Pizza and Grandma

Pizza is always amongst every one's list of favorite foods. It amazes me how popular pizza has remained throughout American culture. It is interesting to me that people are so picky regarding which type of pizza they like best and even where their pizza is made. Everyone is very opinionated when you announce you will be ordering a pizza. They ask from where. You say, "Papa John's" and they immediately respond. The response could be bad: "I hate Papa John's pizza, their crust is too thin. I prefer Pizza Hut, I like a pan crust." The response could be good: "I love Papa John's. I like the garlic sauce they send to dip into the crust and I always save the pepper in the box to eat last."

It's either the crust or the sauce or not enough cheese. Delivery pizza is sometimes not even acceptable. You might have to go to Papa Murphy's and get a take-n-bake pizza because we like that it is fresh and that it can be made in your own oven- which guarantees that it will be hot when served. Some can eat leftover pizza cold. Some have to warm it in their own oven because the microwave is unacceptable and may make the crust soggy. Regionally, you notice differences in the most popular toppings. In New Mexico, green chile can be added and my favorite delivery pizza can be Canadian bacon, green chile and pineapple. Otherwise, I don't like pineapple on my pizza, but I truly don't mind anchovies (in moderation).

Even frozen pizza has different assets. Obviously everyone is picky about which frozen pizza they would purchase as well. There is usually one whole aisle in the grocery freezer section devoted to pizza. Should we pick individual pizzas, three in a box? Can we handle french bread pizza? Specialty frozen pizzas like California Pizza Kitchen introduced more gourmet flavors and toppings while the lower-end versions might just be plain cheese.

Watch a kid's face when you announce that you are having pizza for dinner. Lots of times they will just pick cheese as their choice. Maybe pepperoni, the classic topping. You could say Chuck E Cheese to a child and it is like you announced you were heading to Disney World. The games, the pitchers of sugary sodas, and the ultimate meal: pizza makes everything feel like the best day on Earth to a kid.

What's interesting is that no matter where you order the pizza, whether or not it is your friends' favorite place, favorite topping- the pizza rarely goes to waste. Everyone will always end up digging in and if there are leftovers, you might have them for breakfast. I sometimes wonder if people change their favorite pizza as often as the weather can change.

My favorite has always been my Grandma's homemade pizza. Pizza is definitely one of my grandmother's specialties, but in a way that can be delivered faster than Domino's hour claim. You can be sitting with my grandmother enjoying a cocktail and she will say, "How about I make some pizza?" You run to the phone to call everyone you know- "Grandma's making pizza." Within the hour, you have a house full of company and Grandma is turning out pizzas from her oven as fast as she possibly can. Ask anyone I'm related to and they will tell you that my Grandma can bake six pizzas and still have to make another. We will keep her going while we gorge ourselves on this delicious, comforting treat. It becomes a pizza party like no other.

There is something about her crust- an ingredient we may never know- that makes it tasty as the entire pizza. Her sauce- homemade- with bits of oregano and basil- usually fresh from her garden- is so unique and so delicious that you can't compare your own sauce or any store bought sauce. She will buy fresh mozzarella instead of the bags of shredded that can be sometimes waxy and tasteless after sitting in the package for all of that time.

Whenever my Grandma has made pizza, it truly makes you feel like you're at home. In the meantime, so far away, I will settle for a delivery pizza and keep searching for the perfect one. Knowing all along that the perfect pizza stands in my grandmother's hands, in her little kitchen in Kingston, NY.