A Weekend of Pizza

Spent the weekend up in Albany visiting my brother and his brood o' plenty. Stopped by the parent's grave on the way up, and slipped a copy of Baby E's ultra scan into their crypt, that gave me a shiver. In Albany (where I went to college), we visited Souvrana, which was this remarkable little grocery store that happened to have incredibly delicious pizza. Back then, the only games in town were Souvrana, JG's on Lark Street, and if you were drunk and poor, two competing 50 cent slice joints across the street from the QE2 club. Anyway, Souvrana was a family-owned joint that has since gotten rid of the groceries and put in tables, but it still has a thrown-off vibe. The pizza has VERY thick crust for a round pie, not quite Sicilian but very doughy. And I found it tasty, but kinda....gross. Undercooked, too much dough in the mouth, no balance. I guess experience has put the squash on some forms of nostalgia.

Sunday morning with the brood, made bagels from scratch in the kosher kitchen. Was fun rolling the dough with the kids, but an unfamiliar oven ran a little hot and the bottoms got slightly burnt.

Sunday evening at the restaurant, fun time with friends I haven't seen in a while. It seems a wood-burning pizza place just opened 2 blocks down the street. Which reminds me, a wood-burning joint just opened up a few blocks from where I live. And when I was in Albany, I noticed 3 or 4 new pizza joints, including one slightly upscale joint. Are we in the midst of a pizza-bubble?

SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: 9am, 6 pieces of bacon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, olive oil torta, bag of corn chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30 pm, 2 slices of Souvrana pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, small salad, 1 small matzoh ball, 1 vegetarian 'chicken' patty, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SUNDAY
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, 6 mini muffins, half an unripe banana, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11am, 2 homemade bagels, hummus, cream cheese, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5-8pm, bites of pancetta, a meatball with a piece of focaccio, nibbles from the pizza topping station, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:15pm, pizza with stewed tomatoes, roasted red peppers, sausage, caramelized onion, mushrooms, basil and a light sprinkling of parm, rootbeer, small ramekin of chocolate rice pudding, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The roasted red peppers made this pie, and the sprinkled cheese made it just taste cheesy enough.