A Saturday Food Memory

When I was a kid my Mom did almost all of the cooking.  Sometimes they'd grill stuff in the brief time that the Milwaukee area weather would cooperate - and my Dad would do that.  He also made pancakes on Sunday morning which eventually transitioned to waffles.  But on a Saturday night he would make the yellow box option:

He would mix and raise the dough in an aluminum bowl that his Mom used.  All that extra aluminum as a kid from the Mirro products in our home - hope that wasn't bad for us !  Then using a little Crisco as the lubricant he'd spread out the raised dough onto a round pan with his hands.  The canned sauce was then applied - he'd also usually add clumps of raw hamburger.  Finally he'd finish by sprinkling the tin of Parmesan cheese over the pizza and bake.  That was my conception of pizza. 

One time our family had a pizza revelation.  We went to see my Mom's friend in Pewaukee and had their pizza.  No Crisco on a round pan - they used a rectangular pan with corn meal sprinkled on the pan to prevent sticking.  They made their dough from scratch, not with a boxed dinner.  I forget the sauce they used but the cheese was mozzarella - that was really the new thing for us - no more tiny tin of salty old Parmesan.  Mom got the recipe and from then on that was the kind of pizza we ate.    

I miss my Dad's pizza - it was a nice light meal, served with a salad and my Mom didn't have to do the work.  I don't think you can get that same pizza in a box anymore :(

Also I never liked corn meal on the bottom of pizza (or any baked good).

Update: I forgot to search on Youtube, found this ad:

 

 

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i31SVe7wLHk 

 Extra 1964 bonus:  no smoke alarm beeping away !

 

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm