Collecting Colors and Pizza on the Grill

Oh boy, it was beautiful last weekend - cool and sunny. Usually the 4th of July is pretty sweaty around these parts. Not this year. The mojita-filled afternoon and beer-enriched barbecue was completely enjoyable.

I took a little stroll around the 'hood with my waterbrush, paper towel and palette and a small container of water and mixed and recorded colors I saw. I wasn't into drawing the flowers, just on a color combination hunt for my summer school project.

l.

Since it's no strain to find loads of color everywhere this time of year, this is a great "Under 30 Minute" project so I'll add it to the list on my website.

Tip to fill the waterbrush easily: after you unscrew the bristles, hold the brush de-bristled end up and squeeze. Now invert the end into water and release the squeeze to suck up the water. Repeat till brush barrel is full.

Now for the Pizza:

I brought a pizza to grill on the barbie. This is one of our favorite things to grill - and what could be simpler?

I get most of my ingredients Sam's Italian Market and especially their frozen pizza crust which comes in white and whole wheat and is really light, thin and crispy. You all know how to make a pizza. I do have a preference for fresh mozzarella and real parmigiana. Jon's favorite topping is prosciutto and caramelized onions. I make the pizza on non-stick aluminum foil.

Here's another little pizza-making detail: after adding your toppings, pour a trickle of olive oil around the crust and over the pie and add some ground black pepper and whatever herbs - yum rosemary - on top of that.

When the grill is nice and hot, stick the pizza, with the foil right on the grill. I'm sure you can go foil-less but this hasn't worked so well for us, the bottom was blackened before the top was done.

Enjoy. We ate it too quickly for photos.