this whole pizza thing is getting out of control… and we like it that way

hi honey pies

i’m gettin ready to jump in my truck and head down to LA for a bunch of book parties, but i just had to share some exciting stuff with y’alls.

we’ve been peeing our pants with joy at the popularity of Monday Night Pizza… speaking of which, check this ridiculously rad graphic that the handsome + talented RJ Rabe just whipped up out of the bytes floating around in the ether –

(there may or may not be some posters in the works, stay tuned)

but let’s quit kissing each other’s butts for a second, eh? you’ve been very patient and understanding when it’s taken us a bit too long to get you the goods. we’ve been making just as much pizza just as fast as we can, but we’re in the process of re-imagining some stuff, which is gonna hopefully allow us to feed more people faster…

and in truth i am kinda jumping the gun on telling you all this, but i just can’t help myself, because i wanna make sure that y’all keep coming over on Monday nights and that you’re not deterred from waiting a half hour for your cheesy goodness… just don’t you dare give up on us and start saying stuff like, “oh yeah, Monday Night Pizza at The Mill? it tastes so frikkin good, but i ain’t gonna go back cuz i don’t like waiting that long for my pizza.”

instead, i want you to say stuff like, “oh yeah, Monday Night Pizza at The Mill? it tastes so frikkin good and i go all the time, just cuz i love it so so so much, it’s my favorite god damn pizza in the Universe.”

speaking of the Universe, when i was out on a river in the foothills the other week, which looked like this –

i was staring at the stars and pondering how they all look so similar to us, but in reality they have so many humongous differences between them. i mean, it’s kinda crazy – we look up at the night sky, and we see a sea of stars, and they all just look like variations on a theme… but there’s some unbelievably diverse stuff going on out there, we just can’t see it with our wimpy little human eyes… check this out –

ummmm, what are you even talking about?

hey now, come on, i was purposefully trying to spice things up because i figured you may be getting bored with all this pizza talk… i was leaving out some of the technical stuff because i figured you actually weren’t that interested…

well, i might be interested, if you say it in an interesting way…?

ok, i’ll try. just don’t be a jerk about it, k?

can’t promise you anything. 

wait a sec, hold on – you can’t promise me anything? well that’s screwed up, you should be able to promise some things… are you an all around untrustworthy person, unable to make promises??

you’re off topic baker boy, get to the point. 

right. so – thus far we have incorporated all of the pizza dough mixing into the rest of our dough mixing, but what we’re about to do is –

zzzzzzzzzzzz.

i told you it was gonna be boring!!

make it better. 

god, just look at this –

we’re gonna start making a special kind of pizza dough, a top secret sourdough pizza dough that we’ll be able to make exactly the way we want, no compromises, no if’s/and’s/but’s about it. and we’re gonna be able to make more of it. and at some point we’ll start serving pizza sooner in the evening. ya feel me??!?

ok, this is kind of interesting… what’s the big deal. 

we will imbue our pizza dough with our massive spirit and bless it with rainbow power and it will make you 10% smarter every slice that you eat. so keep it coming sweethearts. because at the end of the day we all just wanna be loved. am i right?

now we’re talking.

i’m outta here.

❤ j

one can never eat too much pizza (in august)

just a quickie here my dudes – here’s the pizza party menu for the next 5 weeks –

love you

❤ j

the woods are calling

well jeezum crow, i feel like i’ve lived a million years since we last spoke!!

just a few days ago i found my way to a lovely little river about 3 hours northeast of San Francisco. it was my first time out in the California wilderness this summer, and my goodness gracious me, it felt amazing. it really is just one of my favorite things in the world to do, to pack up my bag and just walk up the river and explore and relax for a few days. but holy moly, for this trip it was *H*O*T* – a whopping 100F on Monday! not to worry, we were never more than a few steps from the water, and we just spent all day splish-splashing around.

but i’ve been on the move a bunch over the last few months, what with a book to promote and a beautiful woman to marry –

but things are calming down now, and that’s just fine by me. i am so very excited for the book (a bunch of parties in LA, see below!!) but it’s also really nice to be spending time in the bakery day in and day out, making stuff like this happen –

it’s not that i wasn’t loving what i was doing, don’t get me wrong, but when i was coming and going every other week, i would just start to get in the groove and then *POOF*, i’d fly away. but i’m back for a spell now, so i should stop whining.

at least til the end of the month, when i head down to LA for a whole bunch of book parties!! check em out –

• Thurs, July 31, 4-8:30pm – Grist & Toll
• Fri, Aug 1, 7-8:30pm – New School of Cooking
• Sat, Aug 2, 4pm- Book Soup
• Mon, Aug 4, 6pm – Baker to Baker Discussion w Evan Kleinman & Zack Hall (e-mail roxana@cookscountyrestaurant.com to reserve a space), Vibiana 214 South Main Street, LA

do ya wanna come to some of em??!? well i would just love that, so if’n you’re in the neighborhood and in the mood, then please swing on by and say hey, ok? OK.

i’ll tell ya, it’s been kinda nuts, this whole “being a published author” thing. i mean, guys, people are coming up to me in The Mill and asking me to sign the book that i wrote. SIGN THE BOOK THAT I WROTE?!?!? i wrote a book?!?! and people want me to sign it?!?!?!?! i’m not sure any of this is really happening, but i will continue to act like it is, because it is very, very fun. and i get to do stuff like this, act like i’m a famous person on WCAX in Vermont –

i had no idea i was showing off my thigh tat like that, i’m not a floozy, i promise you.

but then i come back from acting like i’m famous, and my amazing bakers show me this –

so i get overwhelmed and eat 4 of them and just immediately pass out. btw – the magical light on this here peanut butter brownie is sunlight that streams into the bakery only for a couple hours in the afternoon, only at certain times of the year, like this time of the year. gotta appreciate the now, now don’t we, now?

well, i don’t wanna bore you, so i’m just gonna quit while i’m ahead.

but just let me ask you this – do you like bagels? think about it and lemme know.

❤ j