BaltimOregon

Dandelion Greens, Italian Sausage and Fontina Cheese Pizza

Normally, dandelions, and the numerous other weeds that flourish in our yard, are my nemeses. But red cultivated dandelions, sauteed first in olive oil and garlic, sure do taste nice on pizza. And the ones in the yard will be easier to uproot now, with this trusty weeder my father-in-law just sent me. I’d like to forage wild dandelions but I hear they’re too bitter and tough unless picked when newly sprouted.

So I bought dandelions instead from local Denison Farms. Ivy Manning’s beautiful book was once again my inspiration: specifically, her recipe for Dandelion Greens, Italian Sausage and Fontina Cheese Pizza. EatingWell gave it their stamp of approval. Using the dough hook on your KitchenAid mixer, preparing the pizza dough is a cinch. No kneading necessary. I like her half whole wheat blend. Using a cornmeal-dusted backside of a baking sheet, we finally also successfully thrust the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven.

The sharp yet gooey fontina cheese (from Willamette Valley Cheese Co.) stood its own against the garlicky bitter greens. The anise and grease in the Italian sausage sweetened the deal, binding the flavors together. The sausage was supposedly ground from Carlton Farms pork, though the staff at old-school Emmons Meat Market looked at me strangely when I asked if the pig, beef and salmon were local. The pork yes, but the beef was from the Midwest and sadly, the salmon was farmed.

But the pizza was delish! We didn’t even miss the tomato sauce. Now if we only had the truffle oil for drizzling on top (which Ivy said was optional). Ah, the power of suggestion. I did miss it.

Pizza boy

Neko Case/Flickr Creative Commons/By rgordon

Thomas Lauderdale ’92 and China Forbes ’92, both of Pink Martini/Flickr/Harvard Magazine

Dan promised we could trade concerts for friends with this move half-a-world away, which happens to have quite a nice music scene. Well, he managed to get at least get to one out of the three of them with me. We saw The Decemberists in Eugene, and though they put on the most visually and technically involved show, the performance was the least memorable of the three. Still, Shara Worden was especially sultry and potent on “The Wanting Comes in Waves,” thunderously bellowing out the “This is how I am repaid” chorus.

But the best of the three concerts was the one with the least pretense and artifice: Neko Case last night, again in Eugene at the McDonald Theater. She was so honest and real, no make-up, almost too-tight jeans, unkempt orange hair she kept fidgeting with, tucking into a bun and behind her ears. At her concerts, she bans photography and truly seems uncomfortable on-stage, her fears somehow assuaged by a more powerful urge to perform and assert her story. Her timidity is part of her charm, making those hard-wrought songs more poignant. This isn’t easy for her but she’s here. She forces herself to get up there for you. Back-up singer Kelly Hogan (ATL native, Elaine) is a spunky extrovert who really defuses the tension for Neko. She’s almost like her ventriloquist speaking for her, freeing Neko up to do what she does best. “Middle Cyclone,” the title song from her new album, most resonated with me last night. Whimsical, anime-like, hand-drawn movies also accompanied each song, amplifying their effects.

And the Pink Martini show with the Portland Symphony last week was spectacular, but now I’m concerted-out. Part of it is just having to drive an hour-plus each way to see these shows. We don’t get too many big acts in Corvallis.

With their big band, cabaret-style songs in Spanish, French, even Turkish, Pink Martini’s music resonates with people of all ages and cultures. Their first big hit, “Sympatique,” topped the charts in France. It’s so authentic-sounding my mom could have sworn it was an Edith Piaf song when I sang the “Je ne veux pas travailler” lyrics to her. Pianist Thomas Lauderdale is quite the overwrought showman. He and lead singer China Forbes met as undergraduates at Harvard, bonding over late night opera sessions in the practice studios. My actress sister and her friends were that way in college there. The most memorable part of the night was when China Forbes and conductor Carlos Karlmar traded places, she conducting the orchestra and him launching into a German aria.

Now we’ll take a concert break until September, when I got tickets for Pittsburgh’s finest laptronica dj Girl Talk. We’ve always wanted to see that tiny dancer live.

If we only had a wider range of indie rock stations in this land where bluegrass and folk music rule. We’ll have to content ourselves with OPB Music and KBOO for now.