After pointing you to Wendy's new Design A Burger contest, I figured I'd point you to this site, since many of you eat pizza and not burgers.

It's the Random Pizza Generator, and it automatically chooses your crust, the types of cheese and all of your toppings for you. It's sort of like that idea Kramer had on Seinfeld, only you won't burn your fingers. The webmaster doesn't suggest you actually make the pizza you get, but if you do, take a picture of it and he'll post it.

The one I got was Smoked Gouda, Provolone, Cauliflowers, Salsa, Wurstel, and Spam. For the record, I am never making that.

Even though I don't live anywhere near Illinois, the pizza restaurants here offer three styles: regular, thin crust, or "Chicago Style". They are referring, of course, to Chicago Deep Dish. When made properly, one slice is equivalent to three slices of regular. The crust is deep on the edges, and the toppings are literally piled on. Just talking about it makes me want to order in a pie right now.

If you are making it at home, don't use a regular flat pizza pan as it is virtually impossible to build up the edges of the crust without some reinforcement. Personally, I use a 14-inch cake pan which has always worked well for me. Cook the crust part way first to ensure that it will be cooked through once the toppings have been added. Sauce is added, then layered with toppings of your choice and smothered in cheese - lots of cheese. Bake until golden brown and serve. I recommend having a knife and fork handy, or at the very least, a handful of napkins!

We might not be into participating ourselves, but we to hear about eating competitions, whether they're professional or not. In fact, while the pros are great, it's even more interesting to get an outside perspective from a non-pro who decides to take on a supersized eating task just for the challenge of it. In this case, Bear Silber and some of his friends decided to face off in a local eating competition: the Belly Buster Challenge. The event was held at a restaurant called Pizza and Pipes in Santa Clara, California and involves a single person eating a 20″ cheese pizza with 2 toppings in under one hour. The pizzeria has a few established rules that contestants are expected to abide by and the winner gets the glory, along with some free pizza, a picture on the wall of fame and a free t-shirt.

Bear's friends went with classically topped Pepperoni and Mushroom pizzas, while he strategically opted to have different toppings on each quarter of the pizza (one quarter pepperoni and olive, one quarter Canadian bacon and pineapple, one quarter pesto and tomato and one quarter sausage and mushroom). His friends ended up joining the Wall of Shame, but Bear managed to polish off the pie at only 37 minutes, becoming the first person ever to conquer the Belly Buster Challenge.

Do we have a future competitive eater on our hands here?

Normally, one might expect to turn to the Farmer's Almanac, one of the longest continuously published books you can find, for predictions on the weather and advice about when to plant your crops. Perhaps because fewer people have crops that need planting these days, the newest edition of the Almanac has a lot more than just the crop report. It has your pizza personality.

Based on data from research done by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, where they really love their pizza, you too can determine personality from pizza toppings:

• One meat topping - Irritable, argumentative, procrastinators who "conveniently 'forget' work and home obligations" frequently
• Several Meat toppings - Dramatic extroverts, who are impeccably groomed and crave attention
• One vegetable - Empathetic, understanding, well-adjusted, easy-going and "who make ideal parents"
• Several vegetables - Trustworthy, loyal, dependable, humble introverts
• Non-traditional toppings (not just meat or veg) - Aggressive, achievement-oriented, natural leaders
• Extra cheese - Just about everyone likes extra cheese

If you choose a different tipping every time, does that mean you have multiple personalities?

A few weeks ago, we took a peek at some of the world's largest pizzas, and while this pizza might not qualify for that list, it definitely deserves a title of its own. It is one of the most bizarre pizzas that I have ever seen: the Aussie Hangover Cure. It should have been called the McCheeseburger Pizza. The pizza not only has four McDonald's cheeseburgers topping it, but an entire order of large french fries, both under and on top of the burgers, as well as bacon, cheese and tomato sauce. I won't hazard a guess as to the calorie content, but it's safe to say that it is a lot. And as for it acting as a hangover cure? It strikes me as something you might eat the night before you wake up with a hangover, not something you'd crave in the morning.

Labor Day is less than a week away and is the last big grilling day of the summer season. It is a weekend of picnics and barbecues, which means that hot dogs and hamburgers will be popping up on everyone's menus. These hamburgers already made an appearance on my grill, but I'm sure that I'll be cooking up a few more over the weekend. I used sharp cheddar and provolone (except for the lone cheese-less burger topped with bbq sauce in the back), adding the cheese during the last few seconds of cooking, keeping the burgers on the grill just long enough to melt it onto the patty.

Cheese is just the start of a good burger, though. Some of my favorite toppings are basics, like lettuce, tomato, onions and avocado, though bacon, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce are always out alongside the grill for anyone who wants them. You can't go wrong with those options, but what else do you put on your burgers to make them the best they can be?

The fat and calorie content of some pies is enough to make nutritionists cringe, but let's face it: pizza tastes good. Really good. The Miami Herald says that 93% of Americans have pizza at least once per month. Very few people are willing to swear of pizza for more than a brief period of time, even during a diet, let alone for any substantial length of time. Can you make pizza a healthier part of your diet? Sure. There are quite a few ways to cut down on the worst parts of pizza and still enjoy it.

The first option is to limit yourself to one slice of pizza. Good luck with that - though it is a good idea to pair a pizza with something lighter, like soup or salad, to prevent yourself from reaching for that last slice.

The second option is to eat low fat, low calorie pies. This is actually a great way to get your fix without blowing your diet or your top button. The taste is the same or similar to regular pies, especially if you sprinkle on some of your own toppings, like a bit of parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes.

 

Yesterday, students at York, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Elementary School doused their principal with hamburger toppings in an act of charity. A local supermarket chain offered to double the amount of money they normally donate to local schools whose principals did something "original and entertaining," according to the York Daily Record. Locust Grove principal Robert W. Shick (above) was one of five administrators chosen from hundreds of entrants. Shick sat on a hamburger bun as students covered him with all sorts of fixins, including lettuce, relish, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise (shiver). "It felt very good between my toes," Shick told the YDR.

[Photo: AP/York Dispatch, Bill Kalina]

Now, if I was a god-fearing, church-going man, I might think twice about a project like this. That not being the case, I was pretty amused with Kevin Kelm's "sacri-licious experiment" of trying to improve communion wafers by adding a variety of condiments. From French onion dip ("It's like eating a blister") to Grey Poupon ("six kinds of horrible"), the wafers get a lot of mileage. They also get dressed up with some Easy Cheese, anchovy paste and Oreo cookie filling. Ultimately, none of them seem to please Kevin and his tasting partner Gary. The final conclusion is that alcohol is needed to make the wafers palatable. Surprise.

[Photo: Kevin Kelm]

Domino's Pizza recently sought the advice of a taste and smell expert to learn more about what pizza toppings say about people's personalities. According to their "Toppings Tell All" study and Dr. Alan Hirsch of Chicago's Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, those chunks of pineapple and anchovy say a lot. "Non-traditional" toppings, like pineapple, indicate aggressive, leader-type personalities. Meat lovers also love to be the center of attention, apparently. Veggie lovers, on the other hand, seem to be humble and introverted.

The Domino's site isn't to clear on the rationale for any of this, but c'mon, it's pizza, what do you want from it, really?

[Via Slice]