Pizza night, behavioral economics, another gloomy day

We were extremely pleased with our pizza stone last night although we'll have to adjust our pre-bake and overall cooking times when using it. It really adds a great crispiness to the crust while maintaining a solid moisture content in the dough throughout. Perhaps you can see in this photo how brown and firmly the crust cooked up in just a few minutes but there was no tinge of burn in the taste or crumb. Terrific! It is so gloomy here today...ooh, look at the time. Behav econ later...

Pizza stone, MI: 4, T heading out...

Last minute today, T and I got a sitter so that we could catch a movie and just hang out a bit. It was great. We saw Mission Impossible 4, and I have to say that in its over-the-top way, I loved it. What fun! Scientology is beyond weird, and Tom Cruise seems a little off the reservation himself, but he's great in action films, and he looks hot with the longish hair he's got in this flick. Ooh, la-la...what a face! Afterwards, we toodled into Williams-Sonoma and hit the sale tables. Christmas cookie making set from $20 -> $2.99? Sure! Pizza stone about 70% off? I think so. We've been considering the latter for some time now, so went for it and it's heating now. It came with a grill base too which will be nice for not only pizzas but also flatbreads and other yummy bready stuff on the grill when the weather moderates. I'll let you know how our crust is tonight, whether or not I can detect any real difference. Some of these things seem a bit overblown, like Blu-Ray. T swears he notices a big difference- really? I cannot for the life of me notice anything. Sports in high-def? Yes- huge difference there. But I just don't get the Blu-Ray thing. I digress...

Some bad news as we head into the week: T is leaving for 4 nights-5 days. Yo! Who thinks I'm going to be prostrate on the floor by the time he returns home Friday night? That or nuts, or maybe both. I will try to embrace my nights alone, reading and cooking for 1, maybe focusing on less meat-intensive meals than I often consider when he's here. I'm definitely going to piece together that cured salad tomorrow night, jump back into Plenty (Yotam cookbook), maybe try another bread.

Ooh, the crust just came off the stone from its pre-bake and looks gorgeous. Off to dress it, more later.

Oh that Republican field, muffins! macaroons! Kitchen Need #4

Now really, what a bad couple days for Mittens. Turns out his measly 8 vote win in Iowa wasn't thus, and now he's lost S.C. too. So much of his own money, his and his family's time, and after all these years campaigning and trying on different identities, he's still not a sure thing. I'd have to throw in the towel.Sweater Vest racked up a bronze, giving him a late gold, this third and a random 5th. He's like a Tim Henman of politics. Ricky's definitely not a sure thing, and I don't see Florida as being the successful Hail Mary he'll need to really garner any tidbit of serious consideration (and thank god giving that his bigoted worldview would really set us back a number of generations). Blowhard Windbag of the Multiple Wives is surely on a high today. Can anyone even imagine how insufferable he must be right now? He already has such a grandiose sense-of-self; this morning he probably feels some sort of Christ-like anointing.

I'm glad he pulled out S.C. though, as you've got to think the Dems are feeling decently (despite a shockingly consistent inability to strategize and capitalize on any gains) good about November and the Repubs are surely sweating, not least because they know Gingrich can't win and know they'll have to suck it up and get behind Romney at some point- a hard one for them to swallow. Aah, a moderate in disguise! Horrors! ~~

I just pulled some banana-blueberry muffins out of the oven and cannot wait to sink my teeth into one. Momentarily I'll be posting the cherry-almond macaroon recipe too.

In the meantime, Kitchen Item #4 That You Need is actually a collection of small tools (many of which I've praised before) that make my life as a cook easier and more fun.

- a citrus reamer with a screen: you can juice with abandon while the seeds stay caught. Liberating! - a 2 tablespoon measuring cup: this is equivalent to ⅛ c, an amount I need on a regular basis. I use this measuring tool all the time! - two sets of measuring spoons: one for dry ingredients and one for wet. How annoying is it when your salt sticks to the spoon because you forgot you'd just measured oil/vanilla/etc? Never again! - an olive spoon: long handled, slotted...you'll never struggle with olives/capers/maraschinos/etc again! No unwanted juice anywhere, no need to use a second tool to drain your product- an all-in-one tool at its best! - a Microplane: enough said. - a crappy paring knife that you can use to pry things apart: frozen hamburger patties or hotdogs, sealed lids on jars, etc. I bought one for $4 in NYC years ago and we use it several times a week. The tip broke off which actually makes it even more functional!