Townshend Pizza goes Baba!

Townshend Pizza got a little better, y'all.

Yesterday, at the Putney School Earth Day Fest, we debuted a new pizza.

Baba Ganoush with Taylor Farm smoked Gouda cheese and arugula, brainchild of my lovely wife, Amber O'Reilly. Man, was it awesome.  We sold out of it pretty quickly (not quick enough for me - I made one for the staff and we ate it during service).  I was surprised at how many people didn't know what baba ganoush was, but decided to go for it anyway.

In case YOU don't know, baba ganoush is roasted eggplant blended with tahini, garlic, olive oil and spices.  I've been eating it for years thanks to Lebanon's Cafe in New Orleans and a ton of other middle eastern eateries I've found since.

The Kindle Farm School grows several outstanding varieties of eggplant, and I've planted thirty seeds for my (my = Amber's) home garden.  Y'all are going to love all the things we're going to do with it.

Come see us next week at Taylor Farm (details at www.pizzahippo.com) to try some more and to support their Kite Day set up to expose inner city children to the wonders of walking in grass barefoot, communing with cows and playing outside in the Green Mountain State.

Pizza Hippo in the Press (Townshend, VT)

Pizza Hippo had a nice write up in The Commons newspaper for our soon to be open new business, organic farm-to-table pizza in Townshend, VT.

You can check out The Commons article here.

Thanks to Thelma O'Brian for the write up.

Enjoy!

The Hippo

Pizza Hippo at Putney School Earth Day Fest

Hello hello!

What a gorgeous week we've been having here in southern Vermont!

We're in our last week of fundraising at our Kickstarter Campaign.  Click here to contribute!

It's also only five days until Pizza Hippo opens the season at the Putney School's Earth Day celebration.  The weather is supposed to be less than stellar on Sunday, mirroring last year's auspicious start.  Hopefully we'll have more cloud and less rain!

It will be an amazing feat when we set up Sunday morning, though.  Svetlana, our 88 Volvo Pizza Wagon, needs a new transmission and will not be getting one.  She's on the auction blocks...anyone who wants a great parts car can check out our craigslist ad here.

Instead of Svetlana, we'll likely be converting Amber's Toyota to the new Pizza Wagon and saving up for a little pickup truck.  Should be a fun rest of the week scrambling to make this happen!

Pizza Hippo has also been approved vendor status for the Frendly Gathering this June 14-16 right here in Windham, Vermont!  Great line up, great people, and now great pizza, too!  Can't wait to for our Windham slash Townshend pizza to represent the local food scene in a very legit way!

Finally, Pizza Hippo is officially going to be the newest addition to the Townshend Pizza scene here in Vermont.  Opening day coincides with the Kindle Farm stand plant starter sale and a KF fundraiser.  Any bands interested in donating their playing time should call Malcolm at 802.874.0321 to make arrangements.

Pizza Hippo: Get Ready for Organic Pizza Townshend, Vermont

And I'm bringing you a love that's true
So get ready, so get ready
I'm gonna try to make you love me too
So get ready, so get ready, 'cause here I come (The Temptations)

Incredible to think about.  Pizza Hippo will in fact open our first organic pizza stand in Townshend, Vermont at the Kindle Farm School in May.  (Tentatively May 19 for you calendar watchers :)

As we hurtle towards May 19, time management is becoming my biggest challenge.  For example, I just lost 30 minutes trying to get my plumber OUT of the house after he finished the job.  Every second counts at this point as we attempt to cross every t and dot every j before inspection May 1 and then opening day.  

Will we have our portable sink built, the building construction under way, have all the little chemicals the state says we MUST use in our food operation.  We must use chemicals! Not to mention the insurance costs.  High!  Like you needed me to write that to know it.  When will I get our sign painted and hang it up with a coming soon notice?  What about completing the mobile unit?  Piece by piece by piece.  

We are also working on a bid for our first Pizza Hippo wedding catering.  Exciting bit of news.  Really wonderful young woman who has no idea how she heard about us.  Will keep y'all posted on this progression.  As someone who just got married, these things are always more involved than you think they're going to be...

Speaking of time sucks, I just took the Food List challenge on Facebook. I know.  In the middle of writing about time management.  Sorry!  My cousin Stacy Williams has tried two more foods than me!  This is not totally surprising, but it does bother me.  She also travels more than me and is probably better at non English languages.  

Our PR machine seems to be working.  People are starting to recognize the Hippo and have spontaneously shouted "It Hits the Spotamus" to me in the streets.  Well, I had a dream where this happened.  And someone did tell me they have seen the Pizza Hippo fliers around town.  So, yeah, it's working.  Look for a feature on Pizza Hippo and Kindle Farm in The Commons next week...

Speaking of PR machines, when I retweeted an article about Monsanto potentially suing the state of VT if the GMO labeling bill passes, someone from Monsanto replied directly to my twitter account with a link to a Monsanto response page disputing this claim.  Freaky!  

What do y'all think about this last bit?

Vermont's Best Organic Pizza Update: The Hippopotamus is Alive

Just a quick update on Pizza Hippo dream.  It's going to happen!

As of April 3rd, our little project on Kickstarter.com has been funded to 90% of our minimum goal of $5000.  Yes, we probably need more than $5K in all honesty, and yes, we may end up raising more than that, but either way, we'll have the baseline capital to at least get this project off the ground.  Exciting!

It's nice that 51 people so far believe I'm smart enough to make this dream into a reality, and have, on average, invested $87 per person.  Hopefully more folks, specifically more local folks, will get in on the action, pre-buy some Vermont Organic Pizza and help us crush our minimum goal.  Perhaps our upcoming press piece in The Commons will push us over the edge...stay tuned Vermont.

Hey Brattleboro!  It's official!!!  Pizza Hippo has been accepted by a jury of our peers to sling organic goodness at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market this summer.  We'll be there on Wednesdays starting in May.  It was an awesome feeling to hear Martha, membership director, complement our pizza so warmly and welcome Pizza Hippo to Brattleboro.  Hopefully we'll hear more of the same from the other market's we're still waiting to hear from...come on y'all, the Pizza Hippo Pizza Wagon is nearly complete and ready to roll!

We also wanted to mention a strategic partnership in the works with Jamaica Cottage Shop.  Still working on the terms, but it feels like we should end up with a great structure for the Kindle Farm Stand location.  Hope we can work this deal out and keep it classy, Vermont.

That's all for now...sweet dreams.

Love,
Mr. Hippopotamus

Halfway to Hippo Heaven

So we completed our little pizza film and launched our crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com three nights ago. As you may have gleaned from the title here, we've raised half of our minimum goal of $5K.

It's pretty inspiring to get emails AND financial backing from people all over the country saying, "Yeah! Go for it. And your pizza looks amazing. Please make it happen and take Pizza Hippo national so we can eat some, too!"

Hey, I'm totally down with that! I really do hope to make it happen.

The one thing I'm a little bummed about is that Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef on a mission to bring organic food to the masses himself; Emeril, Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, and all the other food celebs I've contacted via Twitter haven't promoted our campaign, not even a retweet! WHAT THE HECK?! I know they don't really manage their own social media, but come on fellas. Yeah, you too Bobby Flay. How about helping out the Pizza Hippo? If any of my four to seven readers know someone who knows those guys, send them the link to our video. I think they might be down with the cause. At least a throw down. Something.

On another topic, I had to kill one of our two roosters a few days ago. He was at the bottom of the pecking order and getting pretty beat up, as well as overcompensating by violently mounting our hens as much as possible. Since we turned him into gumbo (excellent stock, kind of tough and stringy meat - someone suggested this can be mitigated in the butchering process - anyone know more about this?) egg production has gone up 33% per day. Yes, we track daily egg production. Plus with only six layers it's pretty easy math :) So I'm looking forward to Amber getting her flock of meat birds later in the spring, and hopefully a few ducks as well. No, this has nothing to do with Pizza Hippo, but it is part of my outlandish dream. The part that says I don't go to the grocery store ever again.

I know this is kind of an impossible dream, but with Pizza Hippo's new wholeseller accounts we really might be able to pull it off. Buy the things we can't grow in bulk at cut rate prices and, well, grow the rest. Definitely going to preserve A LOT more veggies this year. And apple juice for that matter. But that comes in the fall.

For now, Spring is in the air, and we have all season to watch things get big, grow fat, and soak up the earth's energy to sustain us later on.

Until then, I can't wait to get back to making organic pizza Vermont style and pushing my limits as a businessman, a farmer, and a person.

Out of my comfort zone is where I feel the happiest, after all.

PS I just wrote Jamie Oliver another letter. I hope he writes back.

Pizza Hippo and the Brattleboro Farmer's Market Jury Day

Today is the Brattleboro Farmer's Market Jury Day.

"What is this?" you ask. It's the day where everyone who wants to take part in the market shows up with product to be judged by a very, how do I say, tightly... knit group of folks who run the show.

Its a little nerve wracking as these things have a reputation for being political and similar to Greek Rush week. As you may or may not know, I never rushed. Draw your own conclusions as to why ;) Hopefully, these are just rumors, everyone will be pleasant, and we'll get accepted without being hazed.

Regardless, Amber and I will be there today with bells and smiles on. Below is the document we're attaching to our food, which by rule cannot speak for itself today. Check it out.

Pizza Hippo - Vermont's Best Organic Pizza

Pizza Hippo's Fire Grilled Pizza is Vermont's Best Organic, Farm-To-Table Pizza.

Pizza Hippo is a local, sustainable business at the forefront of the organic food movement. World Headquarters: Windham, Vermont.

Our mission: Transform communities through the power of organic food.

Made to order and grilled to perfection over real, non-chemical treated charcoal and hard woods, our gourmet pizzas feature homemade Organic Sourdough crust, Local, Organic Vegetables, Local Meats, hand-crafted sauces, Artistanal Vermont Cheeses, and a wide variety of combinations, textures, and flavors.

Some of our food sources include, but are not limited to:

Kindle Farm Organic Vegetable Stand, Wild Sheppard Farm, Pizza Hippo’s home garden, Grafton Village Cheese Company, Taylor Farm, West River Creamery, Cabot, Wild Carrot Farm, River Bend Market Butchers, Snow Farm, and Guerilla Grown Produce. We also source the most local products available from Hillcrest Foods and Dole & Bailey.

All pizzas are single portion (feed one person) and will be served on compostable paper plates (on order) with unbleached, recycled paper napkins. To-go boxes will be available on demand, but will not be encouraged.

Today’s Menu:

Veggie Freestyle Pizza on Classic Marinara featuring Vermont Cheddar Cheese. Organic onions, bell peppers, broccoli, garlic scape pesto and tomatoes.

Yeah You Right BBQ Pizza featuring Vermont Cheddar Cheese. River Bend Market’s own Italian sausage, organic onions, and baby portabella mushrooms over Pizza Hippo’s award winning New Orleans Yeah You Right barbecue sauce.

Creole Sweet Potatopotamus and Sopressata Pizza. Creole spiced sweet potato topping with organic onions caramelized in balsamic vinegar and thinly sliced sopressata featuring Vermont Cheddar Cheese.

Other specialty pizzas include, but are not limited to:

· Peaceful Hippo Thai Basil

· Hippo Bandito Ole Mole

· Hippo Hawaiian Pineapple & Ham

· Blancopotamus Alfredo

· Swingin’ Hippo Crawfish Etouffee

· Spicy Hippo Eggplant Creole

· The Classic Hippo (sausage, onion and mushroom on marinara)

· Margaritapotamus

· Creole Muffalettapotamus

Pizza menu changes weekly. Contingent on what’s fresh and chef’s whimsy.

Wish us luck, and have a great weekend. With any luck, we'll see y'all on Wednesdays this season at the market!

Thoughts?