*** Post written just after the lockdown ***
Firstly, let us give a classy Chef’s kiss to the Italians who brought Pizza into the world! Thank you! (I would also love to thank the inventor of pani puri, but that is a post for another day!)
My earliest memories of Pizza are from my schooling days, when all of us, a bunch of more than 7 kids (give or take, at each instance) would haunt our favourite Global Bakery, order a small pizza, eat a slice each and smile like Cheshire Cat!
Birthdays, meant parties at our adda, the Global Bakery! (It is still busy and thriving. The Country Oven, just opposite to Global Bakery never had similar luck. It failed to take off from the start and eventually, closed the shop, forever.) That started my love for Pizza.
Once we ended our hectic +2, pizza became a routine, which later increased manifold, as soon as I started earning on my own! (Go Midland Bakery!)
I also love the fact that, the girl gang in my workplace, would visit Pizza Hut and eat pizza to our heart’s content. Ah! Who can forget all the beautiful memories I have with my friend SV and RR who would eat pizza with me, once in a while, during our training at Infosys, Mysore. In-fact, my friend SV managed to hurt the pizza hut guy at the Food Court-2, by calling him an uncle! (He looked like a 30 year old and we were a couple of 20 year olds, he was hardly an uncle, but it was just the case of a slip of the tongue, aadat se majboor!) He took offense to that and refused to serve pizza to us (others would serve us), till we stayed at the campus for all the 5 months of training. Those were the days!
Even though I have been in love with Pizza since my teens, this post is not about me!
Na-uh!
Later on, once Mr.Bee and I moved to Charlotte, Pizza was our go-to lunch and dinner during our lazy days. We would order in, laze on the couch with remote in our hands, binge watching Netflix. I introduced some dramas to Mr.Bee like Switched At Birth, Gilmore Girls, Cheers, Fraser,Fixer Upper by Chip and Joanna, Love It or List It and he introduced me to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Heroes and also Fast and Furious films,(which I loathe by the way)
I remember eating Pizza filled with mushrooms, from Mellow Mushrooms. (I am not a fan of mushrooms), the particularly soft Papa John’s Pizza with a pickle on the side, the usual favourite Pizza Hut and Dominoes. But the taste I have always admired and begun to miss is the Garden Fresh Pizza from Fuel. The friendly atmosphere at the pizzeria was a plus. I love my pizza with a topping of Basil, accompanied by the yummy Garlic Knots and chilli flakes with more than a sprinkle of oregano.
Mr.Bee had ordered Fuel Pizza on the very first lunch we had, after landing in Charlotte, so ya, Fuel has a special place in our hearts. (The Korean eatery Emzy was his first choice, which was apparently closed on that day, since it is in the Business district of Charlotte, where everything remains closed on weekends!)
Office parties for Mr.Bee always meant eating pizza, which is the best option for vegetarians in the USA. You can always add toppings according to your taste.
Even if Mr.Bee loves pizza and had eaten more pizzas than me, he is not what this post is about, either!
It all started with the Corona Lockdown, which made it hard for pizza lovers like us to eat out, the solution was to make pizza at home. Luckily, we don’t have a heavy duty oven good for baking! (Lucky, because, we would have piled on many kilos in weight, if not for the absence of the said baking oven!)
So, making pizza is how we spent the weekend.
Before and After!
Credit goes to Mr.Bee for making pizza, he was the Chef in this case and I was his Sous Chef, cutting the veggies for him and guess who liked it the most, GBee!
Yup, this post is about our new fan of Pizza, GBee. He loves pizza, but hates all the toppings, he removes all the veggies and gives them to me, very respectfully! So he is just eating a thick crust with tomato sauce and black olives on it and nothing else, not even cheese!) Can we really say he loves pizza? I am not sure now!
Mr.Bee was happy, he has a fan in his pizza cooking phase. Since then, we made pizza one more time. He also tried his hand at sandwiches too. (Mr.Bee discovered his love for cooking during the lockdown. Now that there is no lockdown, we don’t see him cook, as regularly)
GBee was so happy about pizza being made at home, he ran out to the main gate, shouted at the top of his lungs about pizza, surprising the guests of our top floor neighbours!
Announcing the pizza being made!
Confused strangers!
We have managed to fool GBee into thinking sandwiches are also pizza! Guess who loves sandwiches now?
P.S:
- I have recently come across the diary I had been writing during the lockdown, so I am posting them here now, before they turn too irrelevant and old! I also have posts during toddler years of GBee. I just need time to get everything on the computer!
- Now, almost 2 years after this incident, GBee is still not interested in eating veggies on the pizza, except black olives and he has completely stopped eating sandwiches!
Till the next post, adios my friends!