two pizzas

today it is miserable and cold and rainy, so i didn't do a lot of outdoor activities. i drove some roads, found some new campsites, make an unexpected trip into augusta; you know, stuff like that.

 at lunchtime i happened to be back in stratton and sometimes when i'm on the road i treat myself to an actual sit-down meal in a restaurant and not just a pizza that i'll eat for two more meals. did i mention that it was cold and rainy? and that i'm kind of sick of cold and rainy, which it has been since last tuesday? so i went into the diner, and they have good wifi and i was kind of expecting a breakfast anytime kind of place, but it was a salmon and cream cheese quiche kind of place, and i wasn't sure what to have so i asked the waitress if i was only ever going to eat one meal in this joint, what should i get?

and she steered me toward the flatbread pizza which to be fair was very unlike actual pizza but yet stunningly good. if i remember correctly, it involved garlic and boursin with grilled shrimp and salmon on a thin crust with red onions and capers.

 but then at dinnertime i had to make some choices because i was on my way back from augusta and hungry but not wanting to get a stupid chain sandwich i was looking for something local and i was coming around the corner in -i think- madison? and there was this little dumpy lookin' place called pizza-palooza or pizza-ramathon or something else dumb and it was the hoppingest place on the block so i went in there and asked the guy at the counter if i was only ever going to get one pizza in this joint, what should i have? and he said the kielbasa and pineapple pizza, fresh crust. apparently they also serve a pizza with a premade frozen crust that's thinner and some people like that, but he shrugged when he told me as if he couldn't figure why anyone would prefer frozen to fresh and neither could i.

 short version: the crust is good and chewy, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and tastes a little of herbs and garlic and just enough salt, but it is not brushed with additional fat, which means those flavors are there for real and not just brought out by fats. obviously if i'm having kielbasa as a topping fat is not my primary concern, but i have an eye for foods that are made flavorful with real taste instead of heaping on extra fats and sugars as happens in so much of the crap we get served these days. the sauce is good and the cheese is good, and i was doubtful about kielbasa as a topping and uncertain how it would pair with the pineapple but the guy at the counter knew what he was talking about. and it was fairly cheap as pizzas go. i often expect to pay about a dollar an inch for a two topping pie but this was about twelve dollars for a sixteen inch pie and just that much heaven.

 ok, i have to head to the beach now.