I so enjoyed your first pizza installment. Pizza, one of my favorite topics and foods. Where to start... When I was a child standing in line at the local movie theater also meant standing in front of the local pizzaria since they were next door to each other. It was agonizing standing there smelling the aroma of pizza baking. Arris Pizza Palace in Jefferson City, MO, still the best pizza I have ever had. The Pardalos (Greek) family owned the joint in 1961 and still owns it today. It is probably best characterized as St Louis style with an almost cracker this crust. Growing up, I have had some truly awful pizza, from the pizza they served in grade school with cut up hot dogs as a topping to box pizza mixes (a little better, but not much). The first good homemade pizza I had was when I was at a friends having dinner. It wasn't half bad. Mind you, I was in grade school at the time and I asked for the recipe. I guess that's when my quest for a better homemade pizza began. I still use a portion of the recipe today and yes, I still used canned tomato soup, although it is augmented with fresh oregano, basil and rosemary when we have them available from our garden as well as fresh garlic. I am still searching for the perfect pizza dough recipe. I think I have found a cracker thin crust recipe that doesn't require the heat of a pizza oven. I have yet to try it, since we still have leftover pizza in the freezer, but it won't be long...

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