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Thread started by nathansnider at 02.11.09 - 11:12 pm
It's on! We will be building a top-secret experimental pizza oven prototype at the Salton Sea, and we are inviting everyone to make pizzas in it!
Construction of the oven will take place mostly during the day on Saturday, and that night, amidst all the other chaos of Ridazz Camp, this new kind of fire will, we hope, be burning brightly and ready to transform your pizza dreams into the purest and tastiest form of pizza love. Anyone who would like to contribute their skills and/or brute force to the oven construction effort is more than welcome to take part.
Also during the day on Saturday, we will be making the dough and sauce for about 30 medium-large pizzas. That is a veritable mountain of carbohydrates. If you feel that all this bike riding has left you ill-proportioned, with freakishly large legs and a comparatively puny upper torso, this is your chance to work those arms! Come knead some dough and crush some tomatoes.
Again, I will be supplying the materials for the dough, the sauce and enough cheese to cover maybe a dozen or so pizzas. In the spirit of (or at least a token nod toward) radical self-sufficiency, I ask that you bring your own toppings as well as your great zeal for pizza making.
If you forget to bring a topping, do not despair; there are plenty of fish in the Sea!
@User1: Yes, please! We need to shovel dirt, smash concrete and scavenge for materials. There is much to do.
@danya: I've never tried colby/jack on a pizza before. I suspect that it might not melt quite as gracefully as mozzarella, but with some complementary toppings, it could work.
@funanu and thunderthighs: Yes, yes! More cooks in the kitchen!
Everyone else: Borfo has thrown down the gauntlet! Do not let him go unchallenged - bring some amazing toppings! Please note that Clif Bars and trail mix do not count as toppings. Bananas might, though...
Thank you to everyone who made the pizza a success!
There were so many people who helped turn this totally unrealistic scheme into a reality that it's hard to list them all, but let me try... Huge thanks to User1, brassknuckle, sous-chef katiepoche, danya, theroyalacedemy, Candy Cane, larsenf, Kuby, Borfo, Dak, Mook, sexy, bigsexxy, skano, Laharr, Moth, and everyone else who put time and materials into getting the Hitchhiker's Pizza Oven up and running. You Made It Happen!
And thanks to everyone who brought toppings. And everyone who made pizzas. And everyone who ate pizzas. And everyone who gathered around the glow of the oven. It was a beautiful thing to behold. Really, thank you. It was amazing just to watch.
I hope that the oven survives to bake more things in the Future. And if not, I hope that it at least makes a beautiful new condo for some coyote.
Here's to an amazing community that can bring such ambitious and impractical plans to fruition. You can build a pizza oven in the desert, which means that you can do damned near anything.
Nathan your hitchhiker's pizza oven was one of the major highlights of the trip man. Thanks for that. My hummus and cheese pizza was sooooo tasty. Sitting by the oven keeping warm and watching that pizza cook and being among friends and part of this resourceful community of people and enjoying the vast and starry night sky... that what exactly what I kneaded....
It's been said that necessity is the mother of invention, but whoever said that is dead wrong. We didn't need pizza at the Salton Sea. But that lack-of-need made the fact of it all the more amazing and wonderful and delicious and spectacular and nonsensical and beautiful.
Late Saturday night I took a step back and thought, "Nathan Snider made a pizza oven out of found metal and disused civic infrastructure today." That is a crazy and beautiful thing, right there.
Thanks for having the idea and the persistence in seeing this project through to it's completion. Tell the truth, I had my doubts while building it, that it was going to fly. The pizza was killer and if you want to build a more permanent oven, I'll be there to help out. Glad you came up with this idea, and it's a great way to give back to the people there.
I've been informed that there were some signs of Sunday night pizza-making activity left over on Monday morning. When I left, I'd guessed that everyone would be too occupied with other activities on Sunday to stoke up the fire again, so it makes me incredibly happy, knowing that people just picked up the ingredients and went for it. That's downright inspiring. Thank you, too, late night mystery pizza chefs.
The Hitchhiker's Pizza Oven, which we hope is still in good shape and not inhabited by any creatures too vicious or too cute to evict, will be fired up once again this year at the Salton Sea!
The "deal" is pretty similar to last year, except that we won't have to mess around too much with the actual oven construction this time (he said, hopefully). I'll be bringing ingredients for sauce and dough, but relying on the community (that's you!) to bring the toppings and the hunger, as well as a few other key items.
What I will be bringing:
-Ingredients to make dough and sauce for about 30 medium-sized pizzas.
-Some cheese, but not a lot.
-Knives, cutting boards, rolling pin, pizza screens and other utensils.
What I am hoping that others can provide:
-Their favorite toppings
-More cheese
-A shovel that I can borrow for repairs and renovations
-A table or other surface that I can borrow for pizza preparation
-A saucepot to borrow for the evening wouldn't hurt, either
-A desire to help
-Excitement!
-Hunger!
Anyone who thinks they'll have a shovel, table or pot to lend to the effort, please let us know! Everybody else: you've got a whole week to build up the excitement and the appetite. Get to work!
Still haven't paid my dues (but that should change as of 5:00 pm pacific time today) and I'm not sure if I'm going but should I definitely find the means and a way to go I'll be bringing a shovel or two... and will see if I can take a small table with me as well. I'm not 100% sure so anyone else with any of these items should definitely bring them up with them.
PS. What's the best cheese to bring? Is shredded mozzarella any good?
Thanks, Pizzacamp - you made it happen! Kudos to everyone who brought the ingredients, lent the tools and made the pizzas. Watching you all bring the oven to life was as inspiring (and as tasty) as ever.
We made twice as many pizzas this year - probably 25-30 in all - and now everyone who was there knows the pizza-making process from start to finish. Pizzacamp has their system down!
I was glad to see that a year in the desert had treated the oven so well. This year, in the hope that others will keep putting the oven to use, I left the tongs and a pizza screen in the desert's care as well. Let's see how far we can extend this trust.
Oh hey, so the Hitchhikers' Pizza Oven is happening again this year! Did I mention this already? I mentioned this already. But in case you need a recap, here's how it works:
As before, I will supply the dough, the sauce and all elements required for pizza construction. And just as before, if you would like a pizza, YOU should supply the following:
- Toppings!
- Cheeses!
- Your enthusiasm for pizzamaking!
- Your hunger!
Historically, the way this has worked is that everyone makes the pizza they want, shares it with everyone, and each person hangs around until they're stuffed. Nobody goes home hungry.
The exact hours of operation are still TBD, but we will almost certainly be cooking after the explosions on Sunday, and possibly on Saturday night as well. If I arrive early enough and the oven is already in great condition (let's all hope so, eh?), there may even be some pizza Friday night. I'll make announcements at the bar whenever we're about to start cooking, so just hang out there (or at the oven itself) if you want to be in the know about all things pizza related.
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Ridazz Roulette!
I'm a cuttin' up my pineapple tonight.