It recently was graduation time for the college students who study across the street from my coffee shop. This time always sad for me as I get to know a lot of the students and grow quite attached to them. This year was especially hard. These students have been customers for four out of the five years of our ownership. I will miss seeing many of them. I gladly worked on a recent Saturday, the day before graduation, as I knew I would see many bright eyes for the last time. One of my favorites brought in her family for lunch. Before she left, she pulled me aside, gave me a hug, and said, "This coffee shop changed my life!" She killed me. She promised to visit as she would only be four hours away. Another student told me the only thing she would miss about college was our coffee shop. Again, killed. What a bittersweet Saturday morning. What friendly faces that will hopefully light up someone else's coffee shop.
I could not dwell on my bittersweet moments this Saturday morning. I had to rush home to work with Husband to prepare for our Pizza Throwdown at my parent's house. Since two birthdays (mine & my oldest nephew's) and Mother's Day landed within close proximity, we decided to have one giant celebration.
At Easter I asked my nephew what his favorite food was. He quickly answered, "Pizza, beef jerky, blue cheese and, oh yea, pickles!" I, for some reason, thought I would try to make a pizza that combined all these things. I talked to my sister-in-law, Sistah (as she would like to be known in the blogworld), about this and the Pizza Throwdown was hatched. Everyone would make their own pizza pie and hopefully be the proud winner of whatever prize Mom determined.
As I ran down the stairs to our duplex apartment, I heard the quick, obnoxious thumping of loud music that usually only comes from our next door neighbor's. As I approached the door, I realized that we were the culprits of the neighborhood noise disturbance. I did not recognize the rap-style music coming out of our sterio. I did, however, follow my nose to the kitchen where I found Husband already prepping for the Pizza Throwdown and bopping his head to the music. I greeted him and asked what we were listening to. "Beastie Boys," he chirped and continued chopping and bopping. I'm definitely not a Beastie Boys fan but with a beat so in your face as a drill seargant is to a brand new cadet, my hips are able to obey the beat without even enjoying the source. I will say, it did make for quick chopping and mixing. Maybe Beastie Boys will be on my kitchen playlist in the future.
In the end, our family made four pizzas. There was Sistah's thin crust sausauge with black and green olives. Mom's deep dish pepperoni with cheese-stuffed crust (so easy -- put string cheese in the crust and crimp over -- who knew?). Husband's Greek-inspired pizza with feta cheese, sausage, tomatoes, and peppers. Then, of course, my nephew-inspired pickle, blue cheese & beef jerky pizza. Now, don't be alarmed. I didn't actually use beef jerky. I just couldn't do it. So, instead, I sliced summer beef sausage and baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes until the edges got crispy. I thought it was a good jerky stand-in.
At Easter I asked my nephew what his favorite food was. He quickly answered, "Pizza, beef jerky, blue cheese and, oh yea, pickles!" I, for some reason, thought I would try to make a pizza that combined all these things. I talked to my sister-in-law, Sistah (as she would like to be known in the blogworld), about this and the Pizza Throwdown was hatched. Everyone would make their own pizza pie and hopefully be the proud winner of whatever prize Mom determined.
As I ran down the stairs to our duplex apartment, I heard the quick, obnoxious thumping of loud music that usually only comes from our next door neighbor's. As I approached the door, I realized that we were the culprits of the neighborhood noise disturbance. I did not recognize the rap-style music coming out of our sterio. I did, however, follow my nose to the kitchen where I found Husband already prepping for the Pizza Throwdown and bopping his head to the music. I greeted him and asked what we were listening to. "Beastie Boys," he chirped and continued chopping and bopping. I'm definitely not a Beastie Boys fan but with a beat so in your face as a drill seargant is to a brand new cadet, my hips are able to obey the beat without even enjoying the source. I will say, it did make for quick chopping and mixing. Maybe Beastie Boys will be on my kitchen playlist in the future.
In the end, our family made four pizzas. There was Sistah's thin crust sausauge with black and green olives. Mom's deep dish pepperoni with cheese-stuffed crust (so easy -- put string cheese in the crust and crimp over -- who knew?). Husband's Greek-inspired pizza with feta cheese, sausage, tomatoes, and peppers. Then, of course, my nephew-inspired pickle, blue cheese & beef jerky pizza. Now, don't be alarmed. I didn't actually use beef jerky. I just couldn't do it. So, instead, I sliced summer beef sausage and baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes until the edges got crispy. I thought it was a good jerky stand-in.
No one was willing to take a vote on the winner. I guess we are all just too nice. Husband and I were the default winners since we brought two pizzas. We were the lucky winners of two fake grass skirts. Mine just might be my new apron.In the end, I don't have an amazing pizza recipe for you...yet. This was my first experience in making a pizza from scratch. I hope for many amazing pizza recipes to come as this blog journey continues.
Looks like a really fun event! Love the stuffed crust tip. My hubby will want to try that pronto.
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