Pizza Paradise

Warmer days and crops in the ground mean there are many summer pleasures on the horizon. Today's musings were brought about by my buddy Kirk putting a stake in the ground and scheduling our summer pilgrimage to The Pizza Farm.

The Pizza Farm (formally known as A to Z Produce Farm) is the front yard of a working farm in Stockholm WI, about an hour southeast of Minneapolis and one of the coolest secret/insider things I know about. During the summer months on Tuesday nights only from 4:30PM to 8:00 this family turns their farm into a wood fire pizza kitchen.

Each of the ingredients is either grown on the premises or from neighboring farms (happy pig sausage) and the outcome and the ambiance can best be described as casual summer awesomeness. I am certain this pizza ranks as some of the best pizza I will ever have. Top five for easily--and that includes empty placeholders for Italy.

Now, all you get is pizza in a box so the rest of the experience is up to your own design. Some families have tables with place settings and even a little centerpiece, others come with simply a six pack and picnic blanket. Good times with great friends and phenomenal pizza.

Stay tuned for pictures and the 2010 rundown after we make the trek in late July.

Dear Ticketmaster

I would have more respect for you if instead of an $8.75/ticket "convenience" fee you just called it profit, overhead, jets, genital waxing.... whatever it is you do with the money.

Because frankly I cannont fathom just who exactly you're conveniencing with this crap.

Bravo Post-its

I live in a townhome and in August 2009 the association did some painting and made some repairs to the siding. This meant we needed to remove our house numbers for a few days. To ensure my pizza and UPS deliveries still arrived on my doorstep I wrote my house numbers on Post-it note and stuck it on the vinyl siding. The work was completed by the end of September but I was not ready to reattach house numbers that I never really cared for. I took this opportunity to find some that I really liked.

After shopping around, on foot and on-line I found some house numbers I really liked but then the busy holidays were bearing down on me, and then the Christmas super-storm, and then that long and brutal cold snap. I was in the thick of winter and there was not enough daylight much less warmth to undertake this exterior project. Heck, there were days it was so cold I’m pretty sure the juice in my level would have froze. Never fear, my address Post-it held strong.

The snow stopped in February and March brought a slow steady thaw and longer days with warm sunshine. Just before Easter, when I resolved to take down my Christmas lights, I installed my new address numbers.


That little square of paper with the removable sticky held up through a Minnesota fall AND winter facing rain, sleet, snow and wind. However, a note to my friends at Sharpie… I did have to rewrite my house numbers three times.

Bubble Pizza

I owe this recipe to my dear friend Deena who I used to share a standing Wednesday night dinner with in the good ol' days of 90210.

There are many different variations to this comfort food gem. I'll start with the original and then highlight variations at the bottom.

Barbecue Chicken Bubble Pizza
3 tubes regular size refrigerated biscuits.
1 18.5 oz bottle of barbecue sauce (I like Ken Davis)
4 chicken breasts, roasted on the bone
1/2 red onion sliced thin
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Tear each biscuit into thirds and roll into a ball. Mix in a bowl with barbecue sauce. Pour into 9x13 cake pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Remove cooked chicken from bone and dice. Spread over biscuit/barbecue sauce mixture. Sprinkle onions and cheese over top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.

Delicious variations:

• Taco pizza style: substitute 1 1/2 pounds cooked ground beef for chicken and Ortega taco sauce for barbecue sauce. Use cheddar instead of mozzarella. Service with fresh tomato, black olives, salsa and sour cream.

• Bacon Spaghetti style: substitute 1 1/2 pounds cooked ground beef for chicken and add half about diced cooked bacon, Hunts traditional spaghetti sauce for the barbecue sauce. Use white onion instead of red. Stick with mozzarella.

• Meatball Sub style: substitute 1 1/2 pounds cooked meatballs for chicken. Use marinara sauce instead of barbecue. Use provolone instead of mozzarella.