Free Pizza!

If you're a fan of paper-thin Neapolitan pizza (and why would you not be), don't forget to stop by Tutta Bella this week to get your free pizza! That's right. You have til' this Sunday to stop by for a free pie. If you're willing to brave the wait, and the screaming children (at the Wallingford location only) I highly recommend you take them up on this generous offer.

Via Tribunali: Buon Compleanno!

We've traded the cake and clowns for wine and buffalo mozzarella, but we have not outgrown the grade-school norm of pizza for birthday parties. Both times I've been to Via Tribunali, it's been for someone's annual celebration.

Photo from Via Tribunali

The newest location of the mini chain is a little outside the heart of Fremont, near a yoga studio, bookstores, and other neighborhoody spaces -- meaning more cozy than the weekend drunkenness of the Ballroom/Red Door region.

If Northlake is Seattle's strongest pizza institution (my mom's generation of Huskies frequented the tavern for heavy-weight slices piled precariously with topping), Via Tribunali is the best of the contemporary Neopolitan-style opposition: An average eater can devour an entire 10/12" pizza easily. Super-thin crust, restrained mostly-traditional toppings (meats, cheeses). The red sauce is awesome: a semi-sheer bright coating of perfect tomato. Other restaurants do the same thing, but none so well.

Plus, the big tables open for reservation, the mid-range prices, and the ideal balance between interesting/unusual ingredients and pizza's mass appeal make it a pretty great bet for your grown-up soiree. Feel free to provide funfetti cake -- we're getting old, but not boring.

TGI Happy Hour Time!

Raven and I are hitting the town. OK, translation: one bar that looks like a deep dark haunted library, Bathtub Gin & Co., for happy hour in Belltown, followed by pizza in Ballard at Delancey - the new pizza joint by none other than Molly Wizenberg of Orangette. We're excited, so you should be excited too as review posts are sure to come.

Happy Friday.

Pizza for a Cause

Four people brutally murdered. Four families torn apart just days after Thanksgiving and weeks before Christmas. There may not be anything anyone can do to lessen the grief and pain of these devastated families, but there is something small YOU can do to help.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday (December 8th and 9th), Papa John's pizza locations in King, Pierce and Kitsap counties will be donating 100% of their profits to the families of the four Lakewood police officers that were killed last week. To find a store location near you, please click here.

Now, Papa John's may not be my favorite pizza place in town, but this just brought it up a few points in my book -- not in taste, but in heart.

Help spread the word.

Housewarming Treats!

I debated long and hard about what to make for my housewarming party this past Saturday. And by long and hard, I mean I thought about it for all of 10 min on Friday night. I didn't feel like over thinking it or agonizing over various dishes, so I opened my favorite no-brainer-I-know-most-everything-will-be-delicious cookbook: Giada's Family Dinners. Now I know there are a lot of Giada haters out there who think her recipes are boring and lack a lot of flavor. I for one, LOVE her cookbooks and think she is adorably sweet. The recipes and ingredients are simple and unpretentious, and are most often relatively easy to make. They are also easy to improvise on and add your own personal touches.

Here's the recipes I selected:

Rose Wine with Sage and Lemon Peel
I only got to try one sip, but I thought the sage flavor was perfect for fall and the lemon made the entire drink crisp and refreshing. Such an easy twist to liven up an otherwise dull bottle of rose wine. Next time I might leave the sage leaves and lemon peel in the pitcher instead of straining them out just for added visual interest.

Pizza Rustica
I'm always impatient with dough, so waiting for the dough to firm up in the refrigerator was the most difficult part of this recipe. Giada's recommends serving this dish at room temperature, but I think it would be better just outta the oven.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Always a winner. I love how the oatmeal make these a little more chewy and fluffy. The Heath bar adds just a hint of toffee flavor. Yum!

Though not a Giada recipe, I also baked a fresh loaf of the famous NY Times no-knead bread. Raven first introduced me to this recipe about a year ago, and I absolutely love it. The perfect rustic loaf of bread to accompany a cheese plate, soup, or pretty much anything.

All of these dishes (+ plus a cheese plate and veggie tray) easily fed 20+ hungry guests and were fairly inexpensive, which is definitely a good thing when you've just purchased a house. Though I chose to have a cooking marathon Friday night, -- making all of these dishes in an intense 4-5 hour time span -- a sane person could easily make these dishes a few days in advance so your kitchen doesn't wind up looking like a hurricane of flour blew threw hours before your party.