Now that's a fire!

Y'all know how crazy I am about food.  I live to eat. My family lives to eat.  I will go to just about any length for great food. Which led me to this purchase.  A wood burning beehive oven.  It is from Portugal and I am in love.  Last week I spent three days seasoning it, which involves starting with a small fire and building up to a rager over a few days before you can cook.  This bad boy cannot get wet.  I waited for the weather to be gorgeous and then I was off to the races.  It was the last week before the kids went back to school, so things were crazy.  The oven was slowly burning on the third day when my neighbor (who I really like) snagged me as I was walking to my car en route to picking my daughter up at practice.  "Did you get a smoker or something?  What is going on back there?"  I realized that my little exciting oven may not exactly please everyone.  I quickly pulled out my cracked iPhone (I am holding on until the 12th people!) and revealed my adorable oven.

"You have to admit you are jealous." I said as he leaned in his eyes narrowing in effort to make out the oven image through the splintered glass.  He laughed and told me that he expected an invite to dinner.  Done.  Could it be that the smell of hardwood burning for three straight days as smoke billowed over the high fence for hours on end was not appreciated?  Maybe I should have apologized....

Finally, the oven was seasoned.  It was Manny's birthday and what did he want?  Pizza.....  When the oven arrived on the 22nd, he wanted to know if it would be ready by his birthday.  I told him that if the weather cooperated that it would.  He quietly stated that if ready he wanted pizza in that oven.  I told him that I was going in green and it could be a bust.  He was willing to take a chance.

Just in case of a pizza fail, I fried up some zucchini flowers.  You can get Manu to do just about anything with fried zucchini flowers.  He obsesses about them.  I fry them in sunflower oil.  A few weeks back Whole Foods was out of sunflower, so I substituted my usual for high temp safflower oil.  I did not tell anyone this as it is not important and I continued.  The drill goes like this, as I batter and fry the flowers, my family hovers. As I place the finished flowers on a paper towel lined plate, hands are already reaching.  I fry four at a time, so one person (me) has to wait for the next batch.  I have to say EVERY TIME, "please wait, they need salt."  Salt is drizzled and did you blink?  They're gone.  I am always asked if I stuff them followed by some tale of how they had stuffed zucchini flowers with this or that...blah blah blah.  Never.  I will NEVER stuff them.  I digress...I fried the flowers in safflower and Manu grabs the first out.  Crunch....crunch... "Mom?  What's up with these?  They're...I don't know.  They don't taste as good.  They taste, I don't know.  Heavy?  Something is not as delicious."  John then chimed in that he agreed.  Okay freaks.....  I love them.  I had sunflower for his birthday.

Back to my oven.  We roasted some red tomatoes and some red peppers.  Manu got involved.  Although the laser thermometer seemed to entertain all, poking the peppers and watching the 1/2 sheet pan warp was a good time.  I wanted to drop the peppers directly into the ash, but was nervous.  It is amazing.  The oven was hovering around 600 degrees, but the tomatoes cooked slowly.  The peppers needed more time.  I should have left them in longer.  I will continue to work on it.  I cranked the oven up to 900 degress. It was pizza time and I was up to bat.  The first pie was a bit burned on the edges as I accidentally pushed it into a smoldering log.  Manu smiled big as I slid the pie onto the board in front of him.  He took a bite...slowly, very slowly he smiled.  "This is awesome mom.  Better than all of the regular oven pizzas.  I like the wood taste."  That was it.  Not another word as he was busy.  Manu is a tomato guy. We had tomato salad with some local heirlooms, those roasted tomatoes (which were so good, it should be a crime) and tomato pie.  He finished the night with a lemon meringue pie.  He does not like cake (weirdo).

All in all, the maiden voyage was a success.  I did burn the edges of two pies and completed busted up a third.  I tried to turn it into a calzone, but all was lost.  It is going to be a good fall....

A Recipe For Books!!!

For those of you who know me, know that I am a voracious reader. I loveloveLOVE to read. I rarely let a day go by that I don't spend some of my day buried in a book. I prefer the old school kind of book. I find the idea of running my finger across the screen to turn the "page" extremely unsavory.

I am a bit obsessive and get on a kick and read everything I can get my hands on in a particular genre. Right now I am on my 6th book written about or between the late first century to the 4th century. It never gets old. Those Romans are insane! Last summer was the summer of Shakespeare (I read 12 plays back to back) followed by a fall of 14th century writers (Boccaccio, Chaucer, Alighieri). I jump around for no rhyme or reason. Sometimes it is not the period, but the style. I had a dark moment where I read every Bukowski and Fante book available. It was this time that my daughter tricked me into reading the Twilight series! Not really. My daughter wanted to "discuss" the book with me!! How could I turn her down. I will be honest, not a literary masterpiece (Some Bronte watered way way WAY down), but a great story. Read all four in 6 days. It was the literary shower I needed after spending all that time with Bukowski.

About 10 years ago, someone gave me the book Barrel Fever by David Sedaris. I roared while reading in bed to John's annoyance. "Steph, pu-lease. It cannot be that funny." It was. I immediately ran out a purchased every book he had written. I eagerly waited for his next book to arrive. My impatience led me to Augusten Burroughs (which never satisfied me). I loved Mr. Sedaris' audio books (that voice!), his spots on This American Life, and his pieces in the New Yorker. One of my favorites has always been Holidays On Ice. The point in Mr. Sedaris' life where he worked as an elf at Macy's during the Christmas holidays. His humor was so raw and exposing. I admire his courage.

So, today I decided to give you my recipe for the perfect holiday gifts for your own Book Worm!!

1. Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris. Trust me, this hilarious account of Mr. Sedaris and his family during the holidays is simply one of the best books ever. Well, if you don't include his other Books.
2. Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon by Pablo Neruda. This a book of poems that touch on love, on food and life. It is playful and exciting. His rhythm is soothing.
3. The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor. A short story master. No one highlights the light and the dark like Ms. O'Connor. Love the short story.
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Truly magical. I recommend the Barnes and Noble version if you dipping your toe into this pool for the first time. These versions are fantastic and make the reading easy to reference.
5. Selected Letters by Vanessa Bell. Vanessa Bell was Virginia Woolf's sister and part of the Bloomsbury Group. She was an artist and her letters to Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant and Roger Fry are a fascinating insight to the time and their social circle's reality.
6. The Progress of Love by Alice Munro. Sad and beautiful and shocking. Short stories that are thoughtful and spectacular.
7. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. The only Italian cookbook you will every need. Trust.
8. The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beard. For you non fiction lovers out there. A spectacular book on Pompeii and the culture of ancient Rome. Could not put it down.
9. Mindfucking: A Critique of Mental Manipulation by Colin McGin. A small book by an amazing thinker. Forgive the profanity, this is not a profane book. It is a beautiful and thoughtful exercise, whether you agree or not, in the act of mental manipulation. I enjoy his writing.
10. Ghost Wings by Barbara M. Joosse and illustrated by Giselle Potter. I wanted to include just one children's book. My kids are long out of picture story books, but this is one that we still read. It is the story of the death of girl's abuela and it's subsequent emotions. It touches on the Day of the Dead and the migration of Mexico's monarch butterflies. The illustrations are breathtaking.

I know this list is limited, but I could have put on 50 of my "favorites". A little Updike, some Didion, a pinch of Suetonius, maybe some Bukowski or Fante. I love books.