On Scramping

In which we make an indelible mark on the English language.

Scramp
\ˈskramp\
Function: verb
Etymology: Modern English; originated by the Guff
Date: 21st Century
1: To purposely foil someone's plans or schemes.
2: To place someone in an untenable position (as it related to the Settlers of Catan).
3: To screw someone over.
- scramper \ˈskram-pər\

Synonyms: scrimp, shrimp, scrimp-scramp, shramp, shrimp-shramp
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It is impossible to spend any time with Will, Colleen, Kevin, Carrie, Tim or I and not here the word 'scramp.' It is our own personal addition to the English language, and we use it, a lot. I think the greatest thing about the word is it's versatility. You can scramp, and thus be a scramper. You can be scramped, and thus be scramped upon. You can be scramped by a person or a situtation. You can scramp a person or an object. It's quite fun. Check this out:

"That scrimp-scramper shramped the last shrimp, I've been scramped upon."

The terminology is seeping into the lexicon of our settlers games, even to those who don't normally join us in shrimping have a tendency to deride any shramping that occurs.. Hopefully the use of scrimps will continue to proliferate throughout the ages. Don't be surprised if one day your kid has to spell "shramp-nar" on a spelling test.

Feel free to try it out in your daily life. Next time you feel like you've been scramped let those shrimp-shramps know it. It will make you feel better, I promise.

Shrimp'in ain't easy.

On Bringing Italy to the Backyard

In which ovens, deliciousness and memories are made.

I'm going to go out on a limb and declare, to the entire interweb, that I enjoy pizza. I know what you are thinking, bold. But it is true, pizza is tasty. When I was a kid every Friday night was pizza night. Quickly grabbing for the nearest corner piece of the Pizza King pizza is indelibly etched into my mind. As I have grown my pizza tastes have matured. Where once I only enjoyed cheese pizza now I prefer a wider array of tastes, though you can keep your onions and black olives away from my slice thank you very much.

Last Sunday my pizza eating experiences took an exciting turn in a new direction.

For a while now my friend Will has wanted to have a pizza potluck where people come over and bring their own pizza toppings so we can make pizzas. The reason behind this desire stems partly from Will's enjoyment of community and food but mainly it stems from this------------>
This is Will's clay oven. He crafted it himself in his own backyard. To use it you build a fire inside of the dome which heats the clay walls and brick base. The heat then radiates with in the oven and you are free to put bread, or in our case pizzas, inside.

It is a pretty incredible thing to witness. The temperature will reach approximately 650 degrees. At this temp you can cook a loaf of bread in about fifteen minutes. Our pizza's were being cooked in an average of seven minutes or so. The greatest difficultly comes in getting the pizzas in and out, there are very few spatulas long and sturdy enough to be used. I think Will should invest in a wooden pizza peel, but that is just me.

As amazing as Will's oven is, without pizzas to bake it is just a mound of clay and straw. Step one was making crusts. We could have used cheap pre-made crust, or something from a tube, but that noise is for busters, and we ain't busters. So the Guff (Will's brother) make some crust for us, we had plain wheat, pesto, and basil parmesan. Hat's off to Guff because all of the crusts were stellar.

Once our crusts were flattened out it was time to make some pizzas. We had a wide range of options, but instead of going into all of them I will just tell you about the best. Mine. Now I want you to know that I'm not calling mine the best completely out of an ego trip. All of the pizzas were very good, but it seemed to be the consensus that mine turned out the best.

I decided to make a barbecue chicken pizza, I figured that would be a little out of the ordinary for everyone. When I was pulling together the ingredients I wasn't sure how it would turn out but it was way better than I would have guessed. A combination of the what was on the pizza along with it being cooked early on while the oven was at its hottest led to a thing of beauty. The crust was crispy, the cheese was just starting to brown slightly, it was phenomenal.

So now that your mouths are collectively watering at the sight of this delectable morsel I'm sure you are all wondering what is in it. Well that's the best part, it was super easy and super cheap. Behold!

Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe

• 1 can shredded all white meat chicken, drained
  
• 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce (I would recommend something smoked)
• 1 red pepper (sliced)
  
• 4 slices of bacon
  
• 1 bag shredded Kraft Four Cheese Italian Blend (or suitable generic equivalent)

In a sauce pan or frying pan empty can of chicken and cover liberally with BBQ sauce, heat on low to low/medium stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes until mixture is steaming. This will help to fully coat the chicken and cook in some flavor. Move mixture to a bowl and set aside. Clean pan, coat pan with extra-virgin olive oil (how can something be "extra-virgin" isn't it just virgin or not?) and roast red peppers until they are soft but not soggy. Cook bacon until crispy and crumble.

Spoon 1/2 of your BBQ chicken mixture onto crust and spread around. Cover with cheese. Place bacon and peppers on top of cheese. Add more cheese.

Cook pizza in clay oven for 6 minutes.

Slice and enjoy. Please note, this recipe will make ~2 ten inch pizzas.

Told you that it was easy. If I make it again I will track down banana peppers, which eluded me on this run, I think it will add a great flavor.

Backyard BBQ Chicken pizza, causing friends to take cheesy self portraits since last night.