Hello my Foodie Friends. Well, the kids are all back to school and our hectic schedules are in place. One of our family’s favorite foods 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 time, before children, pizza was a frequent meal for Paula and I. Our lives were basically like “two ships passing in the night.” I reflect on a period of our lives when we were running from point A to point B. We had a black Labrador retriever named Bogie. Poor Bogie would catch glimpses of us as we would race in and out of the house in between corporate meetings. One particular afternoon, Paula had run into the house to grab a file that she had left on her desk that she needed for a meeting she was on her way to. She let Bogie outside quickly while she searched for her work information. Trying to get Bogie to come back in was a problem and the clock was ticking…Paula had to think quickly. She reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a cold piece of pizza. She dangled it outside yelling; “Bogie, piece of pizza.” Bogie’s ears perked up, his eyes saw the pizza and he sprang towards the house. Paula threw the pizza in the house as Bogie ran in and swiftly shut and locked the door. Later that day, as we both returned home, we saw shoes all over the house. The shoe trail began at the entrance of the back door and proceeded up the stairs, into our bedroom and stopped in front of Paula’s closet. As we looked with startled eyes; we realized that these shoes each had a chewed heel and that they were all of Paula’s shoes (none were mine!). Bogie managed to chew one shoe from every pair of shoes that Paula had in the closet. Both mine and Paula’s closet doors were open. However, Bogie chose to chew only Paula’s. I can still hear Paula’s scream, “Not my Italian leathers!” He was obviously upset with her for tricking him with the piece of pizza. Bogie has long passed, but this story still brings tears to our eyes and smiles to our faces. Paula still enjoys making homemade pizza. One of our favorite items in the store that we use to make our pizza is a Pizza Stone made by Old Stone Oven. Over 35 years ago, Old Stone Oven Company introduced the original baking stone for home use. This pizza stone is thicker than other stones. It is made of a special blend of lead-free clays and has porosity and heat retention that is unmatched for giving a delicate crispy, restaurant-quality crust to any pizza, focaccia, or bread in a standard home oven. It is oven and grill safe to 2000˚ Fahrenheit. The Old Stone Oven Pizza stone has a heat core that is specially engineered to concentrate heat evenly at the center. This solves the problem of a large pizza having an undercooked center while the outer edges are crispy. These stones can be used with care on outdoor grills – both charcoal and gas fired. They are also made in the USA. The trick to a crispy pizza is to heat the stone in the oven prior to putting your prepared pizza on it. Stop by Saratoga Springs’ CTTC located in the Compliments to the Chef Plaza at 46 Marion Avenue where we have Tools for Cooks. Get creative with your pizza. You can make almost anything with a good pizza dough as your base, then have a piece of pizza the following day for breakfast or lunch, or use it to get the dog back in the house when they refuse to come in!! Oh, and in case you were wondering about Paula’s shoes; yes, she did buy a lot of new shoes to replace the chewed up ones. Although she was angry at Bogie for chewing her shoes, she managed to get new ones out of the situation!! Enjoy making pizza with your family and friends. Sing, dance, play music really loud, and have fun eating your creation. Remember; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.” Take care, John and Paula