Monday, May 17, 2010

Of old friends and pizza

On Friday, out of the blue, I got a call from some old friends, Ardella and Ralph. Ardella was bridesmaid at my wedding in 1958. She and her husband both grew up on the old gravel country road where my family lived in the 50's. The two of them married in the same church my Ex and I did and we had our kids around the same time.

When we met at an Olive Garden for lunch on Saturday, it was just like old times. We caught up on each others siblings and kids and shared pictures. Then we got to talking about our pizza nights. Ralph started laughing about the disastrous first time we made pizza. Here is the way I tell it in my cookbook:
The first time I made pizza was soon after RW and I started dating in 1957. He was just out of the Navy and raved about this great stuff called pizza he had in Norfolk VA. He wanted me to make some. I finally found directions on the side of a Betty Crocker Hot Roll Mix box. It had a recipe for making pizza crust and pizza sauce and suggested different toppings you could use. One of them was blue cheese. Since RW liked blue cheese salad dressing, I bought a chunk of blue cheese and covered a whole pizza with it! Take my word for it--blue cheese on pizza is baaad!
As Ralph related it, we had gathered to make the pizza with him and Ardella and another couple. I had the pizza crust and sauce going and sliced the pepperoni, but didn't have the right cheese. So Ralph and my Ex went to a store to get cheese. As unsophisticated as we all were, they came back with blue cheese. Ralph laughed about how awful it smelled when it was in the oven. (It was a revelation because all these years, I thought I had bought the blue cheese.)

Once we all caught onto Mozzerella cheese, however, we were off and running with pizza-making. For many years, we and our kids would get together at each other's homes on the weekends for pizza. It was a lot of trouble to make so Ardella and I took turns making the pizza.

Nowadays, there are a dozen places within a one-mile radius where I can get a pizza, but it will never be as much fun as those long-ago pizza nights.

13 comments:

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

My parents were violently opposed to pizza as something "foreign" and worse, associated with non-Nordic peoples...lol...oh boy...

Bet that bleu cheese was tres horrible.

Sparrow chic said...

I read with delight and laughter about the pizza and the bleu cheese.

So glad you got to have lunch and reminisce with Ralph and Ardella.

Jen said...

Nowadays you can fill your freezer with frozen pizzas. I bet your homemade was much better than either frozen or delivery.

Teresa Evangeline said...

Our local bowling alley still makes homemade pizzas that are delicious. More expensive than the frozen, but worth every penny. I enjoyed reading about your adventures with pizza and the fun in getting together with old friends.

^..^Corgidogmama said...

My kids and I always had fun making homemade pizza. We used Jiffy's easy crust mix, and topped it a mile high with delish stuff.
Bleu cheese would be horrid, would smell horrid, and yikers, you all were such innocents! The memories were worth keeping though, even if the pizza was a nightmare!
So glad for you that you got to relive some happy days with your old friends. That is one of the sweetest things in life~

Kathy said...

How funny is that! My mom use to make wonderful pizza from scratch on a regular basis. It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

For years, my mom made pizza at home. It was a long time before I could bring myself to order it!

Kittie Howard said...

What a fun post. I laughed about the blu cheese...oh how that must have been dreadful. But what a fun time you had (and how ahead of your time you were!)

Buttercup said...

I'm a pizza lover and took to it a young age. I've tried a lot of pizza, but never with bleu cheese. Must have given you a big smile of remembrance.

Haddock said...

doing things together is fun

Jenny said...

How nice that you got a chance to meet up with friends from the past! Sounds like you had a great time!

gayle said...

Sounds like so much fun!!

Carmella said...

Toss me your crusts! I LOVE pizza!