Hello my Foodie Friends!
One of our family’s favorite food is pizza, especially Paula’s homemade pizza. Pizza is an excellent all-around family food that every person can personalize and enjoy on the day it is cooked, or the following day (Breakfast Pizza?). It is also a perfect “on the go” food to help with the crazy schedules that we all have. Back in the days before children, pizza was a frequent meal for Paula and me. Our lives were basically like “two ships passing in the night.”
When Paula and I first dated one of our favorite romantic places to eat was an Italian restaurant called Verdolini’s. We were there so much they knew our order when we came in. The waitresses used to elbow each other and fuss over the young lovers. They were planning our wedding even before we even thought about getting married. The lighting and ambiance were straight out of a movie. The whole Verdolini family worked there and when he was old enough, my brother Bill, worked there also. They made a pizza that was different from any pizza I have had before or since. Paula was curious about their ingredients and how it was made. She would ask and they would say “it’s a secret.” We had my brother Bill, however, as our spy on the inside. Bill would bring home any leftover pizzas at the end of the night and hand them out to whoever wanted them. He could not manage to get the entire recipe from the owner, but he got enough that he and Paula came close. One of the special parts was baking them in their stone oven. We have tinkered with it over the years, and I think Paula’s pizza is now perfect. That’s the thing about pizza; it’s a personal taste type of food. The way I like it might be different than the way someone else likes it and that’s ok.
A pizza stone is one of the keys to making a perfect pizza. The science behind pizza stones is relatively simple: the stone conducts and holds heat, which keeps the oven temperature steady even when a cold ingredient (such as an uncooked pizza) is introduced. This not only helps the pizza cook more evenly, but also allows the bottom to get crisp. The trick to a crispy pizza is to heat the stone in the oven prior to putting your prepared pizza on it.
Learning how to clean a pizza stone correctly can help it last a long time and produce mouth-watering pizzas. The one small problem: How do you remove all that baked-on cheese and grease once you’re done devouring your culinary masterpiece? Follow these steps to clean a pizza stone so it lasts for many years to come. It’s best to clean a pizza stone every time it’s used—a quick wipe works. This makes it easier to remove stuck-on food and cheese. And it helps avoid having to deep clean your stone as often. Let your stone cool down before removing it from the oven.
Stop by downtown Saratoga Springs’ Compliments to the Chef, Your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place where we have cool tools for your pizza making. Get creative with your pizza and make lasting memories.
After 60 years in business our hometown Italian Restaurant, Verdolini’s had to close due to a flood and family health problems but they live in our memories forever.
Enjoy making pizza with your family and friends. Sing, dance, play music really loud, and have fun eating your very own creation. Remember; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care, John & Paula
