pizza
John and I are alike in many ways. Unlike Sue, who sticks with every project until it's perfect, we're both <a href="http://www.uuwayland.org/Sermons/041024.pdf">"satisficers"</a>--willing to stop at "good enough." We can both be pretty cynical and generally realistic. But boy, do we cook differently. Here are two of John's five Saturday evening pizzas. Even though he's been using the recipe for years, he pulls out his <i>Joy of Cooking every</i> time and conscientiously follows the recipe for the dough. The cheeses he pulls from the freezer, where he put them after he individually packaged up a dozen or more carefully measured two-cup combinations of mozzerella, parmesan, and romano. He cooks the sauce, following a recipe. He rolls out the pizza dough and puts it in pans so it gets a nice square edge. He sets the timer while they bake. When they're done he slides them out of the pans and onto a cutting board where he cuts the slices before sliding them back into the pans. Beautiful and delicious.
Me? I haven't looked at a recipe or carefully measured anything for a bread or a pizza dough in years (and in fact have been lately seeing if I can make things like muffins and pancakes without looking at a recipe). My pizza sauce is a can of crushed tomatoes with some seasoning on top. My cheese sits in the refrigerator gathering mold until I decide it's time to slice off the mold and use it in a pizza. I pat my dough into my pans and I cut it into slices in the pans (the pans show that, of course). We both make good pizza, but I do feel like something of a slacker, and an inefficient one at that, when I watch him make his.
Me? I haven't looked at a recipe or carefully measured anything for a bread or a pizza dough in years (and in fact have been lately seeing if I can make things like muffins and pancakes without looking at a recipe). My pizza sauce is a can of crushed tomatoes with some seasoning on top. My cheese sits in the refrigerator gathering mold until I decide it's time to slice off the mold and use it in a pizza. I pat my dough into my pans and I cut it into slices in the pans (the pans show that, of course). We both make good pizza, but I do feel like something of a slacker, and an inefficient one at that, when I watch him make his.