Brent Sandel is our new full-time pizza cook/oven man.  Many of you will recognize him as the front man for STD (Sailing to Denver), his band. Others of you may recognize him as an occasional member of our 2011 crew.  Brent has been an awesome addition since day one, as we have gelled in both our work ethics and our concepts of food.  We are hoping to further increase our partnership as Brent is starting his first year of organic farming on his family’s land north of Atlanta.

Kristi Bledsoe is our new part-time pizza cook.  She will be joining us in April, and we are stoked.  Sarah and I hired Kristi after a day full of interviews and pizza tossing.  She is fast, energetic and most of all really likes our concept on food.  Kristi is about to turn 25 years old and is photgraphy student at GSU.  In her spare time, she likes to work on her photography skills and create short films.

We can’t wait to show off our new crew.  Our weekly markets start in April.  So get ready!!!

In coming up with the idea for this grant application, S and J’s Woodfired Pizza was contacted about being a part of the event.  I was very excited and thought it was a great idea.   I am glad the government did also.  It is nice to see the power of the people in action.  Check out the grant in the attachment if you want anymore info.  Chesnut Elementary Grant App

Officially Stoked

This starts episode 1 of our daily picture and blog of “Fungi Farmer”.  You have to look forward to 365 more posts and daily pictures of wood.  Not just any wood but logs that have been cut and inoculated with Shitake mushrooms.  The pictures will be boring and the posts monotonous.  The daily life of the wood will become your reason for turning on the computer in the morning.  You will ache and pain each day as you become more and more agitated at the lack of substance or growth but you will always come back for more.  Just for that single hope that you will be able to watch a fungus grow.  Not only will you be shocked and amazed at how every picture looks exactly the same but you will soon also appreciate the fungi you eat on a regular basis.  And so starts “Fungi Farmer” only available at S & J's Woodfired Pizza.

Ancho chili and dry mustard spiced thick cut bone-on pork chops with rosemary and garlic roasted red potatoes and spiced fuji apples.  It was all made in the wood-fired oven and was delish.  A positive step towards a broader catering menu, which I like.  It all went together really well and tasted really well and was cooked really well.  Great night with my baby.

As we continue to grow as a business and gain more experience, we have become bolder with our menu and with what we try.  I love looking thru the market or really anywhere outdoors and take in the inspiration.  I want people to taste Fall in our pizzas.  Hence, the inspiration for our new Apple Pizza, i.e. “Apple Awesomeness”.  Apples, bacon, goat feta, and a splash of pesto sings sweet fall flavors to me.  Looking for something more rustic and hearty you can’t beat wood-fired roasted butternut squash.  Our Squash pizza pairs, roasted butternut squash, olive oil, sage, ricotta and a touch of honey into a taste of Fall.  What other fall flavors do people love?  I am in the infant stages of my cooking life and I am growing and learning everyday.  I would love some opinions from S & J's Woodfired Pizza fans.  What do you want to see on your pizza?  Get in touch with me at let us know.  Or post something on our wall.

Full-timing it

The headliner of course is that I will be leaving my part-time job as an ER nurse and taking up pizza full-time. For a few months now, we have been debating on the decision as we have been turning down pizza gigs and decided recently to take the plunge. This will allow SJP to take our pizza to the street much more often. Starting in August, we are going to add at least 3 more weekly locations to our schedule. Check our calendar frequently as we will be updating with new dates and locations.

Solar!

The other bigs news I want to report is that we are going to go ahead and start acquiring the parts and knowledge to start running our whole operation on solar power. After I sell my gas powered generator, which has only been used once, I want to build a solar powered one that we satisfy all our electrical needs. It’s gonna be awesome to be run by wood and the sun. That being said, any people with any knowledge in that type of area please feel free to give any free advice as novice is a generous description of me.

To top things off…

On another side of research and development, we are continuing to try out new topping combinations and hope to offer some summer specials in the next coming months which will include a homemade bbq sauce, peaches, roasted corn, and possibly a trip south of the border with a Mexican inspired pie. We would love to hear any special requests so stop by the markets and let us know.

Dough for Sale

Finally, I hope to be in a position to offer dough for sale later on this summer. Many of you have asked about this and I want to give the people what they want. I need to work out a few kinks in how I package it to give you the optimum number of days before it passes its prime. Also, we want to get some instructions together to help you with it when you get home.

Any other fresh ideas or places you want S & J's Woodfired Pizza? Let us know. Just under 2 months until the 1 year anniversary. Get pumped.

When was the last time you were able to bring a smile to someone’s face with the snap of your fingers? I don’t want to brag too much about her but last night SJ was awesome. Twice she saw a chance to make someone happy and jumped at it.

We were at our East Atlanta Farmer’s Market last night and a young lady with her two children came up. They were all very excited about trying our pizza. That was until after they ordered. They wanted to pay with EBT coins, which the market generally takes, but I informed them that we can’t accept them because we are a prepared food and we are not allowed. Saddened and dejected, she began to turn and leave when SJ stepped in and told them that she would love to make them a pie and just let her know what they wanted. The happiness in SJ’s eyes and the young lady’s was the ultimate. With a smile and many thank you’s, they enjoyed dinner on S & J's Woodfired Pizza.

As the night continued and the oven was flaming, another opportunity crossed our paths and she stepped in again. Sitting on the new bench at the market, she watched as a young man was enjoying a delish ‘za. He proceeded to accidentally lose control of the pizza, and it fell to the ground. With an understandably saddened heart, he began to walk away. SJ yelled ” Hey man, we got you another one”. He didn’t stop and so she yelled again. Still the man walked away, until another patron ran and caught him and told him the great news. He was so appreciative, and it really made the night.

Before SJP, in order to make a decision Sarah or I would have to send an email, set up a meeting, have a meeting, send some more emails and then be informed by our boss that they needed to talk to their boss and we would get an answer in a week or so. That sucked. SJ making split second decisions last night just because they felt like the right thing to do is the way for me. People aren’t numbers and some decisions aren’t hard. Why wouldn’t you want to be your own boss?

Thanks SJ.

Our backyard was transformed from a mud pit, drainage ditch and black hole of grass to a awesome deck with new plants, new energy and a whole new look. My dad helped me build it and with the help of “S” of S & J's Woodfired Pizza the dream became a reality. If I just knew someone who could christen it with something new and different like a backyard pizza party. Check out the pics.

Not only do we give you a look into our lives but we plan on serving great wood-fired pizza.  I want to make the best pizza you have ever had.  Whether it be ideas about different topping combinations, coments on our dough or sauce or any other menu items check out the section For Those Who Need Inspiration.  There you can leave comments and we will have a poll that you can vote for your favorite items.  I want sjwoodfiredpizza.com to be the best site on the web and S & J's Woodfired Pizza to be the best pizza you have had.  We want to interact with you and have you talk to us.  You can leave comments on my blog and also pingbacks to your own blog.    For those of you who have already caught THE FEVER, we will have a selection of S & J's Woodfired Pizza gear available shortly.  So check back soon and often and see whats new and awesome about S and J.