Melted Cheese

Cheese sticks must be hard to do right.  They’re so inconsistent.  But once in a while they’re perfect cruchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Today was almost like that.

Stopped by “metro caffe burgers and cheesesteaks” (their spelling) on my way to an appointment this afternoon.  Wanted something on the smaller side, cheesticks fit the bill perfectly.

The cheese was starting to burst though the batter, but could have been just a tad meltier and chewier.  An 8.  (10 cheesesticks are rare indeed!)

Stopped somewhere else recently and had the cheese sticks with marinara, I think this is a pick from Bull’s Head.

Enjoyed Speed Racer in IMAX at the Metreon yesterday.

Wish I could say the same for the concessions.

$12 personal pizza and a large drink.

More for popcorn.

Not just any pizza. Uno.

Two minutes to heat up.

(How? With a flamethrower?)

Looks OK, like a step up from frozen.

It’s not.

I can’t believe Uno let them put their name on this stuff, but it’s printed all over the box as well as the promotional materials in the lobby.

This is about the poorest excuse for melted cheese I’ve ever experienced in my whole life.  Besides there being little cheese, it doesn’t taste good or have a pleasant texture. The sauce is horrible and the crust is blah. Had to try and make up for it later by ordering Pizza Hut.

I wish I could get good melted cheese at the movie theater.

I’ve eaten Pizza Hut on five continents, including exotic locales as:

• Marrakesh
• at the Pyramids of Giza (with an air-conditioned second-story view of the Sphinx)
• near the Taj Mahal (paneer tika masala pizza, yum!)

Pizza Hut turned 50 this weekend.
Happy Birthday!

Pretty amazing when you think of how they started. (more…)

It seems to come and go.

Why is the perfect chewiness in melted cheese so elusive?

Even ordering the same pizza from the same place over time (eat in or take out), sometimes you get nicely chewy cheese, sometimes you don’t.

Last night I ordered mushrooms and extra cheese from Mozzarella de Buffala. The thick melted cheese was so amazingly chewy when it got here! Om nom nom nom!!!

But I couldn’t eat much. (Yes, that means that I’m getting over being ill.)

I wished I could recapture that chewy goodness in the morning.

I’ve never been able to reheat a pizza to get that perfect melted cheese texture. Oven or microwave, neither seems to work. I get the pizza warm again, or even get the cheese to melt, but the chewiness isn’t there (not to mention whatever happens to the crust).

A Quest
Perhaps there is a better way. (more…)

Though some amazing miracle, I’ve been asked to suffer through a Little Star Pizza four times in as many weeks!

I swear, these were all someone else’s idea, I just went along for the ride.

1. See the very first post in Melted Cheese for the story a boy, his bicycle, and a Little Star.
2. I regret not reporting in detail on the pie that Furry Little Animal got us when we helped her move a stainless steel bathtub across town from her friend’s house to her garden (under the lemon tree).
   Since she ordered it cheeseless to accommodate a lactose intolerant roommate, I figured I couldn’t technically give it an entry in Melted Cheese.  I have to say, though, Little Star Chicago-style deep dish is great even cheeseless. I don’t know how they make such a chunky sauce without a bit of liquid in it, but I’m grateful that they pile it on so thick.
3. Jody brought home a Little Star pie last week.
4. I heard from a long lost friend who suggested we get together at Little Star last night.

Little Star - Spinach blended with ricotta and feta, mushrooms, onions, garlic $18/$23

We ordered the large and asked them to skip the garlic.

This is the second time I’ve had this pie from Little Star, and both times I’ve found the spinach to add a little too much liquid. Odd since they manage to keep the sauce from being watery.

But that’s absolutely the only complaint I could possibly have about it.

I even eat the crust.

No bones.

I skipped Bay to Breakers this year. Or tried to. I watched the finish of the roadrace on TV and a few minutes of the coverage. Then went to Dolores Park to enjoy what was left of the sunshine as we transitioned from a few days of 90+ degree weather to typical San Francisco summer (windy, foggy, cold).

By mid-afternoon I was quite hungry and a friend called. She’d been watching the race, then started walking with it, ending up most of the way to the ocean. She was taking a bus back to her car and wanted to know if I’d like to get together for a late lunch.  A few calls and text messages later, we met at Jay’s Cheesesteaks on Divisidaro.

I should have realized it’d be a crazy day there… (more…)

Jovino and Timmii had the bright idea that there would be fewer people at Great America on Mother’s Day.

Less time wading through humanity and more time for bumper cars and roller coasters.

That was an easy sell, so I joined a dozen or so of their friends yesterday.

Good strategy. We could go on a roller coaster twice by getting on the back. Fun was had.

Melted cheese was also had. (more…)

Friends married today in an unusual ceremony at Maker Faire.  I got to help hoist a two-ton safe in the Life-Sized Mousetrap used to smash wedding cake 1.0. (Cake 2.0 was served later.)

Damn the anachronisms, full speed ahead. They had the good sense and generosity to hold a pizza and champagne reception after (including cake 2.0). Dozens of pies from Pizza Chicago in San Mateo. Lots of great veggie flavors for me to try: plain cheese, pesto and feta, tomato basil, and I’m sure more that I’ve forgotten with the bubbly. Yum!

I had the wonderful fortune to drive down and back with the officiant, Dr. Hal and the lovely Annie Coulter. Enjoyed their company very much.

Here’s a great article about the wedding and, seperately, a not-so-flattering photo snapped of me.

Jacob hadn’t eaten bread or beer for a week in observance of Passover. Tonight at sunset, he could have it again. He wanted Little Star.

Usually, he shares a thin-crust vegan pizza with his girlfriend Roxane. No cheese.

Fortunately, I was hanging around in their living room that afternoon. She could have a vegan pizza to herself.

Jacob and I would share cheese, and a thick Chicago-style pie at that.

(more…)