Sweet Italian sausage and kale over the usual mozzarella and the aforementioned critically acclaimed Trader Joe’s pizza sauce.

So it’s a little burned on top. So sue me.

Hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes	Plain Ole Tomato Sauce from the Can
Trader Joe's Pizza Sauce	Frankies' Spuntino Gravy

Then I conducted a blind taste test with some discerning individuals. It should surprise no one that the stuff that was out of a can – even the fancy San Marzno tomatoes – pretty much lost hands down. What did surprise me was that the Trader Joe’s pre-made sauce was the overwhelming favorite. Even after I lovingly made the Frankies’ Spuntino sauce for two hours the night before.

You better believe I’m counting each of these as an individual pizza, especially since I actually made more than these four at the pizza party but didn’t bother writing down the ingredients so that I could count them towards my One Hundred and One pizza count.

Pizza #10 - Cheese Pizza with crushed San Marzano Tomatoes	Pizza #11 - Cheese pizza with canned tomato sauce
Pizza #12 - Cheese pizza with Trader Joe's pizza sauce	Pizza #13 - Cheese pizza with Frankies' Spuntino Gravy

Anyway the good thing about this exercise is that it inspired me to try to perfect my own homemade pizza sauce because I’m pretty sure I can do better than Trader Joe’s sauce with all its added sugars and preservatives. If I’m going to die of cancer it’s gonna be because of alcohol and sun exposure and not so TJ’s can keep their sauce on the shelf for an extra week.

Whoops forgot to set up a new series of these. Pizza Number Nine is a white pizza with mozzarella and ramp pesto, topped with scallions. (not pictured: the egg that slid right off the top of the pizza onto the floor of my hot oven which set off both the smoke alarm and a fit of profanity for 30 minutes)

Red onion & peppered salami over mozzarella/tomato

Left: Red onion, leeks, and prosciutto over goat cheese

Right: Roasted red peppers, shallots and peppered salami over smoked Gouda

These topping combinations were less than successful. The less said about them, the better.

Guanciale with caramelized onions and yellow bell peppers, mozzarella & tomato sauce.

There wasn’t much in the way of new music, movies and shows although I’m pumped that both Mad Men and Game of Thrones are back on the air. I did manage get in a good bit of reading and enjoyed The Orphan Master’s Son, The Sense of an Ending, Blue Nights and In the Garden of Beasts. The best by far was The Sense of an Ending. Fabulous book, five stars!

I also got to go back to Little Serow. The first time I went: no line, got a table immediately. Second time: no line but they were already booking for the second seating. Third time: arrived at 5:10 to people already waiting, massive line by 5:30. Made the first seating but I don’t see that happening again for a long time. So I guess I’m done going to Little Serow, which, by the by, is definitely the only restaurant in the area serving dishes that spicy to white folk without prompting.

Anyway, amidst my illness we went through the process of adopting a baby hamster from the Humane Society, an organization I will never work with again even if they did give me this little cutie. Her name is Dowager Countess Hazelnut Guantanamera Pinkman, but mostly we just call her Hazel or Hazelnut.

Swiss chard with fontina, mozzarella and asiago, tomato sauce

Broccoli rabe with onion, ricotta, asiago and mozzarella, tomato sauce.

I’m very sad to report that dear sweet Winnie has taken The Long Walk. Losing a hamster may not feel comparable to losing a dog or a family member but, in my opinion, it’s as bad as losing your camera on vacation or getting your car dinged in a parking lot and some people act like that’s the end of the world.

Anyway there’s not much more to say. We miss her.