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We had 2 different crock-pots of buffalo wing dip, but no pizza. So I guess wings was the closest. But I probably would have preferred pizza...

Wow, those potato balls look awesome! Will have to try them soon.

Great list! I just got an enameled Le Creuset to complement my 7qt Lodge non-enameled cast-iron, and definitely notice the difference in sauce taste. Tomato sauce, chili, and green chile all picked up a funny metallic taste in the lodge, but that is gone in the Le Creuset. The lodge will still get plenty of use for frying and browning meat, however!

@Jim-bob: I second the need for a canned chili taste-off. Sometimes canned chili is just too convenient (i.e going camping, or are suddenly hit with a chili-dog craving), and I always struggle in the grocery store aisle.

And I will also add my praise to Wendy's chili. It's surprisingly good... when I was a humble college student I would raid the dollar menu and get a $1 cup of chili, pour it over a $1 sour-cream-and-onion baked potato, and add a side salad, chicken nuggets, and a drink. It was a ton of food for $5 and kept this hungry college kid going.

I'll still get it occasionally, though now it'll only be on road trips when a stop at Wendy's is the only reasonable option.

I'm going to take the bartender's side on this and say that he was in the right. I think it would be different if these guys were regulars who you could then cut some slack if they were having an off night, but most bartenders know their regulars and it certainly sounds like these guys weren't regulars. It also sounds like it was unlikely this guy was a DD, as they were coming straight from work and the other guys were drinking less than a drink per hour anyway. Most DDs are there with a large group for the long haul, and the other drinkers are going to more than make up for DD's teetotaling by ordering plenty of beverages. I've been DD plenty of times, and for me that still means having 1 or 2 drinks to start of the night, and then switching to coke/red bull/appetizers/whatever. Water-drinker is costing the bar money and almost certainly not going to make up for it with good word of mouth, and the bad word of mouth of people who weren't going to spend any money anyway is something most businesses can do without. As long as the bartender is polite, explains the situation, and doesn't eject the "patron" from the premises... I'm on Michael's side on this one.

These sound like a delicious way to use up the chorizo I have left over from yesterday. I might try putting these in the smoker the next time I have a BBQ as a change-of-pace from the more traditional jalapeno poppers I normally do.

In fairness, some frozen pizzas state to "place directly on oven rack" in their baking directions. Given how round that pizza appears to be I wouldn't be surprised if it was of the frozen variety. Prior to discovering the joys of homemade pizza, I had a few frozen pizzas drop some bits onto the floor of the oven... but never anything approaching this.

Looks like a great recipe! How long will this vinaigrette typically last, and do you store it in the fridge?

Great series! Thanks for doing all this work. Now I just have to decide whether I want the Emile Henry or the Lodge Logic to replace my aging cheap-o stone...

@Burger365 -- I started off with a cabinet-style propane smoker as well, and loved it. But then I moved into a condo where I couldn't have charcoal or propane, so I sold my propane smoker and bought a Masterbuilt 30 inch electric smoker. (http://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20070910-30-Inch-Electric-Smokehouse/dp/B00104WRCY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1305927577&sr=8-3)

As easy as the propane smoker was, the Masterbuilt is even easier, and I love it even more. You literally just punch in the temperature you want and it will maintain it within a couple of degrees, no matter what the outside temp is (verified with a couple of thermometers). With my propane smoker I normally had to watch it pretty close for the first couple of hours as the amount of gas you needed would vary depending on outside temp and if it was windy. But the electric is drop-dead simple, and no worries about replacing the LP tank or the tank running out in the middle of your smoke (which happened to me once).

My only complaint is that I wish the smoker box was a little bigger -- wood chunks have to be broken down pretty small to fit.

I didn't realize you were in Colorado!

What is the Italian Deli you are referring to? If it's here in Denver, I might have to check it out.

The street tacos have been an on-again, off-again test item for at least the last 1.5 years at my local Qdoba. I'll say that I really like their shredded beef, at my Qdoba it is typically much juicier than you describe. I will say that they sometimes have some consistency problems and that both the pork and shredded beef can be dry on occasion -- I haven't had this problem with any of their other meats. I would urge you to give the shredded beef another try on a different day or at a different location.

That said, I agree with your overall take. The corn tortillas are great and the street taco flavor profile is pretty good and a nice change from their regular tacos, but the serving size is a little too small for me.

However -- most Qdoba's carry regular-size corn tortillas as well, and you can get standard size tacos with the corn tortilla. Just specifically ask for corn when you order. Then you get the best of both worlds. ;-)

Pineapple. I like pineapple by itself or in some sort of dessert, but in general I'm not a warm fruit fan and the sweetness of pineapple just seems to be totally at odds with pizza's savory nature.

Used to get into fights with my old roommate, because he wanted pineapple & canadian bacon and I would eat anything but that. He'd say "You're being so difficult!" And I'd say "you can choose any toppings you want except for pineapple. I'm not the one being stubborn!" Repeat weekly.