10.30.2008

So why "boiled pizza"?

In celebration of my 100th post, here's a good story.

Many of you may have looked at this blog wondering why it goes by the name of "boiled pizza." This wonderment would make a lot of sense, seeing as when I happened upon the actual dish of boiled pizza, I was in awe myself.

Now when I created this blog, I was trying to think of all kinds of clever and unique names. I thought of a few, one of which was 7 of 9. This, of course, because I'm the 7th of 9 children and I thought the name unique. However, when I googled "7 of 9," I found that a character on the Star Trek Voyager went by such a name, and, well I got rid of the name idea very quickly.

As a senior in high school, there were three kids left in my parents' home. Me, the oldest of the three, and my younger sister and brother. Because my mom and dad were used to cooking and buying for a large family, we always seemed to have leftovers in the fridge. However, since we all grew-up in a big family, we weren't used to eating the leftovers. This put us in the predicament of lots of food going bad.

Now my father is a great cook. He can make the juiciest London broil steak, the most satisfying salad, the creamiest clam chowder, and the most delectable eclairs with professional, chef-like ease. He's extremely creative and talented. He started cooking at a young age for his family and he's gotten better and better over the years. Usually on Sunday he would prepare dinner and typically the meal was a real treat.

This Sunday wasn't any different than another. "Don't fill up too much on breakfast," dad warned us, "I'm working on making an excellent lunch." As lunchtime approached, we could smell a splendid Italian aroma filling the air as we heard dad cutting food, stirring mixtures, and taste-testing his creation. By the time he called us to the kitchen, we were very hungry and had high expectations.

"What did you make?" we asked.

"Just try it," he answered. And we weren't a bit apprehensive, that is, until we saw the dish. My sister was served first, then me.

"What is this?" I inquired as I looked into the pot. It looked like nothing dad had created before. "Is this the pizza from a week or so ago?"

"...uh...yes."

"That pizza was kind of old."

"Don't worry. I boiled it within an inch of its life," dad explained, hoping to assure us that he had taken all precaution to rid the food of any possible bacteria or mold.

"What?" we all responded, "You cut up and boiled the leftover pizza!?!" Looking closer, I noticed the other ingredients, "And that's the leftover chicken from yesterday and the pasta dinner from a while back."

This was when mom came into the kitchen and voiced her surprise, "You boiled the old pizza? And now we're eating it?" My sister looked up from her plate and stopped eating. "We can't actually consume this," mom continued, "We've got to throw it away. In fact, we've got to throw the pot that it was cooked in away." Dad was shocked that none of us, not even mom would support him with his creative, mix-all-the-leftovers dish. He had made things from leftovers before, but he had never gone as far as boiling baked food. He must have seen the humor in the situation because he began to laugh. We all did. If you could have been there in the kitchen that day, you would have laughed too. My sister sitting in unbelief that she had actually swallowed some of the stuff. My brother eating the only prepared lunch item dad hadn't pulled from the fridge, frozen spinach. Mom looking at dad, still, in unbelief. And I, staring at the mixture in the pot.
We ended up having toast for lunch that day and threw away the deceivingly aromatic dish.

So that's why this blog is named "boiled pizza," because I'm positive this story and the name is unique, plus, just thinking about it makes me smile. Thanks Dad for sanitizing the dish through boiling, but thanks mom for insisting we throw it away.

9 comments:

jo said...

What an excellent portrait of that fateful day in both writing and photography.

I cannot believe that, aiming to please, I acutally consumed the mixture.

Boiled Pizza--an excellent name, for an excellent blog. Thank you for 100 posts!

Janice said...

Having arrived at the house minutes after the event, I can say it was one for the history books.

Kristine Elaine said...

I love it! Lunch was great today...thanks for waiting 45 minutes for me to show up.

Trisha said...

Wow:) Thanks for the story! I am so impressed that you actually have the photo, that completed the story.
And congratulations on post 100.

The Jeff Bylund Family said...

Great post! You really are a great writer. I smiled and laughed the whole time.

Jess said...

This would make a great restaurant idea.

Da said...

congratulations on your 100th post..hehehe i hope to get to that one day..hehehe. but boiled pizza is a great idea but i guess it didn't pass mom.

jo said...

I just read this post again. I love it. And that photo is priceless.

jo said...

Reading this post again. Never gets old! And that photo speaks volumes. It would be fun to get a look at your picture of the day albums again. great teenage years they were :)