About Molly Wizenberg and Delancy for Pizza

I have been a fan of Molly Wizenberg for several years, ever since I discovered her blog, Orangettte.  Molly's blog, started in 2004, as a creative outlet for her passion of food, markets, cooking and recipes.  Orangette garnered awards and gained an international following.   

Here is a link to the Orangette recipe index.

Following the success of the blog, Molly wrote A Homemade Life, a delightful book of stories centered food memories and a recipe.  While the recipes are excellent and make you want to start cooking, it is the charming stories of family, friends and events that have you captivated.  

So, all of this to say that I just experienced Delancy, the restaurant enterprise of Molly and her husband, Brandon Pettit, located in the Ballard section of Seattle.  I read about Delancy in Molly's blog and a NY Times review and I was very excited to be able to enjoy the restaurant first hand.  

The restaurant is a casual pizza place with a hip vibe.  The menu includes several salad made from the freshest ingredients as well as killer desserts.  The focus, however, is pizza.  This is not just any pizza.  Brandon spent two years perfecting the pizza dough to rival the New York style pizza he loves.  The pizzas are topped with the the freshest vegetables, delectable cheeses and flavorful meats, herbs and oils and then baked in a wood-fired oven.  The result is a lovely chewy thin crust with a bit of a sourdough taste.  

Most pizza offerings are classic combinations.  I ordered the white pie with homemade ricotta, fresh and aged mozzarella, grana and garlic.  A dining companion ordered the crimini mushroom with fresh mozzarella, thyme and olive oil.  Another pie I sampled was the fennel sausage pizza.  My dinner partners and I ordered 3 pies with the intent of taking slices home for the next day.  That never happened.  The pizza was too good to not eat on the spot.  Click here to view the menu.  

If you can't get to Seattle, check out Molly's blog or book.  

Iced Tea to Quench Your Thirst

Iced tea is a favorite summer drink with limitless variations. 

Refrigerator brewed tea

Effortless iced tea "brews" in the refrigerator overnight with just cold water and tea bags.  In the morning, the freshly brewed tea is ready for garnishes of your choice such as mint, citrus or berries.

Lemon-rosemary sun tea

Nothing but fresh rosemary (from your herb garden?) lemon slices and cold water set in the sun to steep.  A simple "tea" that uses no tea leaves.

Flying eagle iced tea

An adult iced tea with mint, lemon and vodka added to brewed tea and simple syrup.

Red iced tea

Citrus added to brewed Red Zinger and Raspberry Zinger tea bags garnished with mint.

Blackberry lavender iced tea

 Add blackberries and dried lavender to English breakfast or Earl Grey tea and sweetened with simple syrup.

So do you prefer sweetened or unsweetened?  Herbal, black or green tea?  

Dinner Party: Decor and Dinner

We gave a little dinner party last night.

I used a lot of color and a nature theme for the table decor.  The napkins were black with colorful insects and the salad plates were underwater scenes.  

I found colorful buckets at Target for $1 and filled two with flowers and one with shells and another with sand, a candle and shells.  A few more candles completed the decor.

Dinner was this roasted sea bass that takes a total of 10 minutes cooking time and is plated with grapefruit and oranges sections as well as avocado slices.

Pan-roasted Sea Bass with citrus and avocado from Bon Appetit

 We started with olives and this easy flatbread topped with olive oil, onion, sage and tomatillos, and cherry tomatoes. 

Julie's flatbread  from Martha Stewart

We baked these on the grill.  

Dessert was chocolate cake with ice cream and raspberries, but I was too exhausted to take photos.

Have a delicious weekend and I'll see you on Monday.  Ciao!

Do You Know Donna Hay?

Have you ever seen a Donna Hay magazine?

Donna Hay is like an Australian Martha Stewart but only the food part, no crafts, gardening or other non-culinary endeavors.  Her recipes are simple and the photographic illustrations beautiful.  You will notice that the seasons are reversed with fall recipes being featured now since that is the present season in Australia.

If you cannot find a magazine or would like to visit the Donna Hay website, click here to view the website.  Here are some recipe examples.

Chili chicken with snow pea salad

Slow-cooked beef ragu pasta 

Greek salad

Brownie cookies with peanut butter frosting