Vimbly and 180 Neapolitan Pizza Making Class Review

Oh my goooodness you guys, I had the opportunity to do one of the coolest things I've done in my lifetime.

Thanks to this super cool meetup group I'm a part of, Food Bloggers in NYC (created by my girl Mallory, of total noms), me and a small group of other food bloggers were given the opportunity to take part in a Neapolitan Pizza class at 180 Neapolitan Eatery. We booked the class through Vimbly (SUCH a cool and easy way to book fun things to do in NYC, plus Phoebe, one of their interns, came along on the class and she was such a sweetie and so much fun, and she made sure we were taken care of!)

The class was held in this adorable, authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of Little Italy. Our instructors were Nicole (a girl who's been raised on this stuff and trained in the best restaurants in the city) and Chef Chris Nirschel (Food Network's "culinary bad boy"...yes we all teased him about his nickname. He was super cool, and funny, and down to earth considering he's pretttyyyy famous lol). And there were 8 of us food bloggers (plus Phoebe) sitting down to learn from the masters all about the magical ways of Neapolitan pizza.

After some wine (for the wine drinkers) and chit chat, we got to learn all the secrets. We were taught step by step how to take some 00 flour, water, and yeast to make the dough. Once it was kneaded and such, all perfect, we put our little dough balls in to-go containers to be able to use our dough to try out pizza at home! Then we were given some dough that had already been given time to rest and we were taught what to do with that...and some people attempted the air toss (which we learned is unnecessary but sort of fun I suppose? I'm a play-it-safe-er, no tossing for me! Lol)

Fun tip learned: traditional sauce for the pizza is just some San Marzano tomatoes blended with basil. No cooking. Tastes so fresh and perfect! I've already done it at home and am in love with it. 

Roasted Garlic, Chicken, and Herb White Pizza

I'm generally not an adventurous pizza eater (Ok fine, I'm not an adventurous eater, period.) But like...I'm that lame person where, in a group setting, people are like, "Ok we want pineapple and banana peppers on this pizza, and artichokes and capers on this one...Kayle what do you want?

"....just plain cheese please." I always choke out in the most timid voice.

(The exception to this rule is when I hear about ricotta and truffle oil pizzas, I'M ALL OVER THAT. But even when I eat margherita or grandma style pizzas, they're still the same basic ingredients as a plain, old, boring, not adventurous pizza.)

And when I'm making pizza at home, I'm no different. There's always a thin crust, tomato sauce (or at least tomatoes) mozzarella/Parmesan cheese, and some basil. That's it. But this pizza, YOU GUYS this pizza is something totally different and so amazing and so delicious.

Look at me, growing up.

Anyway, I really don't know what's not to like about this pizza.

I used my favorite, whole wheat, pizza crust (you can use whatever crust recipe-or storebought crust dough-you prefer). We have a white sauce that essentially just tastes like garlicky goodness (and that I cut some calories on by using fat free evaporated milk). Then theres the goodness of chicken, cheese, and red onions. But really, you can def. play around with toppings-as with any pizza. You can omit and add whatever your little heart desires. That's the fun!

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Labor Day!

I want to tell you a story.

Well....actually I want to tell 2 stories.

First story: These are my new favorite chocolate chip cookies.

TRUE STORY.

They're Michael's favorites too. Pretty much they're just the bestest thing ever. 

But more on that later. Let's get to the second story.

You see, I feel like really good, big, bakery style chocolate chip cookies are sort of a city kinda thing. I certainly didn't experience these WONDERFUL kinds cookies until I moved from my small town in Ohio, to New York City.

It's recently been brought to my attention that you all may not be aware of the tale of how I came to live here. I've been remiss. Let me fill you in.

It all started my freshman year of high school. I was already decided that I wanted to be an actress, and I was fairly certain I'd want to attend acting school in New York City. But I'd never been. Every year, my high school would take a performing arts trip to NYC so, at the tender age of 15, I got my first taste of the big city and I fell head over heels in love. The lights, the hustle and bustle, everything at your fingertips-I knew that this was the place a high energy spazz like me needed to be. Fast forward to the summer prior to my senior year of high school: after looking at colleges/conservatories a few months before with my mom and brother, I had my sights set on the school I wanted. But I needed a little boost to get in. I was told participating in the school's (then known as SFT, later, when I actually attended, changed it's name to NYCDA) summer program would be extremely helpful to me. So, at the tender age of 17, I moved to New York City for a month. And it was a crazy, fun, dramatic, learning-packed month, and probably the longest month I ever had (it felt like a year!) I learned so much and, as a result, at the end of the program I was accepted into the 2 year conservatory, which I began August 2008, when I was nearly 19 years old. I lived in a dorm in Brooklyn Heights for my first year, and had the time of my life. A lot of things changed between then and now, I've lived in various places, made and lost many friends, finally learned the subways and my way around this huge metropolis but, that's pretty much the story. I've been here for 5 incredible, roller-coaster, years. And that's pretty much the story of how I came to live in New York.

Anyway, back to the cookies.

Look at them.

LOOK AT THEM!

These cookies are huge, perfectly sturdy on the outside but oh so heavenly and gooey on the inside. The flavor is INSANELY delicious-we're talking browned butter people. The mecca of all deliciousness. And maybe I sprinkled a little fleur de sel salt on top, ya know, because why not? Why not take the most delicious thing ever and make it EVEN MORE DELICIOUS! What's also amazing about these cookies is that they are sturdy enough to travel or ship or send or whatever, and they actually still taste great for up to a week leftover. Ya know...if you can keep 'em around that long. It's hard. Oh man. If you're on a diet...quit your diet. Eat these. Seriously. Life is for living, am I right?

If (when?) I ever start a cookie baking business, you can bet these would be the go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. For sure. Definitely. I bow down to the prowess of Dorothy (Crazy for Crust).