Pizza is the perfect food for me. It has vegetables, meat (optional), dairy, and carbs. A well-balanced meal which is what my doctor told me to eat. But as with anything, too much pizza is not good for you. The pizza we order seems really greasy which is what gives it the crispy crust and delicious flavor. YUM! I like pizza that has lots of red sauce and cheese with a thin crispy crust topped with veggies and maybe a little meat.
I’ve eaten a lot of pizza all my life. I first had it when it was called pizza pie. Mom would buy a yellow box of Chef Boy-R-Dee pizza mix. It came with a pouch with the crust ingredients, a tall cylindrical can of pizza sauce, and a bag of cheese that must have been Parmesan. Mom would fry hamburger meat to put on top. The mix made a cookie sheet of pizza that we devoured. My daughter, who loved to read, got so many Book-It Pizza coupons that she treated the whole family out to pizza several times. I cooked pizza on Sunday nights when my children were teenagers. When my in-laws camped at a nearby campground, we’d take pizza out for supper. My son and I used to order each one of us a pizza for New Year’s Eve and we’d eat it out of our boxes all night long. Pizza has provided a lot of good times for my family.
So how do I make this well-balanced meal better (doctor approved maybe) for me? I make it myself. Over the decades, I’ve made homemade pizza for my family and friends. I developed my own pizza crust recipe by experimentation. I can’t give a recipe for it because I’m a dumper cook (see a previous blog posting) and I don’t measure anything. The recipe would only be a guess. I use store-bought pizza sauce because it’s cheap and easy to use. Toppings can be anything we want or have on hand. For the cheese, I use mozzarella and parmesan, with the toppings sandwiched between two layers of it. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes and supper is served!
Over the years, I gained the reputation for making good pizza. Friends and family still request it when they visit. And I have to admit, it’s pretty good. Years ago, one couple came over every other week to play 42 and have pizza. When we visited them years later after they moved away, she asked if I’d make pizza for them at their house, for old times sake. Sure, I said. When I got there, she’d rounded up nine pizza pans. So we had a jolly time making all those pizzas, most of which went into her freezer to eat at a later date.
Now that the kids are gone, Hubby and I have pizza only occasionally. Fond memories are evoked when we eat it. Happy memories of family and friends. If for no other reason, that’s why I love pizza.