Pizza Night

One of the things we used to do as a family when I was growing up was make pizza. Nothing could compare.

We were fortunate to have an Italian bakery near by, Caprara’s Bakery, near by. You would go in there and it always had all these wonderful smells. There were various cooked items like pizza and pepperoni bread always available but that is not why we went there. They also had lots of supplies, various oils, sauces and spices. It was (and is) a small but nice place to go to. What we went there for was the pizza dough. Two bags of pizza dough and sometimes some shredded cheese to.


The dough would be set aside allowing it to warm up closer to room temperature while the ingredients were prepared. The munster and provolone were shreaded, the onions chopped, the black olives chopped, and hamburger cooked. Some oregano was added to the pizza sauce and allowed to permeate it. Finally it was time to prepare the pans and the dough. The pans were coated with olive oil. The flour was spread out on the counter top and the dough was spread out with a rolling pin until it was large enough to fit the cookie sheets that were prepared.

Time to build the actual pizza. Put down the pizza sauce followed buy onions or black peppers followed by the hamburger and the pepperoni (Hamburger and Onions on one, Pepperoni and black olives on the other) and finally the cheese was evenly spread across the pizza.

One of the problems we would run into while preparing the pizza was my sister. She was a picker. She would always be grabbing a small nibble of the ingredients as we went. If we did not get the pizza in fast enough I am afraid there was be nothing left.

Into the waiting oven (450f) place the pan and 12 to 15 minutes later is was time to play the game. Open the oven and carefully using a spatula look at the underside of the pizza to see if it was done. If not put it back in for a few more minutes. Then remove the pizza and, shudder, set it aside for a couple of minutes before cutting it. That was never easy but if you cut it right away, as we many times did, the pizza toppings just seemed to slide off the pizza rather then allow the wheel to cut the pizza. Pop the other pizza in and then cut the pizza into 12 slices.

Those pizza were the best and we used to do that it seemed every Saturday. Since then we have gotten away from doing that as there is a lot of work involved in preparing the pizza. Usually we just order a Domino’s pizza as they really take care of my parents. Up here were I live I have never found that bakery that I could get pizza dough from. Probably just as well as it is not the best thing in the world for me to be eating.

Now I am hungry. I am real hungry.


Last time I was this happy, I was face down in a pizza pie, eatin' my way to freedom! –The Brak Show