I have a history with pizza. When I was in elementary school, the cafeteria served pizza one day a week, usually on Fridays, usually with corn + a salad. I looked forward to Pizza Day all week; everyone did. We never had pizza at home (we lived too far out in the country for delivery), so it was a special treat. I even remember the very first time I went to Pizza Hut with my parents and sister….oh my goodness! I didn’t know pizza could taste so great! Brent loves it also, so we typically order it once a week.
My favorite is from the Gondolier – nothing tastes like this pizza and the crust is perfect. Unfortunately, there is not a Gondolier near Tuscaloosa. Or maybe that’s a good thing…..
So, I had two meals today, and both were PIZZA! What a great day!
After my dental appointment this morning (just a cleaning – no cavities!!) I met Brent for lunch at Manna Grocery and Deli (I suggested it because I was craving their sweet tea!). Manna may just be my new favorite restaurant. Brent had the stuffed tilapia (which looked great) and I had the herb + veggie pizza with a side salad and sweet tea, of course.
This is it in the to-go box (at home), because I’m sort of embarrassed to take pictures in restaurants….I need a phone with a good camera so I can do it discreetly. This pizza was good, but hearty and I had lots left over to bring home.
Interestingly, we saw a girl from back home at Manna. We went to college with her at Tennessee Wesleyan and she ended up in Tuscaloosa also. We occasionally see her around town and later Brent or I always remark about how it is such a small world.
Today I also went shopping at Publix. Oh, Publix, I love you and your shiny clean produce. I miss you and your friendly employees and your bakery bread. I am seriously considering switching our E-mealz plan to the Publix option. While there, I found a few new products to try:
Bare Naked Fit granola (for my oatmeal) and an energy bar, Lay’s Reduced Fat Kettle Cooked chips (very good!), marinated tempeh, and a few pears. I have never had tempeh before, but have heard that it is good. Looking forward to trying it.
Thursdays are typically pizza + The Office…Yay! We also got caught up on 24.
They accidentally gave us one cinnamon stick with our breadsticks. Brent remarked: “It’s like finding a tater tot in your french fries.” Exactly!
And then I decided to try chocolate-chip cookies from scratch. It was kind of a whim. I did modify the recipe only a tiny bit based on the ingredients I had in the kitchen. It took three batches to get them right, but they were really good! Still not perfect, though, but I will work on it! The secret is taking them out of the oven on time, which is actually before they look done. I didn’t have enough vanilla extract, so I added a teeny tiny bit of almond extract. I will leave that out next time, as it made the cookies taste a little too sweet. But they were beautiful! I love, love, love baking. I totally calms me down and lifts my mood.
First batch: too big and too crispy.
Second batch: better. With milk: perfect!
Tomorrow it is back to work….evenings for 3 days, then two days off, three days on, two days off!
No comments:
Post a Comment