was when an elderly woman opened her bag for inspection and a huge ham fell out and rolled across the floor - the inspector kept trying to explain to her that she couldn't bring the thing across state borders, but apparently she couldn't speak English. He eventually gave up, especially when he realized that the rest of the passengers were on the woman's side: What kind of monster would take a ham away from a sweet little old lady? 😂
Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope you find the gluten-free pizza of your dreams. We're celebrating the weekend after next - no turkey, but I have a turkey-shaped cake mold, and will be making a cheese-walnut-oatmeal loaf for the celebration. 😊
Hi Jeannine! You crack me up. Great answers. Pizza will definitely be served in heaven. A heavenly pizza.
An eBay Van. Was it a good purchase? And the ham!! What could have possibly happened to instigate a law against crossing state lines with a ham?
Turkey shaped cake! Do you have the mold?
Heh, glad to give you a chuckle. Heavenly pizza.... aren't they all heavenly?
The eBay van was awesome - most vehicles from down south are in decent condition (no - or rare - snowstorms leads to no salt on the roads leads to minimal rust). I need to have something fixed on the my native NH Subaru's exhaust system every few years (two years ago it was some pipe that only my hubby and his mechanic can identify, this year it was the muffler) - the salt helps keep the roads safe in the winter, but eats cars for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I don't know how ham ended up on the naughty list, along with the more obvious stuff like guns and drugs. It was a pretty heavy ham, making a good loud thump when it hit the floor - maybe they were afraid she would drop it on someone's head? 😂 Though based on how quickly the inspector dropped the issue, I suspect he thought it was a kind of dumb rule, too.
You can see the turkey mold ihere: https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Classic-Turkey-Bronze/dp/B001B8LZCC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SULNGBEU8UZN&keywords=turkey+cake+pan&qid=1700679426&sprefix=Turkey+cake+%2Caps%2C469&sr=8-1 - my hubby gave it to me for my birthday a couple of years back. Before then, the Thanksgiving nut loaf was baked in a plain ol' rectangular bread pan. Though the turkey-mold version is somewhat reminiscent of chocolate bunnies - nobody wants to eat the head! I'll try to get around to posting the recipe on SubStack soon, it's pretty good. If you're curious in the meanwhile, you can see the recipe on my very much out of date recipe site (https://foodcheersong.weebly.com/megaloaf-vegetarian-meatloaf.html) - wow, I just realized that the old post is 10 years old! Time flies....
Thanks for the tip!
First, happy Thanksgiving! We had ours last month 🇨🇦
Never been to any of the places you mentioned and probably never will. But Yellowstone? I can drive there from my province. I have yet to go but it's next up on my list.
PS: I probably would've asked that couple the same thing 😁
I’d love to know more about the Canadian Thanksgiving. Will google.
It's pretty much the same but ours is in October.
October makes more sense for the pilgrims and Indians celebrating the harvest. Nothing grows in November.