Hobbies (non mc related ones), let's hear them???

We chase old Spanish treasure stories in the mountains and explore old mines. Sometimes we even make a little money doing it.
More than anything is fun being able to show my kids the history of the area. When you can show your kids a tree carving or trail marker made by Escalante they light up. Taking them a few hundred feet underground is a lot of fun.

This one was a late 1800's mine. Vertical shaft went down almost 100 feet then we found about 1000 feet of tunnels. Its pretty humbling being in pitch dark and dead silence, you realize how small you really are in the world.

 

Absolutely!
I was already tipped off by one or two members here on Caputo '00' flour, that is a must for pizza dough recipe. And it's what I was using solely until I located this more better recipe (IMHO).

Here's what I mix on smaller batches, makes a pair of 12" pizza's:
306 grams of Caputo and King Arthur bread flour (50/50)
9 grams of sea salt
202 grams of lukewarm water
2 grams of active dry yeast
4 grams of olive oil

Mix flour and salt in one bowl and the rest in another, then combine.
Mix ONLY to combine ingredients, cover bowl with towel, then let it rest for about a half hour.
Then knead dough for only about 5 minutes (do NOT over-knead), separate into two dough balls, place in separate bowls and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for 24-48 hrs.

The key here, IMHO, is to carefully manage the dough when you're ready make your pizza. Obviously, the dough balls will have risen and you're going to be flattening it out to make your pizza but try your best to leave the crust/edge as fluffy as possible. Turning/stretching it will probably be the trickiest part to learn but with time and patience you'd be surprised how well they come out.

A note on two key components, again IMHO, to make this experience more pleasant, otherwise, it'll just piss you off from wanting to make it again.

First, as shared by dsapsis a few months ago, if you'll be making these inside your kitchen oven, a steel stone has proven to be an awesome addition in our kitchen and I'm telling you, the pizza's cook awesome on it.

Second, wifey had a wooden peel, bamboo actually, but I never really took to it just cuz it's thicker than a metal one and I don't think the raw dough slides off it very well. SO I purchased an aluminum peel off Amazon and like using that more.

I'm no expert and still learning every time I make some pizza's.....my biggest gripe STILL is getting them off the peel easily. It seems as if no matter how much flour or cornmeal I use the lil bastid's stick to the peel at least 6-7x out of 10....very frustrating!

 

I'm surprised there aren't more responses like this

 

Between this and riding bulls... You, sir, are crazy

 

Mid 90's GM B-Body's.
This is my other toy:

Plus the woody '94 wagon I drive to the races in.

I do a lot of motorcycle endurance riding and touring on my '03 GSXR600, it's been to 49 states (and I've ridden in all 50) including Prudhoe Bay AK. Countless 1000 mile days, a 1600 mile in 24 hrs ride and did east coast to west coast in 48 hrs.



And Legos!

I sometimes shoot photos too.

 

In no particular order: beekeeping, chickens, woodworking, cutting/chopping firewood, maintaining tools and toys. And some of the other stuff listed here, too.

 

Refereeing.

 

Flying.
And I just got a BRZ so probably AutoX this year.

 

Any real appreciation of high quality audio reproduction equipment seems increasingly rare these days, not extinct but rare.

On your interest in tubes, My line stage (preamp) is a tube unit, I myself prefer a solid state amplifier with tubed pre amps. I think you'll like the oppo's, I have the 105d and am very pleased with it.

 

I don't know how true it is these days but back in the 70's and 80's when I talked to people who were really into audio equipment, they seemed to spend more time listening for the flaws in their systems than listening to the music.

 

The more I learn about the Oppo 105d the more I'm impressed. It's a player, streamer, DAC, sounds like it can be used as a preamp also? Is the "D" version a requirement?

 

That may be just as true today among many audio enthusiasts.

 

Craft Beer and 1980's Shelby / Turbo Mopars.... Been messing with them for about 20 years. Between me, my brother, and my Sons we have 8 or 10 of them, in various conditions that we show, auto X and drag race..

.

 

Yes, it's an awesome machine, you can indeed you it as a preamp if necessary, truth be told, I use it for CD's and SACD's only about 10% of the time, it's my preferred stand alone dac got files on my Mac and I stream tidal lossless a lot.

 

Awesome stuff Blake!

 

Odd choice for a bike to do that type of riding, guess that's why I think it's even cooler doing what you do.

 

Jesus Christ, not another Doyle...

 

Shooting guns
National Level SCCA AutoX
Stock Market
Bitches

 

Home audio gear chasing is interesting and all, but as a hobby -- as in making something -- let's talk speakerbuilding: woodworking, 'lectronics, design, all kinds of skills.

This is the second configuration in this cabinet, using only the top volume of the cabinet : an 18L reflex box with Scan-Speak drivers with help from Madisound on the crossover. Obviously the cabinets were designed for something bigger, and maybe this year I'll get around to the transmission line I have plans for, as these have worked for 16 years and could easily go into a different (and better) cabinet with stands. Still, does 36 Hz or so, and is anything but flabby.

 

This a 'Murica. Standard measurement conversions please?

A steel stone? Using a peel is frustrating. Does it also have to something to do with the size of the pie?