My Dad Invented Pizza Therapy
Albert Grande, The Mushroom King and Master Pizzaiolo My Dad Albert Grande , knew Italian food and Italian recipes. There was one thing he made better than anything else: pizza. When I was a teenager, my dad would bring home dough from a bakery, spread it out on a cookie sheet, smoosh on some stewed tomatoes along with garlic, cheese, basil, oregano and pepperoni. He would pop it in the oven and about 20 minutes later the best pizza in the world would come out. He sometimes made it when my friends were over and developed a reputation for making great pizza. My friends would ask for it regularly and my dad was more than happy to oblige. I soon realized that although the pizza was wonderful, it wasn't the pizza alone that brought my friends over. The pizza really became the basis for discussions about philosophy, values, and life in general. The event was a stepping stone for an evening of jokes and arguments about what was important in our lives. I started making pizza from scratch ...