My first mock draft for 2014 – that is, my projection of how the 27 picks of the first round will go – went up on Thursday, and I held my regular Klawchat that day as well. The next mock will go up after next week’s college conference tournaments; I’ll be at the SEC tournament in Hoover from Wednesday to Friday, if any of you choose to make that trip.
A friend of mine in the baseball world recommended the KettlePizza, a kit that sits on top of a kettle-style charcoal grill to turn it into a wood-burning pizza oven. He swears by it, saying he can get the internal temperature up to 800 degrees, which is enough for traditional Neapolitan-style pizza (my favorite kind). Have any of you given tried one of these? I’ve mentioned it to my wife in the context of my upcoming birthday … so any comments would be great.
And now, the weekly links…
- Did Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” rip off another song? If so, it wouldn’t be the first such accusation to succeed against the band.
- Melting of Antarctic Ice Sheet Might Be Unstoppable. Okay, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
- A new contender for “biggest dinosaur ever” has been discovered in Argentina. This would be my daughter’s pick for best link of the week.
- Incredible close-up footage of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. I’ve always been fascinated by that eruption for two reasons: It’s one of my earliest memories of a major news event, and volcanoes are awesome.
- Jackfruit: A fruit to feed the world? I first saw one of these monsters in Hawai’i, and I imagine you could feed a family of twelve on one of these.
“Who doesn’t love volcanoes? I mean, they’re mountains that shoot fire! That is literally the definition of the word awesome, am I right?”
Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2
I haven’t used the Kettle Pizza, but I know from lurking around pizzamaking.com that many home piazzaioli prefer the Blackstone oven from Cabela’s. good luck!
Cannot recommend Saw’s in Birmingham highly enough Keith. He has 3 locations, but I’d try the ‘Soul Kitchen’ in Avondale. The other 2 I believe are closer to Hoover Met.
Love the KettlePizza! Just used it tonight. Combine it with the Baking Steel and the Neapolitan Pizza Dough Recipe from Modernist Cuisine and you’re in business.
The Serious Eats food blog has great tips and reviews for the KettlePizza. Hope you get it!
I went to the NRA Show (National Restaurant Association, that is), and there were a couple of trends I saw that might pique your interest. My g/f is a food blogger and culinary instructor, so I got a ticket to go with her as a member of the press.
1. Waffles seem to be a big food item, and things to combine with or stick in waffles were plentiful. Waffles on a stick, waffle breakfast and dessert sandwiches. My g/f even thought of giving a waffle class because of it.
2. Lots of Mediterranean food, especially Greek, was around, though this may be a trend that is just continuing. Hummus, yogurt, gyros, olives, feta cheese.
Keith, I was eight years old and living about 100 miles due east of Mt St Helens at the time. The event and subsequent days and weeks are still quite vivid in my mind. A beautiful Sunday morning turned dark and it rained ash for days. To visit the site now is haunting and eerie as they have left the surrounding wilderness alone. It is still barren and desolate.
This is a good spot for more info on the Kettlepizza:
http://skyfullofbacon.com/blog/?p=5156