Sunday, February 24, 2013

OSCAR'S PIZZA

Truth be told it's not Oscar's pizza
because he can't eat.....so it's all ours!
~Today Is His Day~
 
If you know me you know I am excited about today's Academy Awards! I am ready and waiting. I am excited to see how Seth MacFarlane does. I saw him for the first time this year on SNL and thought he was wonderful. He isn't bad to look at either! So I hope you will be tuned into ABC today to watch them. Enjoy..........
 
Page Divders
 
I thought I would share a little pizza trivia with you since Academy Award night is a pizza night tradition from my childhood. (some of you know this already) This is for future generations so they know about some of the best pizzas that we loved.
 
My dad managed a movie theatre. He started as an usher when he was very young and became the manager. It was the Atlantic Theatre on 26th Street in Chicago, IL. Yes I did spend a lot of time watching movies when I was growing up. Anyway there was a pizza place in his building and they would give my dad all the ingredients to take home and we would make pizza. Thus started the tradition of pizza on Academy Award night and I have always kept this tradition going. Managing a movie theatre back in the day was very different from today's mega theatres. This was also before pizza was being delivered to your home!
 
The pizza I am most familiar with growing up was Barone's Pizza in La Grange, IL. We would hang there all the time in High School. It is my favorite to this day. It's a thin crust pizza. The couple who owned the place ended up getting divorced and apparently the husband won the rights to a secret ingredient. His restaurant is in Downer's Grove, IL. The last time I had Barone's was about 12 years ago. Each time we have been in Chicago the last few years we just didn't get around to eating there :(
 
In High School when we started driving we would go to the Chicago Loop and have Gino's pizza. We would actually go to Gino's on Rush Street but now when we visit we go to the one on Superior. It is definitely a great Deep Dish Pizza. One of the times we were in Chicago Mark's brother mentioned that he liked Lou Malnati's which we had never had so we started ordering it from Taste of Chicago and it's pretty awesome! We actually got to eat at one of their restaurants last September. Have to say that the frozen pizza is almost just as good as the eating it in person!
 
When we were married we were introduced to Aurelio's and would go to one in Oak Brook Terrace and Tinley Park. The Oak Brook Terrace one has since closed but they still have a carry out in the area. You can find Aurelio's locations all over Chicago and a few other states. Their pizza is a thin crust and it's all about the sauce and sausage for me. You can't beat a great Chicago sausage. So we now have one in Henderson, NV which we go to when we are in Las Vegas and we have even talked about retiring there to be close to one...LOL!
 
Then there is one that my brother in law in Florida found and it is amazing! It's called L'Oven Pizza and let me tell you that it is absolutely what a Chicago thin crust pizza should taste like. I would say it has many wonderful things about it and fills my desires for Aurelio's and Barone's combined.
 
Now this is something that was exciting for me. Back about 10 years ago I bowled with a woman called Mona. She was recently living in California coming over with her family from Canada with a job move for her husband. At our first bowling meeting of the year she was looking for a team to join and I welcomed her into our team. We became very good friends. Her niece lived in Las Vegas so when our bowling trips came around we would visit with her niece and husband. This story gets very interesting. Well at least it does for me and hopefully my grandchildren someday will like knowing these amazing facts about their grandmother....LOL!!!
 
On one of our many trip to Las Vegas her niece told us about their new neighbors from Illinois. Well you will never guess this. The neighbor grew up in LaGrange and worked at the Barone's. Here he was all grown up opening his own pizza restaurant in the suburbs of Las Vegas. They knew I liked pizza! Now I didn't know all of this information at first when we were going to his place to eat but he definitely had the secret and it was Barone's to a tee! Imagine my happiness. I ate there a few times over the years. Then Mona moved away and eventually the man sold his business. But it was amazing while it lasted.
Lou Malnati's Deep Dish
(we do not do sausage with deep dish)
 
 L'Oven in Florida
 
 Aurelio's

 You can never have too much pizza!
 
So today we will have one Aurelio's pizza and one Lou Malnati's pizza from the freezer along with some other very special snacks. Enjoy the show.....
 
This is the prize for the family member who
get the most right on their ballot!
 
 
 

10 comments:

Mara said...

I hated the smell of pizza growing up, couldn't stand it and would have 'proper' food instead whenever the rest of the family had one. And then I went to Italy and had to have one. I have been hooked ever since!

nancygrayce said...

You have fun at your Oscar party!! I just read this and told my husband that we are dull! :)

Empty Nester said...

Now you've gone and done it again. I want pizza AGAIN. Stop this. LOL I wondered where your love of movies came from! Loved this story about movies and pizza. Maybe you should open up a pizza joint. Right here in my town. :)

kc bob said...

We plan to watch it too Debbie. And even though I do not consider Chicago pizza the real thing (LOL, only NYC Pizza does it for me) I did enjoy Gino's more than once during my summer in downtown Chicago a few years ago.

The Boston Lady said...

This post made me smile Debby! We will be having pizza too tonight and I am also looking forward to seeing how Seth handles the Emcee duties. I love your pizza history and to learn about the different types. If we ever head to NV I will look for that place! Enjoy the fun tonight! Ann

Chatty Crone said...

I am not sure about the MC tonight - I know he is nervous I saw him interviewed.

I am watching the pre-Oscars now!!!

And I am from Chicago with you! I love the same pizza's. And now I know why you love movies! Your dad.

Love, sandie

Kristie said...

Your love for pizza and your favorite pizza places reminds me of our love for pizza and favorite places in our small town. We don't have places like Pizza Hut here, so the party stores/bars/restaurants are where we get our pizza. They take their pizza quite seriously though and there is a competition among them each year :-)

April said...

My mouth is watering for pizza...those pictures are killing me! Love the stories you shared!

Alexis AKA MOM said...

I just love how pizza is always part of your parties!

You're amazing even giving a gift for who wins!

Miss Debbie said...

Hope you enjoyed your party!

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