AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

[10 Tuesday] tomorrow is May 1st

May 1st is around the corner, and ever since college that has meant May Day at Fenmere. Now, I haven't been active in the SCA for more than a decade a long time, but it is still a remembrance of the rites of spring. This week's 10 for Tuesday were things you were looking forward to in May.

1. Going through at least 5 pounds of flour. I have tons, but I also have a gazillion food tabs up on my computer. My current use flour recipes that I hope to make soon are:

• Quick Chocolate Cake (vegan)
• Granny's Chocolate Cobbler
• English Muffins
• Whole Wheat Bread

That isn't close to the full list, but definitely an overview.

2. Finishing two sweaters. I have both a baby sweater and an adult cardigan on the needles, and I would like both of them done before Squam.

3. Selling our house. I am hoping it sells fast, but selling fast just changes one set of issues for another (though the second set of issues are easy to deal with in comparison).

4. Ultrasound. I had one just a couple of days ago, and I have a follow up in a couple of weeks. Seeing the ultrasound is really fascinating.

5. Seeing Iron Man 3. I'm not sure if it will have something funnier than shawarma, but maybe.

6. The Red Sox. My tickets are for May 24th (if I remember correctly), and it will be nice to see the game up close and personal.

7. Maintenance. It is a wonderful spot to be in. Two weeks ago we were cleaning and painting and busy all weekend long. Now we just have to maintain the cleanliness of the house and do small improvements.

8. More naps. Being in maintenance land means we can have more naps.

9. Stanley Cup playoffs. The long skate to the cup is about to start and that means more hockey on non-cable TV. Yeah!

10. Well, I've mentioned naps, and cleaning, and knitting and delicious food. Isn't that enough? No? Well, the nicer weather means I can enjoy walking outside. I'm hoping to get a couple of nice walks sans dog, because it is just nice to walk at my own pace and sans poo bags.

[10 Tuesday] Bad jokes edition

So, do you want the bad jokes or the Bad (wink, wink) jokes? So, to be blunt, most of my favorite jokes are either dirty or very not PC. Also, I feel as a natural blonde (no longer under red hair dye) that it is OK for me to make blonde jokes, so there are an unfortunately large amount of jokes for that too. Needless to say, my favorite blonde jokes are even less clean/PC. You've been warned.

1. The Red Banana Joke. This is one of the kings of the long joke theme for me. One of my friends told me this joke except all of the locations were changed. Unsurprisingly, the last location was frat row at his university. If you are a better joke teller than I, it can be a lot of fun. Me? I do much better on the shorter jokes.

2. The Mongol Horde Joke. Similarily long, but this one makes my history friends happy. The variant I've heard is very slightly different. Definitely not PC in today's world.

3. Not so much a joke as a funny video. Cats in Water. Like many things on the Internet, don't read the comments. They are just not safe.

4. How about those blonde jokes. They are not PC or clean in almost any way. Try this one: What's the difference between a male blonde and a female blonde? Female blonde has a higher sperm count.

5. Or maybe this one? What was the deaf blonde sitting on the newspaper? She was lip reading.

6. The Ultimate Dog Tease. Umm, yeah, video, but it is still funny (what, this was way better than pranks).

7. Now one of my friends from after college liked to tell this joke about a rock. I'd link to it, but I've never been able to find it. Like the first two jokes, it is definitely on the long side. Do you know how hard it is to find a joke only knowing, "Rocks don't move"? Definitely hard.

8. Back to the blonde jokes. What? I don't have a lot of content to work with here. What do you call a blonde who dyes her hair brown? Artificial Intelligence.

9. Also not a joke, but hey, it is also isn't a video! Try this from Not Always Romantic.

10. It's cute, not a joke and still a video. Sorry. But I didn't want to subject you to a long blonde joke. The short ones are bad enough.

Oh, and that moustache? That was the moustache I wore for Pirates of Penzance. I'm donating the boots and throwing out the moustache. It's just not worth moving it all the way to Kentucky.

[10 Tuesday] My mythical Powerball winnings

I always say that life would be different if we won the Powerball, but that would involve also playing the Powerball. Every time it gets into the 100 million range or higher I think about it, and even then usually never remember to buy a ticket. That said, if I won the Powerball, I would do a lot of things.

1. Get some professional pictures taken. I'm a little skeptical about the need for baby bump pictures, but I'm pretty much skeptical about anything where pictures are concerned.

2. Pay off the mortgage and, if there is a way to do it without slapping friends and family with a huge tax burden, do the same for them. Hey, isn't this on pretty much every home owner's list?

3. Go back to school. I'd love to have my degree sooner rather than later, and I've finally paid enough down to actually apply again. As much as I like Wellesley, I obviously cannot go back there as someone who needs night classes. There are just not enough to fill all of the requirements, so I would have to go somewhere else. And well, I'm obviously meant to be a librarian, so finish up and go to library school, natch.

4. Really research opening my own ice cream store or truck, including getting whatever needs to happen done.

5. Umm, I guess if it were a truck, I'd also have to learn how to drive. Well, it is on the list. That time is sooner rather than later.

6. Buy more yarn. We'll ignore for the moment that I am still selling yarn, and have a large plastic bin full of yarn that I need to photograph and post for more yarn sale (and it includes Madeline Tosh).

7. Put some aside (and donate a lot). Well, most aside. If we've lived comfortably on our two salaries this long, I don't think there is any need to go overboard. Especially if we pay off our mortgage.

8. Buy a fancy cheese to celebrate. It is my husband's favorite food (or at least in the ultra short list), so it would be nice.

9. Go to Japan. It is on my vacation wish list, and I cannot remember the last away vacation we had together (Squam is wonderful, but that is me sans husband). I think the last one was a cruise we went on in 2009, which means it feels like forever ago.

10. Get a lawn service. Our neighbors' lawns look pretty good, but ours has shown our struggles to get it all done over the past few years. I am pretty sure that even a single season of a lawn service would be an excellent idea. But this, like my idea to have a cleaner in, is going to remain a happy fantasy.

What do you want to do with your mythical Powerball winnings?

[10 Tuesday] thank goodness for March

This week's 10 for Tuesday is 10 reasons you are happy it is March. Now thinking about the months always makes me remember a story that I probably read in the Fairy Tale Tree. Google failed me this morning, so the story goes like this. A woman from a village is out near the woods when someone stops her and asks for bread (you know how these things go) and asks her what is the best month. She being nice and happy says all of them and gives a compliment for each month. Upon going home she finds that her bag is full of gems and coin. Her neighbor wanting her neighbor's good fortune for herself fills a bag with bread and goes into the woods. She meets the same person and is asked the same question. Her answer, of course, is far different. She likes none of the months as they each contain their own special misery. He gives her a gift and when she opens it, she is attacked by weasels (or some such). Now I really want to find the book!

So, I won't say that February was bad. It just felt like too short a month for all of the things we wanted to get done in it. It was certainly too short for the socks I finished on Friday, one day too late for making it within the month.

So, here are my top reasons for being happy it is March.

1. The arrival of spring. I know it is a little like beating a dead horse, because that was last week's topic.

2. Our floors are done and our stairs. They look gorgeous, but it made the last few days of February extra exciting.

3. This is the month we get to finish cleaning and packing, so we can put our house on the market.

4. Less doctor's appointments than other months. It seems silly, because they are just appointments for regular things, but it is nice not to have 2 or 3 of them (or more) each month.

5. Getting my kitchen back. It was the room most trashed by having the floors redone. I didn't do hardly any cooking over the weekend, because it was too much of a mess to even get to my island. Last night I was so happy to be back in my kitchen I made this Mediterranean baked feta with tomatoes with the haloumi I bought. It was delicious even with basic grape tomatoes from the grocery store. Tonight I'm making risotto with my pressure cooker.

6. Spring cleaning. We have boxes to put in the basement, stuff to bring to good will, and rooms to paint. It is the time of year to get all of these things done now that the windows don't need to be closed constantly.

7. More walking. Not that Victor has noticed much, but he got more walks this past weekend than he got most of the week before. I just dislike walking in the cold enough that I put him in the backyard to play when it isn't warm. Yesterday the elevator weather (hey, I get a lot of news from the elevator!) listing said it would be a high of 46 today. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that the wind is low enough that I can give Victor a good walk after work.

8. Ice cream season. While I am happy to eat ice cream year round even if it makes me too cold, it is now ice cream season. I expect that I am going to need to have my ice cream party early this year. It feels weird that I probably won't have it on the 3rd Sunday in July (National Ice Cream Day). Now I'm trying to find another sweet day that can be used.

9. Lysistrata. My friend's show goes up this month and while I was sad not to get in, given how tired I was for most of February when I was in training for the title of Queen of the Weekend Naps it was probably just as well. The show goes up in just over a week!

10. Monkeys. I don't think March is special for monkeys, but hey I didn't have a real #10 and I like monkeys. Helping Hands is one of the charities I like to support, because I love how monkey helpers aid and provide companionship to people. Besides. They are super cute!

[10 Tuesday] OMGWTF Snow!

I think that the quantity of snow we've had in February isn't the largest on record, but it feels huge. Between that and the need to pack, clean, and generally be adults when with the snow outside the window all I want to do is burrow beneath the covers, read trashy (or simple) novels, and sleep, here are my top 10 Reasons Why You Are Ready for Winter To Be OVER.

1. My husband's rink is mostly a bust. Between the snow making it hard to skate and the strange and annoying warm periods it just isn't staying cold enough and clear enough to use. If it isn't cold enough for the rink, then it might as well be spring.

2. Spring cleaning needs to happen. However, right now spring cleaning is winter cleaning. If I am going to spend all of this time and effort cleaning, then it could at least be nice enough to leave the windows open and get a refreshing breeze.

3. Walking Mr. Victor is much more difficult with ice everywhere. There was a lot of walking in the street this morning, with trips close enough to fire hydrants and poles for him to get his pee on.

4. I have some new clothes, but despite being bought over the weekend they are mostly too light to not wear a cardigan over. That mostly means that they aren't being seen. Almost shouldn't have bought clothes at all.

5. I'd like fresh produce. Right now everything is either green house grown or brought from across the country. I'd like something grown in Massachusetts. Of course, for that I might be asking for summer.

6. The days are getting longer, which is great, but I still miss the skies being light when I get home from work (right now they have at least upgraded to being light when I leave work).

7. Color. Winter does have it's own beautiful colors. Calming greys and crystalline blues and the bleached brown wood of trees, but I miss vibrant nature. Right now if I want a bright color I mostly have to supply it myself. Thank goodness for yarn and people who have gone on trips.

8. Being able to fix our fence. Right now it is partly knocked over from one of the vigorous winter storms. The repairs need to happen, but they mostly cannot happen before spring has arrived.

9. Squam. Technically Squam is in spring (late spring), and I am really looking forward to it. Every moment closer to spring is a moment closer to when I'll be walking around the lake and learning card weaving (hey it has been on my bucket list for ages) and taking a sewing class with Cal Patch. I don't always love the idea of making my own clothes, because I don't feel like I am awesome at sewing. However, I love having exactly the fabrics I want. It is a good tradeoff and I'm sure it will feel less like one as I get better at it.

10. Camp Loopy also starts in late spring, and it is a fun way to make a lot of projects in a relatively short period of time, especially when knitting oh so often takes a bit of a downturn as the days get nice and warm. I'll most likely be participating this year, though I might have to operate completely from the stash depending on what I've packed and knit up by then.

So, yeah, spring cannot come soon enough. Blurgle.

[10 Tuesday] Celebrating Valentine's Day

Now I'll admit that I don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day. I do a few things with my husband, but normally I'm working at a chocolate shop (Au Chocolat) this week, which leaves me too exhausted to put on a big celebration.

Now, I'm not working there this week, but I'm still too exhausted to really celebrate. That said, I do have a few favorite things I like to do to celebrate this (and honestly many holidays).

1. Create a special meal. Now, this has in the past resulted in zucchini puffs and lemon-marscapone heart tart-shaped things. This week it will probably involve pancakes. We missed National Pancake Day last week, so we're due.

2. Desserts. It's like making a special meal, except more specialized. My husband likes cheesecake and pumpkin, so those are always good choices. I like salted caramels and chocolate, so I'm in today's market stupidly easy to please.

3. Watch cheesy movies. Back when I was single I went to see Valentine, a horror movie, with one of my also single guy friends. While that was a lot of fun and a little thumbing of the nose at all the people that think Valentine's Day has to be romantic, there is something to be said for watching something cheesy. I also approve of movies that are only tangentially related to the holiday in question. I don't remember if I have one specifically for Valentine's Day, but I still love Sweeney Todd for all things Thanksgiving.

4. Scruffing the dog/petting the cat. While I do get to enjoy these activities every day, it is nice to remember how special the love of a pet is.

5. Play a game. I used to be interested in playing games a lot more often, but that has fallen by the wayside as I do more knitting and other crafts. It's hard to play a game when your hands are otherwise occupied. Valentine's and other special occasions are good times to remember that I actually like playing games.

6. Make something. Homemade cards, little drawings (mine are only a half-step above stick figures), Lego (just for my husband). All good choices.

7. Candy. A couple of years ago Au Chocolat had these giant sugar daddies that were very popular and hilarious (they were, for lack of a better term, frat paddle sized). Two years ago they had boob mugs, which people filled with foil wrapped chocolates or m&ms. I've also seen candy g-strings and other questionable items. I'd rather have one or two simple and delicious chocolates than those, but they exist if you have a different goal in mind.

8. Chocolate Body Paint. I have never given this to someone with any intent beyond gag gift. However, this has resulted in at least one thank you card from a boyfriend. If I give you some, I promise I don't need or want to know anything. And thank you cards are definitely not necessary!

9. A nap. It's still the only gift I ask for on a regular basis, but lately I've been giving myself so many naps that I'm not sure anyone else would want to even try to give me one!

10. Cuddling. If we had a fireplace, I'd say in front of a fire. Barring that, we've used a random "fireplace" movie from Netflix during a Christmas party, and we could pretend to cuddle in front of that I suppose.

How about you?

[10 Tuesday] Goals for 2013

I am not really one to do resolutions. I certainly don't keep them when I do make them. I think I exercised every day last year until I got sick in April, and then I fell apart and was very haphazard about exercise for the rest of the year is just a recent example.

I don't have many goals for this year. Well, I can come up with 10, but some of them are awfully generic.

1. Write every day. I picked up one of those sentence a day journals that lets you write a little snippet for 5 years. It's pretty cool so far, but I'm sure that things will go pear shaped eventually. Thankfully with this, if you miss a day in a year you can just keep going. No big deal.

2. Blog more often. Somewhere along the way twitter stole my urge to blog. Between Twitter and Instagram, I did the little snippets. Facebook was for reading what my friends were doing, but most of what I posted there were links. I'd like to say that means write more substantive content, but we all know that isn't going to happen. At least not this year. I'm OK with that as long as I get more in the practice of writing.

3. Be more open to new things. This year already promises to have lots of new things coming up. Some of these things involve acting like an adult and calling contractors and getting things repaired. It's not exactly very fun, but it needs to happen. Yup. Being an adult.

4. Oh, I guess being an adult could be on the list. But it's not really a goal. It's just that the consequences of not being an adult are nastier than the temporary pain of making lots of phone calls. Yeah. I apparently am pretty good at making calls to complete strangers, but that doesn't mean I like it.

5. Get healthier. I'm not sickly, though you couldn't tell that right now with my current cold. I had one last year that knocked me out for almost 2 weeks. I'd like to nip all of that in the bud, which means getting more sleep, doing a bit more walking, and stressing out less. All good things. Especially sleep.

6. Take my multivitamin every day. Nuff said. I know, it could go into get healthier, but I say no.

7. Learn something new. This one is easy. I got into Squam for what might end up being my last year (I hope not, but subsequent years will be more expensive to attend), and I am taking a card weaving class. I'm super excited! Card weaving is one of those things I've read about online and thought, I want to try that and been unwilling to try from tutorials.

8. Read more Japanese. This one is probably easy too. My husband got me a Japanese game for the DS and I did a little playing last night. I haven't braved story mode yet, but I spent quite a bit of time on Sunday reading the Japanese manual. I'm woefully out of practice.

9. Keep the house clean. Right now that is an uphill battle, but we started culling a ton of stuff and already brought multiple bags of stuff to Goodwill. We have another cull scheduled for the beginning of February that we haven't really gotten into yet. I'm also going to do a stash sale.

10. Don't buy stuff. This is less about saving money, because I expect I will buy juice (like I did today) and snacks. It's more about working from my stash and not buying something just because I can. This also means eating more leftovers, using up some of the more eclectic flours (or mixing them up into a proper gluten free flour mix and then using them up), and then not replacing everything.

[10 Tuesday] Giving Thanks

It's almost Thanksgiving, the best holiday of the year. What? I like to cook, and for home cooks this might be the best day of the year despite the excesses I go through for ice cream each July.

Of course, liking to cook doesn't mean that I get to ignore the actual meanings behind Thanksgiving. So, here is a short list of the things I am thankful for at this moment.

1. Bread. Well, mostly this bread. I have made it almost a dozen times since I saw the recipe in February, and with herbs or without, with spicy oil or without, it is a glorious loaf of bready love. Which is good, because I'm making it again this week.

2. My husband, Chris, who has put up with a lot of grumpiness for what feels like forever. Medications, lack of sleep, changes (I'd say in what parts of my life, but really changes anywhere tend to lead towards grumpiness) and the cold all have me feeling a bit of out of sorts.

3. My friends, but mostly Erika. We work together, which does tend to lead to some occasional tiffs as we are both too tired and too close to each other sometimes to realize that we are being insensitive or unfair, but without her work would be far more boring and, well, the rest of the time would be probably spent in a lot more staring off into space. She's doing Pirates. Locals should go see it!

4. Gather Here. Virginia, Noah and Maggie (and the rest of the gang) are wonderful about making such an inviting space and building a real community between their walls. I love them and the shop more every time I visit, and I do visit an awful lot.

5. A working oven. We're visiting family for the holiday, and rather than take up their stoves and ovens, I'm doing my cooking early Thursday morning before we leave. I'm still debating what dessert I'm making. It keeps changing, because I don't have a 24-cavity minicupcake pan. I'm thinking cake at the moment.

6. We recently went on a trip to Lexington. I'm grateful that Lexington is nicer than I thought it might be. Part of me still wishes it had been either horrible or stupendously awesome. It was definitely more in the middle, but it was still a nice place that wasn't too warm or cold and had plenty of nice people, food, things to do, etc. I still intend to write more on this, but I've been slowly processing.

Cream Bourbon - Apparently tastes like dessert. 

7. Yarn. I have plenty of it, and even though I still buy more (it is as much habit as wanting to support my local shops, dyers and designers). It feels good to know that I could be completely out of cash and still have plenty of crafting supplies to keep me busy (or even to sell off to pay for food and shelter). Of course, this doesn't stop me from wanting more yarn. Maybe it is like an addiction.

8. My job. I have one, which I cannot say about everyone I know. I like my job, and it has lots of different things to do which helps keep me from getting bored.

9. 401(k). This is kind of weird, but I'm grateful that my 101(k) has recovered enough from the recession to be a 401(k) again. Even better, I'm glad that I was able to obtain a loan to pay off my college debt.

10. I am grateful that I might be able to finish my degree in the next few years. I've been putting it off, because I couldn't obtain a transcript. Now that I can, it is time to finish my degree so I can do more of the things I am interested in.

And a bonus 11.

You. I don't post as often as I want to (or read as many other posts as I'm interested in), but I am glad that all of you exist out there.

[10 Tuesday] thinking much?

Today's 10 for Tuesday is 10 things on your mind, and I've been full of thoughts that are just not so great for blogging, which has greatly lowered my participation in 10 for Tuesday and, well, in blogging in general.

Let's at least start with the lighter ones and see if I can work my way up to any of the harder ones, eh?

1. Knitted gifts. I've sort of come to the conclusion that I have too many items I want to make and that includes items for Loopy's Quarterly challenge, gifts, projects I started more than 3 years ago, and well, everything in between. I am multicraftual for lack of a better word and many of my other crafts are even slower than knitting. Time is at a premium.

2. Paying off school. I finally paid off college debt, which means I can finally consider getting my transcript to finish my degree somewhere else. In college (back in the 90s), I was studying biochemistry, but I wasn't truly interested in research. Now I would most likely go back for computer science.

3. If I didn't decide on culinary school instead and turn my husband into the biggest sphere ever from bringing home pastries after every class. Yeah, culinary school just for sweets.

4. Because I would love to open an ice cream shop someday. Right now my husband benefits the most from things like my whoopie pie ice cream, but I could share it out a bit more than that. Of course, I still have some failures. The taro ice cream I made this year was just bad. Too thick and hard to scoop, but that just means that I need to try again.

5. Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday as a food-cooking individual. I don't know what we're going yet, though I'm pretty sure that we are going to enjoy time with my relatives. I will probably make mashed potatoes. It's a food that I appear to like too much. Though going to Maine for Thanksgiving will put a serious crimp into my ability to make more desserts than there are people (no seriously, I have had Thanksgiving days where there were more desserts than people, and not because it was just my husband and I).

6. The Election. Results are going to be coming in today, and my stomach is churning unhappily just thinking about it. I believe it matters who we elect, but the differences of opinion are extreme between the two sides. Our news system is so polarized that there are plenty of people who never even see a differing view, because they are looking at either conservative-biased media or liberal-biased media (like Huffington Post). I don't think that the election is going to convince hardly anyone on the losing side that maybe there was something honestly bad about their candidate that made them unfit for office. Instead, those people (on either side no matter who wins) will either blame people for being stupid or ignore any responsibility the political campaign and process had on the election.

Umm, yeah, soapbox over.

7. Work. I might have an opportunity to increase my work responsibility, which could be a great thing. However, like a Facebook status, it's complicated. Meanwhile, I apparently have managed to have due to a combination of factors way more time off in a single month than I'm truly comfortable with, but some of that is needed vacation time!

8. Like my staycation next week. I'd love to say that we're going to do fun things on our staycation, but truthfully we got home from work tonight and the first thing I noticed was the leaves in the front yard. You would never know by looking at them that any raking was done on Sunday despite the more than 20 bags in the front yard. Part of me wishes that we had decided against our huge yard with all of the overhanging trees, because raking takes forever!

9. Perfecting the Chicago-style stuffed pizza for my husband's birthday. I need to make another attempt, because while the crust was pretty good I need a better balance of filling and to make the pizza in a bigger cake pan to make the crust more in proportion. The last go round involved a pizza that was a little too bready in the corner.

10. Umm, baby knits? I have friends and relatives who are expecting and I haven't even started thinking about what to make. Well, that's not completely true. I want to make a baby cardigan possibly for one, but I didn't see an appropriate pattern on Ravelry, so I need to design my own. I'm not really confident of my ability to do that despite knitting for so long.

And those are the things that I am comfortable mentioning in the blog. There are a ton of other things that have been going on some good and some bad that have kept me away from the blog, but here is hoping that things even out soon. I've felt weird for weeks.

Now to pinball and my honey cowl.

(And expect a picture of leaves eventually in this space if I can get the camera in the morning when there is light.)

[10 Tuesday] pizza for lunch

Today's 10 for Tuesday topic (top 10 pizza toppings) seems appropriate given that I just ate a serving of "edible pasta bowl" that was leftover from ordering out last week. Now, I didn't know what an edible pasta bowl is, but I figured that it would have cheese, pasta and after that as long as it was vegetarian that would be aOK.

So you know, an edible pasta bowl is glorified pizza. Mine was a pizza style crust done up slightly more like a deep dish pizza, filled with ziti and sauce, topped with eggplant parmesan rounds and covered with cheese and baked. Tasty. Not healthy, and probably something I should make myself rather than ordering out.

As a vegetarian, my top pizza toppings are probably boring to a lot of people. Oh well.

1. Mushrooms. Well, duh. Sauteed, marsala style, or just raw ones thrown on top before going in the oven. They all work well.

2. Broccoli. One of my friends thinks it is unnatural. That just makes me love it more.

3. Garlic. Extra garlic equals extra breath weapon. Yeah!

4. Pineapple. I love pineapple on pizza. I am afraid (alarmed by) most vegeterian bacon alternatives, so just pineapple it is.

5. Yukon golds with gorgonzola. It is a great combo, though the place I've had this most recently needs to do a better job of precooking their potatoes.

6. Pear and gorgonzola is delicious too.

7. Ricotta. I love soft pillows of ricotta on my pizza.

8. Eggplant parmesan. It works really well, because it doesn't get too greasy sitting on top of the pizza. That doesn't stop this pizza from being a blotter.

9. Brie and granny smiths. I like the fruit and cheese combos.

10. Vegeterian chorizo with beans (tex-mex style). I make mine usually with TVP, though I have considered making it with lentils as well. If I don't use TVP,  then I usually buy the Smart Life brand of ground meat crumbles though it has worked with every method I've used so far.

I've also had dessert pizza, which in most of my experiences have been much better in theory than actuality.