Pizza Wars

"Let there be chaos," was uttered in my kitchen on a Friday night recently, because the epic battle between my husband and me over how to make the best pizza crust was about to begin. The girls have been talking about this for months, and since all four of our kids were home for the weekend, AND it was Kid #1's 25th birthday, we decided it was a great night for the battle!

Once a week, we Mettys put aside our OCD tendencies, and make pizza. It totally destroys the kitchen with all the many bowls of toppings, the dough, the flour, the sauce, the cheese everywhere…and it’s impossible to have an orderly meal together, since we can only make one at a time.

A rousing disagreement (in the spirit of friendly competition) ensued between my wonderful husband, Kirk and me over exactly how to make the best crust. He insists (based on ONE article he read in a cooking magazine) that the dough must rise for 24 hours in the frig. I stand by the reason that it’s dry-frying the dough that makes the difference between a great crust and a mediocre one. But I agreed to mix up his dough and get it rising in the refrigerator for him, because he was in NY 24 hours prior to the bake-off. I was tempted to sabotage the dough (and accused of it later), but I resisted, and did it the right way. We started on an even playing field.

Subconsciously, Kirk may have felt emasculated by all this domestic competition because he did wear a pink shirt. (Just noticed that.) But he kept us all summarily entertained with his obsessive behavior about his dough. He tried to look all professional by tossing it into the air with his fists and sliding it deftly onto the baking stone.

The kids all helped with the chopping: I keep a supply of plastic bowls on hand and fill up to twenty of them with every pizza topping you can think of; well maybe not that many, but I do take orders. Strangest request? Ummm, that would have to be BBQ sauce, or maybe walnuts.

But alas, my creations were everyone's preference (notice who is writing this blog), although I will concede that enthusiasm waned as most of us were full by the time his pizzas were done anyway.

So maybe in the end, letting the dough take its time rising in the refrigerator is a good idea, but dry-frying before adding toppings and baking is key.

Other pizza tips:

Thin.

500 degree oven.

Not too many toppings; each bite should be a little different.

Fresh mozzarella. Oh my goodness.

And...Happy Birthday Abby! We enjoy some Oreo Truffles and an ice-cream cake roll, or at least the suggestion of one. How did my grandmother do it?