Rusted Sun Pizzeria

I love pizza. Maybe a better title for my blog would be "A Lifelong Romance with Pizza." I'm slightly picky about what's on my pizza, like I'm not a fan of sweet pizza or regular pizza having sweet things on it (Hawaiian) and I usually don't like plain cheese because that seems like a waste, but I love pizza. 
Now, everyone has their two ends of the spectrum on..pretty much anything. You know, what you get just because it's good and cheap and then what you get because it's the best. My good and cheap is Little Caesar's, but what I really wanted to tell you about is the other end of my pizza spectrum. I've pretty much had pizza in every state I've been in, which is most of them, and I've had many a homemade pizza, but (having not been to Italy, yet) this is it. The real deal. The epitome of fantastic, gourmet, how you want it, hole-in-the-wall, pizza. Dun dun dun...Rusted Sun Pizzeria. *fanfare and confetti* 
They have fantastic thin crust, yummy toppings, hole-in-the-wall eclectic atmosphere, and lovely people working there. To me, they seem kinda hippy-awesome, but without the being stoned all the time. They've been there for somewhere near 9 or so years (though I lose track because after high school, days and years run together). I've never eaten anything there that wasn't delightful, from the create-your-own pizzas and calzones to garlic bread to lasagna. Love it all. And in case you're thinking I'm just another normal American who just eats cheap, Americanized junk and has since she escaped the womb, I'm not. My mommy is the best Italian (and whatever else she decides to concoct) cook I know and I've been shovel-fed amazing, homemade, Italian fare since I was born (heavy on the shovel-fed because my mom only knows how to make army-size portions, but she birthed seven kids, so...). Anyways, Rusted Sun is on the west side of the street and they have room for a few cars in front of it, but mostly you just have to park at one of the places next to it--I usually choose Scone Cutter because they, unlike Curry-in-a-Hurry, don't have tons of lame signs everywhere saying they'll tow you if you spend a little while in they're empty parking lot. Try it if you haven't already and go fall in love again if you have. I'm drooling just thinking about it...someone get a towel...

I didn't take these pictures because, like an idiot, I always forget my camera when I go there, but Google is nice and has lots of results.

                                                 Calzone.

                                         Garlic Bread, Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Sign.

Pizza, Shirts, Garlic Bread.

Eat it. Love it. Crave it every day of your life.

Two Days of Pie

So, I recently bought the cutest little cookbook from Barnes & Noble's bargain section titled "Mini Pies" by Pene Parker, Becca Spry, and Sara Lewis because it was just too cute to pass up. Oh, in case you're wondering, I have a slight addiction to cookbooks. Anyways, I got the hankering to make mini strawberry-rhubarb pies for Dave. The book doesn't have it's own recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pie, so I decided to get one off Allrecipes.com and use the crust recipe, cook times and such from the cookbook. 
After staying up until 12:30 am, alas, I could not get the two crust recipes in the book to work enough to even get half a batch of mini pies. So, I used what I could and saved the remaining pie filling (which was most of it) for the next day and a regular pie. The little twerps tasted good, though, and I just chalked up to some crappy crust recipes. 

Mini Pie

Mini Pie Bite

Mini Pie Top

I went to the store last night and bought some pre-made crusts (by the way, that was the first time I've used those rolled up ones) so I could rid my fridge of otherwise useless pie filling. Hello, fantastic! The pie filling recipe is great and oh man, was that hot pie good with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream (I'll explain later on why I specify what kind of vanilla ice cream)! Now, I don't usually use pre-made crusts because I'm trying to improve my baking skills, but sometimes, you just gotta. 
I will share the recipe with you and a couple pictures I took, but I will tell you that I'm not the best photographer and my pictures are very basic. Just a couple shots of what I made. Here's the recipe, courtesy of AMLIW on Allrecipes.com:


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups rhubarb, chopped
3 cups strawberries, chopped
1 recipe double pie crust
1 egg white


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out one of the crusts onto regular pie pan/dish and trim edges as needed.
2. In large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and nutmeg. Stir in eggs. Fold in rhubarb and strawberries, coating well. Pour into pie crust and top with second crust, being sure to cut slits to vent steam. Crimp edges with fingers in whatever fashion you prefer, then brush egg white on the top crust. 
3. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until crust is golden and rhubarb is tender ( I have no idea how you're supposed to tell that from outside the pie, but whatever). Serve hot with some vanilla ice cream.

 I made some little letters from the crust trimmings. Cute! Oh, and I forgot to spread the egg white on the crust, in case you can tell. But it tasted great.

 Side view so you can see how tall and...whatnot....

Doesn't that look delicious? Love it!


Oh, before I close this post, I said I would explain why I specified what kind of vanilla ice cream to have. It's because there is a real difference between French vanilla, vanilla bean, and regular vanilla. French vanilla is made with custard, which is why it's yellow; vanilla bean is made with regular cream/milk and has ground vanilla bean in it; regular vanilla, the less fancy one, has neither custard nor beans. So, I figure if I'm having regular ice cream with yummy fat in it anyway, I might as well go for the bodacious one..er..yeah. Bodacious. I said it.

Just Starting Out...kind of...

This is my first blog ever, and yes, I know I'm a bit behind the times. I'll start off by explaining a little about myself. 
WHY: I decided to start a blog because my dream job would be to be a food critic. I've had a lifelong romance with food and I love trying new stuff. My favorite activity is going out to eat with my husband, Dave. I have an actual opinion about food and I don't discriminate based on anything but how it actually appeals to me (taste, look, texture, etc.). I was having lunch last week with a friend and mentioned my dream job and neither of us knew how you get into that. She talked to her husband and he, somehow, knew. He said you start out by making a blog, going to places a few times a month, and so on. So, here I am.
WHAT: Now, I don't just go out to eat--I cook, too. I don't really enjoy making real food (meals), but I'm obsessed with baking desserts. It's not that I'm particularly bad at real food, it just doesn't bring me joy because I'd rather go out to get it. Baking, on the other hand, is just thrilling! I'm not the most experienced or fancy baker, but I've been working on it since I was 15 and I would say that my treats are pretty dang tasty. So, I'll be writing about what I make and where I eat.
WHO: I don't want to talk about my every little thought and feeling; that's why I hate journaling. I just want to tell you enough about myself so you're not completely confused when I make a redhead joke or talk about what Dave thought of my cupcakes. So, I'm 24..well, will be next Saturday...anyways, I'm a 24 year old, natural redhead and prone to dying it lots of other colors, married to Dave, living in Utah and moving to Georgia in May, third of seven children, LDS, childless, aspiring baker and foodie. Yep, I think that covers most of the bases. 
So, let the baking, eating, and blogging begin!