I was not a fan of canned tuna as a youngster. But something Marty said a while ago about the sandwich made me try one. I found out that I like them now. But I am particular on how they are made. The bread must be high quality and should be able to stand on its own. The same goes for the cheese.

Melt two ounces of butter in a pan. Take two slices of H.E.B.’s jalapeno pepper cheese bread and soak up the butter on one side. Leave that side down on the pan and place a slice of Boar’s Head Monterrey pepper jack cheese on top of the bread. Spoon half a package of Starkist chunk light tuna in water on top of one of the slices of bread. Season liberally with salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, and red pepper flakes. Put the other slice of bread on top to complete the sandwich. Let the cheese melt and the butter brown. Help the process along by pressing the sandwich down. Enjoy immediately (even before you cook another).

The Simga 8mm fisheye lens was interesting to shoot with. The camera is leaning over the table at an angle and close to the plate. Even with two big lowel lights, there was not enough light on the cut side of the sandwich. So I used three 580EX speedlights. One one the camera as a master. And two held off to the sides in my hands that were slaves. All three were on 1/64th power.

I had some Strawberry Rhubarb pie at the Monument Cafe and just had to make it myself. It is simple to make too. Well, if you ignore the first attempt where I cooked the strawberries and rhubarb before it went into the pie. I was hoping to turn it into a jam-like consistency. Both both ingredients broke down completely and turned into mush. So, for the next attempt, I just dumped one 16 ounce container of strawberries and one 16 ounce bag of defrosted rhubarb into the pie after mixing it together with a cup of brown sugar, a fourth of a cup of ground tapioca, a tablespoon of cornstarch, some salt, some cinnamon, and some vanilla. The first problem with this version is the amount of water that came out of the berries and barbs. The tapioca and cornstarch was inadequate to soak up the liquid. But it turned out to be okay because I just poured it out after it came out of the oven. The other problem was that the heat of the oven had a dry roasting effect on the berries/barbs and not what I was looking for. But it was still tasty though.

I make three batches of dough at a time. And I store the dough in the refrigerator. Which lasts for a couple of weeks before I have to toss it (the moist environment is a breeding ground for mold). During its time in the refrigerator, the dough will rise somewhat. I take the dough out of its container a couple of hours before cooking and let it warm up and rise the rest of the way on the night of the pizza.

But, for the last batch of dough, I tried storing the dough in the freezer immediately after mixing it. This dough should last for months if not years in the freezer. But it requires extra steps before it is ready to use as a pizza. I let it defrost in the refrigerator for a day. And then I stuck it in the oven with the light on to proof for eight hours. Which it did just fine. But it was now too late to make pizza. So I stuck it back into the refrigerator. The next day, I plopped it out and made pizza. I think sticking it back into the refrigerator actually helped a bit. Because the cold dough sticks to itself better. I can easily and carefully remove the dough from the bowl without deflating it that much. Which leads to an easier to stretch pie.