Just a Pause...

We have not completed the search for the perfect pizza, just had to take a pause. You see, Friday night was Emphasis Night at school where the school kicks off the sports season for the year. They bring out all the teams and put on a little dog & pony show for us, introducing us to this year's atheletes. It's kind of a big deal here so you don't miss it and since All the teams (and their families) are present, you better get there early to get a seat! NO PIZZA for us!

Then, Saturday night was our 15th Wedding Anniversary. Pizza? I think Not! LOL We went to 2Chez in P-town for some calamari & rack of lamb. Yummmmmmmm Now if anyone wants to hear about that place I have only two words: Go There! I love that place, their food is wonderful. Oh, it's small so call in a reservation to be safe and it's probably medium on the pricy scale. Most items are quite reasonable I think, but the ribeye is kind of high... 1/2 rack of lamb....$17, ribeye....$25 Take it from there. But it was all wonderful! Maybe we will get back on the pizza search tonite.... Ciao!

Stop #3 - American Legion

Amazingly enough a friend called me today and wanted to know if the hubby & I wanted to join her and her hubby for dinner at the American Legion. It was Pizza night! HECK YES! It fell right into our plan.

It was a smorgasbord of flavors! They made Hawaiian Pizza, Supreme, Pepperoni, Chili, and Sausage. I only tasted the Hawaiian and the Supreme. Husband ate Chili, Pepperoni & Supreme. I was surprised to find I really liked this pizza. If it weren't for the fact that they did not make their own crust, we might have had a 4.5 rating! The toppings were 4.5 but since they bought the crusts from elsewhere I have to downgrade it to a 3.5 - but I will definitely check them out again!

Crust 3.5  
Toppings 4.5
Overall 4.0

Stop #2 - Oliver's in Peoria Heights

Tonight we visited Oliver's in Peoria Heights. They make thin crust pizza only. I have to say I was not looking forward to it, as thin crust is not my favorite. However.... it was really good! We ordered the Hawaiian pizza (ham, pineapple, and 3 cheeses) We tend to like this pizza and have had it at several places. Therefore we feel quite qualified in rating this particular flavored pizza. It was quite good; the crust was flaky and crisp on the edges and not too soggy in the middle. It's hard to not get soggy with a pizza sporting pineapple with all the water it carries. They added the trace of cornmeal under the crust which did not go unnoticed, it was great.

I must say, for a thin crust pizza I was impressed.  They DO need to use larger chunks of ham, so we can actually taste it, but other than that, it was pretty good.                  

Crust 4.25  
Toppings/ham 3.75
Overall 4.0
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

In Search of Pizza Perfection!

My husband and I decided we like Pizza so much, and we have watched Food Tv SO much that we would head out on a hunt of our own to find the Perfect Pizza. We even have said we just might have pizza for dinner for several nights in a row to accomplish this. I'm thinking we might skip a few nights to get the taste out of our system but we will push on and review them here on this blog, sharing the outcome with all of you.




1st stop on our Pizza Tour is Papa Johns.  I had never been there or knowingly had their pizza, so it seemed a good place to start.

We ordered two of what they call "specials": A Chicken Parmesan (pictured above) and a Tuscan Six Cheese. Each pizza came with a pepper and a tub of "Special Garlic Dipping sauce" aka garlic butter?

First I tasted the Chicken Parmesan. The crust is light and fluffy, "not bad" for a hand tossed says the hubby. Has a real hand made feel to it; not a lot of flavor, just... 'crust'. The edge puffed up nice and soft giving you a good handle to hold onto while eating. The sauce had a tangy and slightly sweet flavor to it which wasn't bad since I don't like a real acid tasting tomato sauce.  The dough in the middle of the pizza was quite chewy and in some places not quite cooked completely. The chicken pieces tasted a little dry and a tad mushy... lacking flavor, maybe they should consider marinating the chicken first for a while. The Parmesan was present on the cheese but the taste disappeared after a few chews.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the Tuscan Six cheese. I could taste different cheeses but the overall feel when I took a bite was "mushy". I didn't taste any Parmesan, or any sharp cheese flavors. The hubby said he tasted the Parmesan...  Maybe lowering it to a 4 cheese and using a sharp in there would help.


Crust 3.5  (no seasoning, some doughy, just 'crust')
Toppings/cheese 3.0
Overall 3.25

Thanks for stopping by! Look back again as we endeavor into other pizza palaces, in search of....

Oooey Gooey Chewy Caramels

Step 1What You Need

What you will need:

Ingredients:

3 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup cream
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margerine
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
More butter

Useful Tools:

3 quart pan
Candy thermometer
Cookie sheet with raised edges
Pizza Cutter
Wax paper
Spoon

Step 2In the Pot

In your pan, combine sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter (margarine), and salt. Put in probe of candy thermometer about 1 inch from bottom. Slowly bring to a boil. Stir until sugar boils. (when sugar boils DON'T stir anymore!!!!!).Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush the sides if any sugar starts to crystallize on the side of the pot. Gently swirl the boiling sugar througout the boiling process. Cook to hard ball stage(250F°-266F°) Add in vanilla. Pour immediately into buttered dish. Allow to completely cool.

Step 3Cool, Cut & Eat!

When cooled, cut into squares with oiled pizza cutter. (Optional: Roll into logs. They are easier to wrap.) Wrap them in wax paper. store at room temperature in a nice bowl.

Enjoy