Thursday, September 20, 2007

Tiny Biscuit Pizzas, Homemade Pizzas, Grecco's Pizzas

The new Carnival of Education is up at the Education Wonks. Please click on over there and read up on the state of education these days. Your children will thank you for it. Remember, if you don't keep current on things, you forfeit your right to complain!

We're going to Grecco's tonight so please forgive me if I seem a little flighty. The prospect of deep-dish Sicilian pizza, with little dollops of sauce on each square, makes me forget all else. . . .

Some people get fat on candy, cake, pie, ice cream, and various cream-filled delights. I don't really care that much for sweet things; I got fat on pizza.

When I was a kid, Grecco's was the only pizza parlor in town. My friends and I used to walk there on a Friday or Saturday night, all the way to the north end which was, according to our parents, the 'rough end' of town. We were instructed to be very, very careful, not talk to anyone, and keep a little bit away from the sidewalk's edge so strangers with candy couldn't cruise by slowly, grab us, and throw us into their car.

"Why would anybody do that, Mom?"

"Never you mind. Just do what I say."

The pizza crust was, of course, completely homemade, a little floury on the bottom, and delicious.

We still loved Chef Boy-R-Dee pizza mixes, of course: remnants from my slumber-party youth. Those pizza mixes are, of course, disgusting now, and were really disgusting then, but in the midst of a slumber party, giggling teens would eat almost anything and think it was good. But at Grecco's, we ate real pizza.

Zappa and his friends much preferred homemade pizza, and mine is pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I used to make them several nights a week. Whew.

If you have small children who are picky eaters, or not, you might experiment with little individual biscuit pizzas. Just take a roll of refrigerator biscuits and put them on a cookie sheet. Flatten each biscuit and cover with tomato paste. Put any toppings your kids like, sprinkle with oregano (that's what makes it taste like pizza) and cover with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake a few minutes until the crust is done and the cheese has melted. Make a big deal out of getting to eat tiny little pizzas, and your kids just might love them. It's also a great way to sneak put healthy vegetables, etc, into your child's diet. Cover it with tomato sauce and cheese, call it pizza, and some kids won't care what's lurking beneath.

But now, I'm going to take a shower and get ready, because even though it's nearly 4 p.m., it's also my day off and I look like something the cat would leave on the bottom basement stair. And, I have to look good for Grecco's.

Yeah, on my day off, I like to get up before Hub gets home from school. It's a sacrifice I make for him.

Mamacita, Scheiss Weekly