Weekend Cooking... Priazzo

 

"Food memories involve very basic, nonverbal, areas of the brain

 that can bypass your conscious awareness."

~Susan Krauss Whitbourne

Professor Of Psychology

Ahh... nostalgia. As you know, the older I get, the more things I miss from a certain time of my life. The 1980s, the best decade I lived. Well, that's not completely true, the 90's weren't bad either. I was newly married, and just trying to live a good life, with the love of my life. We had a lot of fun, still do, but without all the things we enjoyed. Like reading the newspaper, social influencers, and an array of food we enjoyed. Chow Mein with gravy, from our favorite hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, and the Priazzo from Pizza Hut!

Here's a commercial for it, from back in the day...

Oh my, my mouth is beginning to water. As good as the meat Priazzo was, my favorite was the Priazzo Florentine. All kinds of Italian cheese, ham and spinach came together to make my knees weak. I can't have spinach anymore, it was a casualty of Covid-19 Omicron. You would think that after all this time I would have those foods, like spinach and mushrooms, back to normal, but as I have said in previous posts, I think they are gone for good. Oh my.

🥹

Anyway...

Mental Floss, has a brief history of the rise and fall of that fabulous 1980's culinary yumminess, and another commercial that was done in the mid 1980s. At the time they seemed a little pricey, so I didn't buy them often, but when I did, I wasn't disappointed. 

A Taste Of Home has a recipe hack that looks pretty darn good to me. I plan to add different ingredients. I like veggie pizza, and I am going to make mine in a springform pan, using a regular pie crust, so we will see how it comes out. I will update on Sunday how it came out. 

Tip: 

If you use canned tomatoes in your own variation, 

use San Marzano tomatoes. They have the best flavor!

Until then, enjoy a little Dean Martin and visions of

 Rome, Portofino and the Amalfi coast.

Tip:

If you use canned tomatoes in your own variation,

 use San Marzano tomatoes. They have the best flavor!

Samsung S26 Ultra

 

"My cell service return all night, and all through the next day.

 It was like ancient times, with mead and beheadings and blacksmiths."

~Penny Reid

Homecoming King

My phone died a tragic death the other day. I bought it a couple years ago, and frankly I was sure it would die on day one. Let me explain. I had purchased a Samsung Galaxy 53A 5g from T-Mobile, it seemed like a good little mid-priced phone, but when I went to use it, there was a minor bit of trouble... it would call anyone but my husband! All other numbers worked, his wouldn't! For some reason, my new phone, hated his number! When I complained to customer service, several times, I finally received a replacement phone... a refurbished version, not a new one! I bought a new one, I should have received a new one, but deep in the contract, I had agrees to receive a refurbished version, if my new phone failed. Sigh. Two choices were in front of me... I could pay it off and go elsewhere for cell service, or I could deal with it, and keep a service I enjoyed! I am very happy at T-Mobile, so I took a deep breath and moved on. 

As I said... my phone finally went onto it's glory. It crossed the rainbow bridge. IT DIED! So, what to do?! Buy a new phone! Thank goodness I found a cell phone that finally, really, suited my needs... it features a phone with an amazing camera! The camera is probably the main consideration when when I buy a cell phone. I use at about the same rate as my Minolta camera, especially this time of year, as the Mexican Free-tailed bats return to Franklin Blvd. So far, I have been nothing but impressed my new phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, I have been nothing but impressed! Here are some examples of my new cell phone/camera's awesomeness!

My first photo... a dandelion from the Cosumnes River Preserve.

The Many Moods Of The Mighty Simon

Photographed in a low light setting.

Color Vibrance in a low light setting.

Tyler and Joey taking a nap on my futon.

May 29th 2026

And my new Samsung S26 Ultra has tons of photo editing tools!

 I may make a comic strip featuring the adventures of the Mighty Simon!

Okay, so you know how I feel about my new cell phone,

 here's where you can read some opinions from the experts!

Good Housekeeping

Consumer Reports

CNET

So, that's my big news. I can't wait for opening night of the return of the bats! 

I will definitely be taking the video option for a ride!

Western Pondhawk

 

"Chasing dragonflies, like buying good books or eating gourmet food, can be a curiously addicting."

~Cindy Crosby

Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural, Cultural and Personal History

If I have ever seen this particular dragonfly before, I never saw it this green or this beautiful! It's the, Western Pondhawk dragonfly, and I found it at the Cosumnes River Preserve. We were just walking along and then suddenly there it was. It was so beautiful! I love discovering new things, or at least seeing them in a new light!

Summer Sun, Somethings Begun

 

"Bees do have a scent you know, and if they don't they should,

 for their feet are dusted with the spice from a million flowers."

~Ray Bradbury

Dandelion Wine

Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer, but reality says we have about three weeks until the season really begins. Either way, there are signs everywhere that cheer me up in a summer way, and one of them is roadside sunflowers, and little bees enjoying them. It's a pretty happy turn of events, and quite welcome. Especially when it's May 27th, and it's cold.

 Mother nature certainly has a strange sense of humor.

😂

Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... Burn After Reading

 

Chad Feldheimer: Manolo, you DIDN'T find this.

Manolo: I found it on the floor there.

Chad Feldheimer: Yeah I know. But...

Manolo: Right there on the floor there. It was just lying there.

Burn After Reading

2008

How about a spy story that will make you laugh, as much as it horrifies you? Well, I will say one thing for this Coen brothers film, it will do just that. And as outlandish has as it is, it's also completely believable. It's Washington D.C. after all! And we all know how the nation's capitol seems to be right now. We have a FEMA official who thinks he can teleport to almost any Waffle House of his choice. A Health and Human Services Secretary who has been known to swim in raw sewage, and snort cocaine off a toilet seat. Then there's Trump, need I say more? When you consider all these losers, the losers in the movie seem perfectly normal. The twists and turns are hysterical! The Coen brothers flair for ironic humor can't be beat!

Just watch it... and laugh. You need it!

Be sure to look for a particularly funny and surreal scene, where

 George Clooney sings, My Eyes Adored You, while showering.

On Memorial Day 2026

 

"True patriotism is usually born of great sacrifice,

 and is never the result of selfishness."

~Napoleon Hill

As we stop today, to reflect and meditate on the heroes that have served their country and their better angles, I share with you some Motown jazz to make your day a little more relaxing. I am so grateful to my daddy and my father-in-law for their sacrifices during WWII, and to my brother during the Vietnam war. They were men who answered a higher calling from their county, for freedom and democracy.

Gentlemen, I will be forever be grateful for your service.

"Let their remembrance be as lasting, as the land they honored."

~Daniel Webster

Ellipsis Word Of The Week... Forplaint

 

"Never tell your problems to anyone... 20% don't care

 and 80% are glad you have them."

~Lou Holtz

Forplaint is a rare and obsolete Middle English word

 meaning, "wearied with complaining."

Forplaint used in a sentence... 

Trump's constant complaining about everything from what he deems the fake news, to how unfair it is that the congress doesn't just hand him billions for his stupid ballroom, has left me more than a little forplaint.