About once a year, I get the bug to make homemade pizza. I always find it to be a messy process, resulting in broken dough and leaky toppings. It's always tasty enough, but by the time I finish with it, I determine that pizza should remain a take-out only item. However, over time I forget this resolve and decide to make it again, only to be smacked with the same realization that it's too much trouble for home cooking.

I made pizza last Sunday, and went through the same process as in the past. Except this time, instead of resolving to abandon the practice, I started to think that maybe I needed to make pizza more often, in order to work out the kinks and have successful pies come out of my oven. Some unknown force must have had a hand in this decision, as on Monday, a pizza cookbook landed in my mailbox. The California Pizza Kitchen Family Cookbook was written by Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield, the co-founders of the chain of the same name.

Written to be accessible to kids (while not pandering to parents), I've found that this book is the exact right speed for me. It starts with three variations on pizza dough and a recipe for a classic tomato sauce. Then they take a break from pizza for the moment, to offer up an assortment of salad and panini recipes (admittedly, those recipes seemed out of place there - I would have put them towards the back since this book bills itself as a pizza cookbook). Finally though we get into the pizzas and the recipes sound delicious and give me such inspiration that in my mind I'm already heading towards the kitchen. The book closes with suggestions for pizza parties for kids, special holiday pizzas (potato pancake pizza, anyone) and finally wraps up with dessert pizzas. It is beautifully photographed and would make a wonderful present for an older kid who was interesting in cooking.

The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook isn't a new book, but it's a favorite. The book contains over 25 of the pizza recipes from the popular chain so that you can make them at home without resorting to the frozen version from the grocery store (which isn't that bad, actually). The restaurant is always developing new recipes and pizza combinations, but there are standards that never change and also helped to make CPK the success it is, such as BBQ Chicken Pizza, Thai Chicken Pizza, Rosemary Chicken and Potato Pizza and Mixed Grill Vegetarian Pizza, all of which are included here. The book also provides the recipes for both their classic dough and their honey wheat dough, which you can substitute on any pizza in the restaurant.

On top of the savory, dinner pizzas, there is also a section of "novelty" pizzas, which include a couple of dessert options, and a chapter of soups and pastas. Their Tortilla Soup recipe -a really delicious soup - is included here.

Every recipe is delicious and they are a huge hit with family and friends, who will be impressed that you were able to recreate restaurant dishes at home.

By the way, the sales of this cookbook, according to the preface, all go to charities like Make-A-Wish and Pediatric AIDS. Good food and a good cause, how can you beat that?

 

 

Say what you will about them, but frozen pizzas are a staple component of many, many kitchens. They take no preparation and heat up wonderfully in the oven in the amount of time that it would take to have a pizza delivered. Well, some of them heat up wonderfully. There are some pizzas that are not even worth turning on the oven for.

In my opinion, the best frozen pizza is a homemade one, but I know that not all people have the time or energy to freeze their own, unbaked pizzas. Fair enough, even though you can buy pre-made, uncooked dough at many supermarkets nowadays.  Though certainly not covering all of the possible options for frozen pizza that there are, here is a quick guide to some of the pizza choices that will be waiting at your fingertips when you take a stroll through the freezer section: