Friday Nights Are For Pizza
“Time to eat!” my aunt yells down the stairs to my cousins and I playing house, video games like Mario Kart or swimming in the pool. We run to pick out our juice box or drink and grab a seat at the “kids table.” I rush to grab a corner piece of pizza before my cousins can sit down to eat. The smell of pizza fills the room and there are loud discussions from my grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the other room. The cousins have their own conversations about school, sports, dance, and our upcoming weekend plans. Once all the kids are done eating, we continue playing until dessert is put on the table. When it came time for dessert there was an assortment of either cupcakes, cookies, brownies, ice cream or the occasional birthday cake. This is what our family’s Friday nights looked like over 10 years ago. Even though today we are all grown up and play time has turned into adult conversations, pizza night still has the same meaning. Although pizza is an easy, quick and inexpensive meal, the value to me is priceless. It is a connection to memories and moments in my life of spending time with my family.
In my family, Friday nights are for eating pizza and celebrating the end of the week. Friday night pizza night has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. By spending just a few hours per week with my extended family, we share a close and rare bond that many other people do not get to experience. When I asked my mom when it started, she shared, “When I was a child, growing up, my mom would always make homemade pizza to celebrate the end of the school week. As we got older and had our own children, we would meet at one of our siblings house on Friday nights to catch up and see each other. This also gave our kids time to play or swim in the pool over the summer, giving us parents a break while you entertained yourselves.” Looking back my mom realizes that this night was not only to create a bond for the cousins, but also continue the special relationship she has with her mom, brother and two sisters. My mom and her siblings continue the tradition to have pizza together and take turns hosting and making the pizza each week. Friday night pizza night is a tradition that I hope my sister, cousins and I continue with our own kids someday so they can experience the close connection to their family like I have.
In order to make homemade pizza it does not require many complicated steps or a long grocery list, rather it is an easy meal to make for the whole family. The recipe requires dough, pizza sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and any toppings you wish. It takes a little over a half hour to prepare and cook the pizzas. During this time everyone helps out to get the table set and pizzas ready. I asked my mom why she thought I liked the dish and she responded with, “You like pizza because you love bread and cheese and pizza is putting them all together. As a kid, you didn’t eat a variety of food or any meat so this is something you would always eat. Not only is it delicious, I think you enjoy pizza because it reminds you of fun nights with your cousins and how close you have become because of it.” When I was younger, I was a very picky eater and liked only plain, simple foods. Pizza was something I would never complain about having for dinner. Not only do I like the taste of pizza, but eating it on Friday nights with my cousins and family has been something I have to look forward to each week.
The connection and closeness of my extended family shows how fortunate we are to have each other. We are also lucky that we all live in close proximity to be able to see each other so often. Speaking for everyone, we all cherish and love our time we get to spend together. In my mom’s words, “The value of pizza night is that it has brought my family closer than other families. It gave us the chance to get together every week and catch up with what is going on in our lives and family. This has created a special bond between our extended family, especially your relationship with your cousin Ashley who has become like a sister to you.” The relationship that I have with my cousin Ashley is partly due from all the times we had together at pizza night. I am thankful that my mom and her sister saw the chance for us to become so close and gave me a built in best friend who is also like my second sister. I can remember all the times we would beg our moms to turn pizza night into a sleepover. I am so thankful that I can say that I am close to my extended family to share time together like pizza night each Friday.
Some pizza nights are filled with much laughter or craziness but that’s all just part of the excitement each week. No night is boring or bad, even if not everyone can attend or one of the pizzas is a little burnt, which happens more often than not. When we say our goodbyes, it’s a “see you next week!’ Even though many of the kids have either moved out or are at college, there still is pizza night for anyone who can attend. Friday night pizza night gives me a reason to go home for the weekend and when I am unable to attend on a Friday night, it makes me miss my family even more. Every Friday, I always think of having pizza for dinner even when at school. The bond my family has over pizza night is something not many people will never experience, making it special for my family. If pizza wasn’t associated with Friday nights with my family, it would not hold such an importance in my life.
Pizza Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 loaf of uncooked dough
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 bag on mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
Parmesan cheese
Toppings of your choice (Such as pepperoni, peppers, or onions)
How to make:
Lay dough on a dish towel and let it sit for 15 minutes so dough rises. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When dough rises, spread on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet with the dough in the oven for 5 minutes to partially cook the dough. Take it out and spread sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese and put on any toppings you wish. Put back in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes. Cut and enjoy this quick and easy recipe!
