What Are They Feeding Us ?

Over the past five years , there has been an onslaught of bad news concerning the safety of food . Not just in fast food chains or impoverished towns , as it is now becoming common for us to be poisoned from the food in our neighborhood grocery store . So long gone are the days of trusting that what you are about to eat is gonna stay eaten . Will it mean a trip to the E.R. ? Stay healthy the news says ... followed by menacing details of another nationwide food recall . There were safety and regulatory agencies , who at one time were only responsible for the food at it's source and then passed on the responsibility to the retailers . They had plenty of money and personnel to get the job done and insure that dinner would be a winner . So , what the hell is going on ? What changed ?


Today , there is , at most times , a few thousand miles between field and table . This also means that countless shipping channels are used to get the food to your store , and makes it virtually impossible to trace the source of contamination . The Government of third world countries , where most of our food is grown , have shunned the responsibility of inspection in favor of the money the agricultural gold mine has put in their pockets . There is no U.S.D.A. outpost in the foreign fields of the grape farmer in Chile , or the cannery in Thailand that has a hundred container ships a day headed to the United States . This is a sad state of affairs that has gone on for far to long .


To combat this , and insure your better health , I suggest buying locally produced foods . Locally produced foods are grown by farmers within 50 miles of your home , and is known as the slow food movement . These foods encompass everything you can find at the store , from poultry to apples , and are much fresher and of a far superior quality . They also have a lower cost per unit and take a smaller toll on the enviorment , due to the reduced fuel used in shipping . If you wanna see America return to the forefront of the world stage , start by putting some bucks in the pockets of our American farming families . When a food source is known , an outbreak of contamination can be traced and prevented from happening again . By comparison , the outbreak of food born illnesses of recent days still remains unsolved and it never will be . The U.S.D.A. has given the blame to many a fall guy but has never published a conclusive determination as to the root cause of the source in even one case. It passes in the news as soon as the next great hoopla comes along , and until the next occurrence happens , is out of sight and out of mind . Unless you are one of the people now living with the effects of being poisoned .

The Weight Is Killing Me

Starting with no fanfare , I began waiting in line at my own home . First , it was just a little bit , and I never knew how much time was in a day . Now , It's been two weeks and the anticipation is thick . After leaving my power adapter in a workshop , I called a friend in a frantic panic .
" Dude , I left it at the top row , in the middle , plugged into the floor ". A few days later and no return call . This means bad news . So I go to the school and look where I left it . Nothing . I ask around and even have the Head Administrator's assistant call the campus Police . Nothing . So I ordered one from Amazon.com and even sprang for the two day shipping . That was two weeks ago ... two weeks in the middle of filming . Filming with no camera . Thankfully , someone came through with a sweet Pentax 35 mm . with a really nice set up . Tree , you saved the day .


Now , I am also waiting on some fresh mozzarella and provolone to age in the cave and have even smelled it in my dreams . The dairy is putting it out as they normally do , but the demand has skyrocketed and put the milking in overdrive . So , I'm waiting on this , too . On top of everything else , I'm waiting on some equipment I need to put all I've been working on for a year into play . Once it's in action , my life is going into top gear . The wait is heavy .



*Larry*

Pie In The Sky Season Two Preview

This is a short film about the new pies I 'll be making this season on "Pie In The Sky " . Featured on this pizza are some new cheeses and a new flour , both of which will be featured in review on an upcoming episode of
" The Pie Vlog ". There is also chicken breast on the surface , and that is new for me as well . I usually use shredded chicken breast . The new taste was so good that after I was done I laughed . I spent the whole weekend making pizzas and even though they all had the same ingredients , my favorite combo , the pies were as individual in flavor profile as fingerprints .

The reason behind the lighting effects in this movie are that on Saturday , I had a very strange day . Nothing bad happened , but just the way events of the day unfolded were so surreal that it bled over into my editing . I'm still learning Premiere Elements 7 , and just got a wild hair in me . I think it's been there my whole life , but I'm starting to feel my personality come on ....and well It's the way I do it . The new episodes won't feature anything quite this experimental , but my new show about the Ft. Worth arts scene will have more than enough adventure for those who like to see more of a person than is just in front of them on the screen . I am still gonna put together the art and the pizza , but after the initial roll - out , I am going to let the direction of the show go as it may . That organic type of style is what suites me and if you all wanna see something , let me know and we'll see how the pizza crumbles . Have yourself a wonderful week and smile... life is good .


*Larry*

Pie In The Sky

This is a preview of the new season of "Pie In The Sky " , and includes a freshly baked pie that knocked my socks off . It features fresh Mozzarella , fresh Feta , and Fontina along with Kalamatas , chicken breast cutlets , and roasted green bell peppers . The cheeses were all new and so was the cut of the chicken , as I have always used shredded chicken breast instead of chunks . The cheeses will be in an upcoming episode of

" The Pie Vlog " , as a review and you'll get all the dirt on them ... there was not dirt on my cheese ... it's just a ... well , you know . I washed it all down with ice cold Heineken and had to let out a few laughs at just how amazing this pie turned out . When I finished , all I could do was smile and marvel at the wondrous magic I had made .

Along with this preview , I have been hard at work on pre - production work for my other shows " The Pie Vlog " , and the new works I will be bringing you as soon as they are ready . If you wanna see a few still photos of my pies and behind the scenes goings on , you can tune into this blog , and you should check out The Coldhitz Channel on bakespace.com , and www.youtube.com/coldhitz . Slide photo viewer on www.bakespace.com/?coldhitz is always changing and full of the hot out of the oven pies I bake just about every weekend now . Sometimes they make it into the show and other times I just gotta eat em' and can't take the time to film them . The smell of fresh pizza is pretty tempting . I hope you've all been finding this out for yourself and let me know if you have any questions or pizza adventures of your own . With practice , you to will have em' running to your kitchen for the best pies in town . Stay tuned .

*Larry*

New Coldhitz' Credits

This is the new credits for " The Pie Vlog " episodes , to appear soon . Thank you for your support . Stay tuned .

*Larry*

On Break

Hello , all of you out there . I am taking a break because my hands and wrists are sore . I will be back as soon as possible . Thank you .

*Larry*

Wheat Crust Recipe

The most requested recipe , from all of you , has been for a wheat crust . From the tone of your letters , you've all been miffed a few times by something that is missing or something that just got screwed up . No worries , it's gonna be resolved in no time . We all make mistakes , but wheat crust is no ordinary , quick to the point recipe . You can only give it the old college try so many times before it's busted and you move on . So , here it is .

WHEAT CRUST

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Warm Water ( 102* exactly )

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 oz. Active Dry Yeast ( 1 packet )

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. Sugar In The Raw

INSTRUCTIONS

Start out by laying your ingredients out in plain view in a sizable work area . Organize everything you will need so that it's easy to reach and can be grabbed without looking around . This will keep your stress level down and that can go miles towards helping you stay levelheaded and focused . No fuss , no muss . Once your ingredients are in order , start by combining all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl . Stir together to combine . This is the surest way to guarantee a smooth , consistent taste throughout each bite of the pie .

Next , measure , at eye level , your water and take the temperature with a thermometer . 102* exactly ? Cool . We're rocking right along . Pour in your yeast and stir until it is completely dissolved , meaning that all solid pieces are off the spoon and you get a tan soup like consistency . I find 1 minute is adequate . The yeast needs to sit for 10 minutes . After 10 minutes has gone by ( use a timer ) , add the water and the Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( measure to 1/4 cup at eye level into the dry ingredients . Mix it up baby ! For complete technique on mixing , please see " Pie In The Sky , Episode Two , The Dough ".

COOKING

This is where I believe that most of you are going wrong . A wheat crust does not require any more baking time than an ordinary crust . In fact , what you all may be doing is cooking different thicknesses of pizza on my recommended time of 8 - 12 minutes at 475* . This is for Neapolitan , cracker to thin crust only . A thicker Sardinian , Florentine , or New York crust is gonna require more time and the amount of sauce should not combine with toppings and cheese to over weigh the crust . You , hopefully , wouldn't try to build a castle on a swamp . Well , if your foundation can't hold the house , you will end up with a sloppy , soupy , pie . BOOOOO !

I want you to continue on the path to the perfect pizza . I can tell you that after 20 years , I'm still turning out pizzas that are far better than the ones I made just a week ago . Conversely , sometimes they are miss fires , and the choice of cheeses and topping has blown up in my face with a big "man , that is off tasting " . I still eat em' up anyway . Enjoy , and let me know about your pies .

* Larry *