Not Just Another Tool in the Toolkit

It was a cold November night, as I huddled close to the warmth of my 425° oven and peered through its grease speckled glass to witness the progress of my frozen pizza crisping upon its glowing heating coils.

The yellowish-orange of the oven light illuminated sweltering cheese bubbles that inched closer and closer to the center of my pie, signaling that it was almost done.  I canceled the digital timer’s red blinking final countdown and rushed to unsheath my favorite utensil.

The most valuable cutlery in the kitchen.

Alongside my parmesan and red pepper flake shakers, my sacred blend of pizza seasonings and my designated pizza knife (a long, dull boning knife for rotation and retrieval) sits my pride and joy “The Duke”.

The Duke is my trusty pizza-cutter and while Tess finds it extremely silly that I’ve given a pizza-cutter a name and detests the name I’ve chosen, I feel a pizza-cutter as badass as mine deserves a nickname of equal badassness.

The Duke.

Last Christmas, The Duke came as a present from my brother-in-law and craftsman extraordinaire Pat.  It was a thoughtful, handcrafted surprise, that totally leveled up my pizza-cutting game forever (Thanks Pat!).

The Duke is custom-made with a thick contoured wood handle and sharp stainless steel circular blade that glides so gracefully you’d think there were ball bearings inside.

The weight of the solid wood handle is what sets The Duke apart from the rest.  The heaviness of the handle lets momentum do the work—with one swift, fluid motion, it allows me effortlessly sail through even the crispest of crusts.

It leaves behind perfectly straight, even lines and works just as well whether you’re dicing up deep-dish or extra-thin; party-cuts, wedges or strips.

The pizza cutter is the most important tool in any pizza lovers toolkit, yet often it’s the most overlooked. 

For most of my life, I’ve settled for flimsy, plastic devices that wobble willy nilly from one crust to the next; leaving jagged uneven lines and unproperly cut slices.  In college, I even resorted to scissors once.

But, trust me, once you’ve had your grasp on a heavy-duty pizzeria caliber pizza cutter it’s hard to go back.  As with many of the finer things in life, you don’t know what you’re missing until you experience one.

Who would have thought I’d get as much joy cutting pizzas as I do eating them? 

Perhaps the pizza cutter isn’t just another boring, but necessary kitchen gadget, in my case, it’s a gift that keeps on giving.  Even mundane tasks can become quite enjoyable when we’ve got the proper tools.

What I’m eating:  Jack’s pepperoni perfectly cut in squares thanks to the Duke

What I’m reading: The Richest Man in Babylon -George Samuel Clason

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Balancing the Pizza Budget

I recently found out I’ve got a second little pizza buddy on the way.  That’s right, Ellis is going to be an older brother and while Tess and I feel extremely blessed, it’s apparent we’ve got to step up our adulting game and tighten up our budget.

In other words:  I’ve got to scale back my pizza spending.

Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to get decent pizza cheap.

You’ve always got the chains.

Thanks to the chains, it’s easier than ever to get a semi-quality pie for under $10—Domino’s $5.99 mediums, Pizza Hut $7.99 larges if you order online, and old faithful Little Caesars with their $5 Hot-n-Ready’s—but with potential taxes, tips, and delivery fees you’ll still end up forking over a good chunk of change.

You could make it yourself.

With just a handful of ingredients, you could always make a pizza from scratch, but without the know-how, technical capabilities, equipment and time that can seem like a daunting task.  You’re still probably not getting yourself below $7 or $8 when all is said and done.

Go frozen.

You could always go frozen and go bulk.  Find those Jack’s 4 for $10 deals or thank the heavens for your Costco Membership and stock those party packs to the sky.

But, what if we want to go really, really cheap, cheaper than gas station pizza and still keep our dignity?

When pizza’s on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime!

That catchy jingle from the mid-90’s “Bagel Bites”  TV advertising may be on to something.

It turns out that for just $2 you can get a plain cheese PIZZA bagel at Bagels Forever on Madison’s University Ave, and for an extra buck you can add pepperoni and whatever other toppings you want.

In theory, it makes perfect sense, bagels have the same high-gluten chewiness and crispy, toasty texture like a pizza crust.  With the appropriate amount of sauce and toppings, you end up with two mini, circular thick crust pizzas.

At Bagels Forever they pile the mozzarella and zesty red sauce on a freshly made bagel of your choice and toss it in a convection oven to toast up.  You get the benefit of choosing your flavor of crust a la carte from all the classic New York-style shop options—you could go Everything bagel, Sesame or Onion like I did.

Bagels are not only filling they’re also budget-friendly.

While Bagels Forever certainly isn’t going to be my number one pizza stop for the next nine months, it was fun to eat, good on the go and left me with enough spare change to stock the piggy bank to ensure my growing family will have future bagel money.

What pizza taught me:

When pinching pennies, we don’t have to give up what we enjoy, we can find creative and thrifty new ways of getting what we want. When I’ve got two little Luthers to feed, I know where I’m taking them for their own mini pizzas.

What I’m eating: Bagels Forever pepperoni pizza bagel

What I’m reading: Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance –Alex Hutchinson