I have a pizza problem. A mere 20 days into the new program, I threw a complete tantrum and decided I could not go one more day without eating pizza. 20 days...not even 3 weeks. What is my deal? I don't feel like most people are this obsessed with pizza (unless you're 7 years old), so it made me wonder where the obsession came from.
My family ate typical American food growing up (with Cajun flair thanks to Mom's southern roots). We certainly ate our fair share of pizza, but nothing extreme. Mom would buy the Chef Boyardee pizza kits from the grocery store. They came with pizza sauce in a tin can, a packet of grated cheese, and a crust mix (just add water...and maybe oil). I can still remember the smell of the crust rising as it sat on the stove in the orange plastic bowl, and the slightly metallic taste of the pizza sauce as I licked the inside of the can after its contents had been emptied onto the waiting crust. Such an amazing meal, and always what I requested for my birthday dinners.
With such a large family, eating out was a rare occurrence, as was pizza carryout. I remember one of the best things that happened in first grade, was when my teacher told me about the Pizza Hut Book-It program. Every time you read a book, you got a star sticker to put on your Book-It button. When the button was filled with stickers, you could redeem it at Pizza Hut for your very own personal pan pizza (toppings of your choice). I never felt more special than when I walked up to the counter (that was several inches taller than me), stretched up to show my button, and said, "Cheese, please!" As I walked out of there carrying my kid-sized pizza box, I had such a feeling of accomplishment. I had earned this pizza.
While I loved our homemade pizza, it showed up somewhat sporadically on my dinner plate at home. I never knew when it was coming, or when it would appear again. I wanted something more concrete in terms of the pizza eating schedule at my house. I was jealous of my friends whose families had instituted Pizza Fridays. Each week, I hoped and prayed they would invite me over to play on Friday after school. And even better, hoped for the extended invitation to stay for dinner if things had gone well up to that point. Not to say my friendships were based solely on whether someone's family had Pizza Friday, but it did tip the scale in a few cases.
Anne - Minsky's, Italian sausage, black olive
Mary & Jenna - Minsky's, Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppercorn ranch
Katie - Pizza Shuttle, black olive, cream cheese, pepperoni
I'll even add Jason to the list - Little Caesar's, pepperoni
And that brings us to current day. I have a new vegan pizza to add to the list from Waldo Pizza. After a 20 day hiatus, this was an excellent way to reenter the world of pizza. The crust was fluffy and delicious, there were lots of veggies, and the "cheese" was...not as bad as I thought it would be. Next up on the pizza agenda will be making my own. Stay tuned for details.
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