When the Moon Hits your Eye...

OK, it's been over half a year since I posted on this blog. But I was just waiting for something this exciting to blog about!

I am PSYCHED about the awesome pizza Coley and I have been making lately! Coley got inspired a few weeks ago by this video of Jill Santopietro of the NY Times making pizza "in her tiny New York kitchen." He pulled out our beautiful blue Kitchen Aid mixer for its maiden voyage, and ever since, it's been homemade pizza or no pizza for us! You can do it too! It's pretty easy-- just check out Jill's video, and she'll show ya how (I want my brother to marry this girl).

Check out this close-up of our masterpiece from 3 nights ago. You know you want a succulent bite of the kalamata olives, feta cheese and home-grown basil on there. You could make this in your kitchen, too! It's pretty easy-- just check out Jill's video, and she'll show ya how (I want my brother to marry this girl). Our friends Dan and Mia taught us a couple tricks for easier transer to the pizza stone: 1.) a ton of corn flower underneath the dough on the sheet on which you're preparing the pizza, and 2.) wait for your homemade sauce to cool before putting it on the dough. Even when the transfer goes slightly awry, though, the good news is that a mangled-looking pizza pie is still a delicious pie when the whole thing came from scratch!

Sweet, Chocolate-y Victory!!!

Last night marked The 1st Annual Tucson Homebrew Chef Competition. Experienced brewers from all over Tucson presented their best porters and stouts in a blind taste-test to a panel of world-reknown experts for rigorous and grueling comparison.

... Okay, so actually this was a house-party competition between 6 good friends. Coley and I brewed a beer together, and four of our other home-brewin' buddies each brewed their own competition beer. And around 60 of our collective friends came to judge (and drink lots of free booze).

Each party-goer ranked the five beers on appearance, aroma, and flavor (with the results from each of those categories being given increasing weight in the overall judging). Coley and I brewed a mocha porter, in which we used fresh, dark french roast coffee beans and dark organic chocolate. We messed up the brewing process and accidentally made it too thick and rich (didn't quite sparge enough), getting just over 2 gallons out of what was meant to be a 5 gallon batch. Our friends' brews included a chipotle-pepper porter, as well as one with maple syrup, vanilla and nutmeg.

In a surprise underdog ending, Coley's and my beer really cleaned up, sweeping each of the three categories as well as best overall brew!

Our prize was this awesome NASA stein (circa 1990). It has relief pictures of the first steps (giant leaps) on the moon, astronauts after a victorious landing in the ocean in rubber rafts, and a majestic scene of a rocket taking off into space. Having this prize come home with us is kind of ironic, considering we were the only contestants who don't study astronomy for a living. Of course, those guys will have the chance to take it home after The 2nd Annual Tucson Homebrew Chef Competition....

As we've only been home-brewing for about a year, this accomplishment is really a milestone for Coley and me. I must say, we never would have come this far without all the tutelage over the past year of our expert-brewing astronomer friends. We recognize that we have stood on the shoulders of giants.


Recipe for Suz and Coley's Mocha Porter:

Grains:

• 11.25 lbs American Pale 2-Row
• 13 oz English Chocolate Malt
• 6 oz Carapils
• 4 oz American Black Roast Malt
• 1 oz American Roasted Barley

Hops:

• 1 oz Northern Brewer Hops
  
• .75 oz Cascade Hops
  

Yeast:

• California Ale Yeast

Extras:

• ~ .5 lbs. Dark French Roast Whole Coffee Beans
  
• ~ 1 (small) stick of Newman's Own Dark Organic Chocolate