A Sense Of Smell

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The padded mailer arrived today

It was from my brother – he’s a poetry man you know.

I suspected a birthday card, but not in a puffy-air-filled package.

This felt more like a book – perhaps his newest collection of poems

                Very Exciting!

Inside was a book, but not his

                 instead

A vintage 1967 Rod McKuen, ” Stanyon Street & Other Sorrows”

Before I cracked-open its memory-sense pages

I slowly raised the edge of the book to my nose.

                Long, deep, inhalations – cherishing the flood of olfactory flavors

                                That an old book offers.

Like a fine red-vine wine or a rare-woodland truffle, freshly pulled from damp earth

                Each old book smell is uniquely unique.

His poems are filled with the essence of 1960’s life: mixed love; street struggle; childhood memories; innocence; lost friends; and death.

Subtle notes of rebellious freedom, VW van, Mary Jane and petulia oil, all lifted off my personal memory pages while reading.

Some panned his work — but they do not have the courage to write poetry, nor

A Sense of Smell

Positively Pizza

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I’d been thinking about making a pizza on my outdoor gas grill. So while shopping at a big box store, I found Molinaro’s pizza kit.

The kit contained 4 crusts and 2 pouches of sauce. It wasn’t ideal as I’d planned to make my own crust, but I figured this would get me going. Plus, the kit was under $8.00 dollars.

I decided that I wanted 3 cheeses and black olives. For spice, I included some red pepper flakes and diced green chilies. I also added fresh garlic cloves (not shown).

I used one sauce pouch, and then added my toppings.

I don’t have a pizza stone, so I placed the pizza on a piece of foil. I recommend a double layer of foil. This helps prevent the crust from burning.

I kept the temp at about 400 degrees. I frequently lifted the pizza from the foil to ensure that it was not burning or sticking.

Well, here it is! Amazingly, pretty good.

Here is another pizza that I made a few days later. Since you get 4 crusts in the kit, you can really experiment with the toppings.

I had my doubts, but it is… Positively Pizza!