I have some fun eats to share! But let’s start with the reading. My goal for January was to read six books. Just like the rest of my January goals, I didn’t quite achieve that. But I did read five books:
And I’ve started two more.
A word or two about Sally McRae’s book. Sally is a professional runner. She’s not a writer, but she wrote this book all on her own, without an assistant or ghost writer. Keeping in mind that she’s not a writer, I thought she did an amazing job. And in case anyone is wondering how someone can run these crazy distances (she’s won Badwater 135 and competed in multiple 200 mile races) a glimpse into her childhood is instructive. Boy, did she have it hard. It’s a sad story, but the book overall is inspiring.
Let’s move on to the food!
Sunday was my husband’s birthday, so I made a brunch.
This was my husband’s plate, with a Just Egg omelette (recipe from Nora Cooks), air fryer potatoes, and coffee cake, once again from Nora.. My plate was a little less exciting, because I didn’t have the cake.
This brunch was YUMMY! But the fun didn’t stop there. In honor of the Lions-49ers game, I made a Detroit-style pizza. Actually, my sister and I had a pizza throwdown. She made her own Detroit-style pizza and we compared and contrasted. I used this recipe for my pizza, and subbed vegan cheese and left off the pepperoni. This type of pizza is traditionally baked in a special “Detroit pizza pan”, but who has one of those? As it turns out, my sister does! I knew I would be fighting an uphill battle in this throwdown.
Here’s my pizza (baked in a regular 9×13 metal pan);
The sauce in three rows is traditional, but I wasn’t really a fan of that. You either got a bite with a big glob of sauce, or a bite with no sauce. I sauteed broccoli with garlic and red pepper flakes, but put this “topping’ under my cheese, to keep it authentic-looking.
Here’s my sister’s pizza:
I was ready to declare her the winner, but she generously said we could call it a tie, and the important thing was that our pizzas were obviously giving the Lions good luck! It was a win-win! Until it wasn’t… sigh. So I guess we all lost.
However, the leftovers were even better the next day. The edges of the pizza got nice and crispy. I don’t think it would fool anyone from Detroit, but we enjoyed our pizzas!
Moving on- what to make for the Super Bowl? My sister suggested Rice-A-Roni (that San Francisco treat.) No, I don’t think so! (What in the world is Rice-A-Roni, anyway?) I’m rooting for Kansas City, which probably means barbecue (somehow this seems familiar.) If anyone has any better ideas for Super Bowl Sunday, please let me know!
What are you reading now?
Are you going to watch the Super Bowl? Who are you rooting for?
28 Responses
I need to get my hands on that Sally McRae book.
I’m on a biography streak right now – after Kara Goucher and Lauren Fleshman, I am now on Des Linden’s book. All of them are so inspiring!
Thanks for the tip, Jenny. It fits exactly into my current reading mood!
Sally’s book is incredible. I’ll just warn you that it’s part 1 of her memoir, and only goes through high school. She’s working on the next part now.
Boooo KC!!! Booo!! Your pizzas look interesting! I am a thin crust fan myself, but am always willing to try something at least once. It is a little strange how the sauce is in stripes! I usually make make your own pizzas with a group and that is always a fun time, as everyone gets to do what they like! Of course we end up sharing them but it is fun to have your own masterpiece!
Yes, this was definitely not a thin crust! The Detroit pizza crust is almost like focaccia, so once you get over that, it’s really delicious.
I wanted the Lions and the Ravens to get through so clearly I have no luck.
Those are really neat looking pizzas. I just love when food is even better the second day! My husband is away for the Superbowl, so we had our “feast” this week which was homemade nachos. I’m meh about nachos, but A and my husband LOVE them, so it was fun to see them so excited for a meal. L had 3rds, so I guess he tolerated them okay, too. Then I made an individual sized baked chocolate chip cookie pie recipe for dessert. I overcooked it, but it was still yummy…with a bit of vanilla yogurt on the side.
I just started My Brilliant Friend this week!
Homemade nachos might be a good Superbowl meal! It doesn’t have to correspond to a team- it could just be a fun, football-ish meal. And then we could have guacamole… this might be the Superbowl dinner.
Nom nom. I agree with your sister – there was no loser in this fight.
I haven’t read Sally McRae’s book, but I am here for DIY writing. I’d rather have a story told honestly and passionately. Not that you can’t do that and have another writer smooth it out, but sometimes raw is the way to go.
Raw, passionate and honest perfectly describe Sally’s book. She also has a podcast which I’m loving.
I really really want to read Choose Strong! I follow Sally McRae on Instagram and she’s such an inspirational person. I have read Reborn on the Run by Catra Corbett, a vegan ultrarunner who used to be addicted to drugs and now runs 100 & 200 mile races all the time. She’s no writer either but her story is very powerful!
I’ve never had Detroit style pizza but yours looks good! I have no plans to watch the Super Bowl since football isn’t my thing and I don’t care for either team but Super Bowl snacks are always fun. My vote is for nachos because you can never go wrong with nachos!
I’ve never heard of Catra but now I want to read that book! If you like podcasts you should check out Sally’s. Nowadays they’re more informal, with her talking and answering questions, but if you go back she has some incredible race recaps.
Okay, that’s two votes for nachos!
The sauce goes on top of the cheese, huh. I have never had such a thing – I like a lot of sauce generally, so I’m curious.
The teams my guys were cheering for both lost, so I guess they are now cheering for San Francisco. It was so interesting, we left Mexico on Sunday and the resort/ airport was full of people in KC merch. Not a single Ravens fan among them. Anyway, the game will be on in my periphery.
I think the sauce goes on top of the cheese so the crust doesn’t get soggy. But I don’t really know- I would love to know who came up with this!
I read a lot of good nonfiction in January, so I think I might be on a nonfiction kick.
Confession time: I am from Michigan and I’ve never had Detroit style pizza. I don’t actually care for pizza too much, but if I do eat pizza, I don’t want a thin crust. I am a pizza snob.
Well, I’m from Chicago so of course we had our own pizza. But it’s not far from Michigan and I’ve been to Detroit, and I had never heard of Detroit style pizza either. It really was good- probably even better if you could get one in Detroit from someone who knows what they’re doing.
I, too, am reading My Brilliant Friend, as well as The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (for a reading challenge I’m doing). I didn’t even know there was a Detroit-style pizza!?! It looks so good – I’ll have to pop-quiz my little family and see if they’d be into it.
I think they would like it! It’s definitely different from think crust pizza, but very yummy.
Gosh, I am remembering I read some runner’s memoir and she had such a hard upbringing and some of the things I read truly haunted me… people do amazing things from hard places.
How fun to do the pizza throwdown. You totally gotta do bbq for the Super Bowl. Vegan bbq is so good!
I definitely did BBQ last year. My only hesitation is that the sauce is sooooo sugar-y. I think last year I got a sugar-free BBQ sauce but it had some weird artificial sweetener in it. We’ll see!
I love that you and your sister organize this kind of cooking challenge!
I’m downloading Sally’s book, a short one it seems. I’ve watched few videos of her running the races. Will be interesting to learn more about her story.
Yes, it’s a pretty short book. Are you listening to the audio? I wonder if she narrates it herself (that would be good.)
I am dreading the Super Bowl, haha. Only because my nephew’s team is playing my brother’s team and it’s going to be TENSE. I am rooting for the 49ers, though, and looking forward to all the food at the Super Bowl.
I am currently reading Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez and LOVING IT. It’s so good! And I’m going to start My Brilliant Friend over the weekend. The first time I tried to read it, it was a DNF for me so I’m giving it a second try for the CBBC!
Definitely give it a second try- I can see how the beginning could be confusing. Just skip over the cast of characters, and if you feel like you still don’t know what’s going on, just keep reading and it will all become clear.
Ha, i can see how the game will be tense at your place! I’m rooting for KC but I don’t have my heart set on any outcome- I just want to see an exciting game.
I wanted the Lions and the Ravens to win so I feel very meh about the superbowl match up. I’m kind of a socialist when it comes to sports and KC has won so much recently that I’m kind of inclined to cheer against them? But I just really don’t care about either team. We don’t do much to celebrate the Superbowl now that we have kids. I wish it started earlier in the day! Taco’s bedtime is around 7 so we can’t really go anywhere to celebrate – not that anyone has invited us. Ha.
The strips of sauce is very odd. I wouldn’t love that either. But otherwise it looks great, even if you didn’t have the special pan to make it!
Right now I am reading “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” which I think I heard about from Anne Bogel of what should I read next. I’m not sure how I feel about it, yet, but much of it is set in a bookstore which is pretty delightful.
Oh now I want some pizza… but I do think Brooklyn pizza is the best.
I’m obsessed lately with Freida McFadden mysteries. I just read In Five years.
I don’t care about football at all, but my husband was VERY happy with the 2nd half of the game. If we watch the Superbowl (I suspect we will), it will definitely be SF for us. Rice a Roni is rice and pasta. I haven’t had it in decades though. But sourdough pizza might be a good way to go.
I’m reading My Brilliant Friend and Mika in Real Life. I’m loving both.
I didn’t realize Detroit style pizza was a thing until a pizza store opened up near us which served Detroit style pizza. My Husband loves it and he is very disappointed that the Lions are not going to the Super Bowl because he really wanted to order it for Super Bowl Sunday. As it is, I think we are having some kind of BBQ, and I don’t know… maybe dumplings in honor of SF’s Chinatown? Or sourdough boules and Ghiradelli brownies?
I am NOT a football person, I repeat, NOT a football person, but I’ll be watching the Superbowl (probably) and will be cheering for the 49ers (obviously).
Happy birthday to your husband! The food looks delicious and I spy the Secret SANta Mug <3
I don’t even know when the super bowl is on. So no no watching. I used to get up in the middle of the night and watched it also the oscars but the last time I watched a Super Bowl was when that gate got kicked down and nothing was moving for hours. That was hard n me around 3 or 4 am. and honestly it just isn’t a very exciting sport to watch.
It will be interesting to hear what you will be cooking. Maybe some shrimps or so when SF is in the final? But than as a vegan you probably don’t eat them.