I just found this post online, and boy, did it bring back memories! I was born in Washington DC, and grew up in Miami FL in the 50s and 60s. My mom got hold of a real Italian pizza crust recipe during WWII from a Pittsburgh Italian lady, and she used to make large pizzas in jelly roll pans, with homemade tomato sauce, fresh basil and oregano from the garden (a row of paint cans on the back porch all planted with herbs) and whatever toppings she could come up with, plus lots of mozzarella. In those days, parents in the neighborhood used to gather at someone's house, put all the kids to bed together, and sit up drinking beer and playing cards and eating pizza. The older kids would sneak out to the kitchen after the second pan of pizza had been served around and gobble up the leftovers! I also remember those Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza kits fondly - they were sure better than nothing, and could be helped along with liberal use of fresh herbs. Not until I was dating in my senior year of high school did I run across a pizzeria pizza as good as my mom's, at Marcella's in North Miami.

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