DiFara's

DiFara's prices have increased, but it still is well worth it. It's
not my favorite pizza in the city, but its close.

I went there today with some coworkers. Most thought the square pie
was truly special, while the round pie was merely good. Both are
rather rich, but the square pie has that rich, proscuitto-infused
sauce. For me, though, the relative lightness of the round pie made it
preferable.

Pizza Making

Lately I have been making pizzas at home every week. It is cheap, fun
and not actually all that hard. This weeks pizza was my first really
successful dough. It was soft and stretchable. I made it fairly wet,
gave it a 20 minute rest before and after kneading the dough, and did
a 15 minute wet knead.

I also baked it on the upper part of the oven, which encouraged
browning from the reflected heat from the top of my gas oven.

Overall, I think it came out pretty well. I now need to work on
getting more oven spring, probably by playing around with yeast
quantity and rise times.

Chao Thai

For lunch today I stopped by Chao Thai in Elmhurst. I decided to order
one of my favorite dishes from Sripraphai, Penang Curry. It was
soupier than Sripraphai's, and therefore didn't have quite as much
punch. But, it was still a tasty, spicy and balanced curry, with that
familiar earthy pungency that makes a good Penang Curry.

I'll have to try this place again, as well as the other numerous Thai
places in Elmhurst.

Nutrition House

In Milpitas, CA, near the Ranch 99, I had a meat-filled dinner of
DongBei cuisine. The Chinese name is 5 Fish 2 Loaves, a New Testament
reference that is overanalyzed in many comments I've read. It is at
least a better name than Nutrition House, the English name.

There was lots of good stuff here, but the highlight was probably the
impossibly tender lamb meatballs.

The latest in my cappuccino creations. I really think I've got it now.