Posted on 03/19/2021 4:02:07 PM PDT by simpson96
I was at a meeting once where someone mentioned that people will argue about the silliest things, even something as simple as where you can get the best pizza. My mind screamed, “Hey, wait a minute, that is a legitimate subject to debate!”
You could argue about thick crust, thin crust, toppings, sauce, dine-in, take out, bake-at-home, cut in squares, cut in triangles— the list goes on. We pizza-eaters are very opinionated. Since pizza wasn’t the reason for the meeting and since I already know where to buy the best pizza, I politely kept my thoughts to myself.
Young people might find it shocking to learn that, for some of us, pizza was not always a part of our lives and certainly not served in the school cafeteria. Even though my heritage is Italian, I never heard about pizza until I was a teenager. It has since become my very favorite food!
My first taste of pizza was when my mom bought a Chef Boyardee Pizza Mix. It came with a dry mixture for the crust, a small can of sauce, and a packet of powdered cheese. My mom didn’t add any toppings and it was only “okay.” (snip)
My husband Randy joined the conversation by saying his first run in with pizza was the Chef Boyardee model too. Randy recalled a time when he and a bunch of guys each pitched in a quarter to buy a pizza at a dine-in shop. When the pizza was served, there was a race to grab a piece, resulting in more than one burnt roof of the mouth. Have you experienced that?
(Excerpt) Read more at hometownfocus.us ...
When I was young my parents made the Chef boy AR Dee pizza. I got to put the anchovies & pimento pieces on. It started my great love of anchovies.
I lived in NJ for 9 years and met my wife there. You’re right about the pizza. We lived in the then small town of Clinton and Pizza Como was our favorite. We went back for the first time in 24 years a few years ago.
We got our pizza, and unbeknowst to us when we got there, it was our last ever. They were closing down the next day after 40(?) years of being in business.
Ha! My brother & sister in law sent us several authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. The pepperoni was amazing, but we agreed that the Italian sausage (which was a sheet of sausage & not chunks) was not so great.
Ick!
I miss Shakey’s Pizza!
As a teenager, I frequently got pizza at the ORIGINAL Shakey’s Pizza house in North Seattle.
A friend of mine worked across the street at an A & W.
They used to go to Shakey’s for lunch and the Shakey’s crew went to A & W.
1978, Bloomington Indiana. Indiana University- Paglias Pizza. It will be the best till the day I die. A six pack a d a Paglias pizza. Some days will never be again.
Oh man! Remember college days, going to Shakey’s for the old tyme piano sing-along, cheap pitchers of 3.2 beer, and yes, pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple!
What can I say, web were young, hungry, and broke ;-)
I forgot about the Appian Way brand. Wasn’t there also a Jeno’s brand box pizza mix?
We would sometimes add hamburger as the topping. Very exotic, LOL!
I remember that WAS what we thought pizza was. My older sister inviting friends and neighbors over for a slumber party and the girls making the pizza and eating it. And me relegated to upstairs and smells that seemed heavenly to my unsophisticated palate.
This thread has taken a direction I really like. “what was your favorite pizza of all time and why” come on, let’s hear it.
The first time I had pizza pie I thought it was a “pie” ie a sweet type deal!
Wanna have a great experience with your kids or grandkids? Make a pizza from a kit and let them do most of the work. You’ll make some of the best memories.
Making Jiffy Pop popcorn with little kids is also a hoot.
absolutely. Banjo music, really good pizza ,beer and games for the kids. It was awesome.
I don’t think so. It featured long wooden tables and benches in a spacious room.
Milton’s pizza in the 80’s was the best!
The trick to Jiffy Pop is to not walk away from it and keep it moving on the burner. Pretend it’s a rattlesnake and keep it shaking. Kids love that.
My favorite is the fiesta size sausage pizza from Aurelio’s in Homewood, Illinois.
“That would be coooool.” - Butthead.
You weren’t to far from the city. Great pizzas in NJ and NY. Sorry to hear about Pizza Como.
When I was 16, I dated the daughter of a Sicilian, who came out of Jersey. He would drive to NJ and personally select his cheeses.
Made NY style thin crust - excellent, but at 16 a whole pizza was excellent no matter. She and I lasted 2 months when summer was over and she went back to her previous boyfriend. I remained friends with her and her family. She and her husband run a restaurant in far upstate NY that he father started, and her father’s recipe lives on.
His pizza was excellent. But the best pizza I ever had was when I lived in Montreal in late 70s, early 80 - two Italian brothers who could barely speak English or French. They had a thicker crust style.
There’s something about pizzas from NJ and NY. Even when they relocate/expand and open another restaurants in the Carolinas, or Atlanta or Florida ... it doesn’t have the same taste. Some say it’s the the oven, others say it’s the water.
In 1956 my first boyfriend took me to a party at his house and I helped him make a Chef-Boy-ar-dee pizza mix with sausage. I had barely heard of pizza, let alone had any before. I thought it was great!
We went our separate ways, but recently reconnected in alumni communications and caught up with what we each have been doing for the last 65 years.
We were so innocent back then compared with what kids are exposed to these days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.