Bring the family into the kitchen for pizza night

  A few months ago a dear friend of mine wrote on my Facebook wall. She left a few sentences about life happenings, commented on a picture I had posted and then ended by saying: We had pizza last Friday night and it made me think of you. Do you still eat pizza every Friday night? Why, yes ¦ yes, we do! Typically we consume some sort of pizza product here at casa de phillips every Friday evening. Growing up, my parents would always spring for pizza on Friday evenings. Living in the country , this meant that someone had to drive all the way into town to retrieve said pizza and hurry home with it before it cooled. (Such distances have now become  meaningless  to me since I reside in a large metropolitan area where crossing suburb lines on a daily basis is as common as taking out the garbage). I have carried on the Friday night pizza tradition into my adult life. When  the husband and I  were newlyweds, it was pizza made with instant crust and turkey pepperoni. Once we hit the double-income, no kids, minimal student loans stride, it was $5 gourmet bake and take pizza from the local grocery store. Now that we have children and I have truly figured out the complexities of yeast (always use water the temperature of a baby bottle), I fashion a variety of pizza-type substances on Friday evenings. I construct pizza braids, pizza rolls, pizza rings and pizza calzones. On occasion, I make the standard pizza pie. The great thing about Pizza Friday is that the entire family wants in on the action. Sure, four chefs in the kitchen can get a bit crazy and someone inevitably will consume far too much of the mozzarella. However, it provides for some fun bonding time. Another great thing about Pizza Friday: my children try pizza toppings they would never have allowed touch their lips otherwise. Mushrooms transform from “yuck” to “Hey, this will make an excellent nose on my pizza’s face!” on pizza night. Green bell peppers become finger food as we work on on pizza masterpieces. A variety of spices are tossed onto finished pies to add that final blast of flavor. Last Friday, I rolled out the pizza crust and layed out a buffet of toppings. I then called in the family to each  construct their own perfect pizza. I think the pictures show that this family tradition is keeper. What traditions do you and your family enjoy honoring?