Nostro Bambino Italiano (Our Italian Baby)

It is so fitting that my post tonight is about food, because I finally went to go see "Julie & Julia" with Di this evening! I loved this book when it was published a few years ago and got very excited when I found out that they were making it into a movie, especially since I love both of the actresses in it (Amy Adams has incredible energy and keeps making me fall for her cutesy and sometimes goofy movies, like "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day"; Meryl Streep is, obviously, incomparable). The movie was really darling--didn't compare to the book, but when do they ever? But it's all about food and cooking it, eating it, enjoying it, sharing it with those you love...all things that I can relate to.
I come from a family of foodies. Well before The Food Network was popular and Giada made marinara on your chin look really, really sexy, I can remember being in the kitchen with my mom in my early teens, not only learning how to make her tomato sauce and lasagna recipes, but committing them to memory. Despite growing up during the time that microwaves and their cuisine became commonplace in the majority of American homes, our family kept a wedge of Romano in the fridge to freshly grate over every plate of pasta, not to mention most vegetables, that we ate (although we did use the microwave plenty for its quick-cooking prowess). And although my mom and her relations are all a bunch of pot-stirring, cheek-pinching, ricotta-stuffing, wine-drinking, talk with their hands Sicilians, my dad was not one to hang back and let the kitchen be solely a woman's domain. I remember a couple of years ago I called him on an afternoon when my mom was going to be out and about, and maybe not even home for dinner. I asked Dad what he was going to cook that evening, and he said, "Oh, I don't know...I bought this duck at the market the other week and defrosted it in the fridge a day ago, so I think I'll do something with that, maybe something like a duck a l'orange." Because you know, we all just go to the effort of whipping one of those together on the random Sunday evening when you aren't even sure who's going to be home for dinner.
So long story short (did I mention that I was Italian?), you can see that I enjoy cooking, making food for my family to enjoy, and experimenting with new recipes. When we first met, my husband was a self-proclaimed "picky eater" who only ever ate his spaghetti noodles plain, with butter on top. Now not only will he try just about everything I make, he has a higher threshold for spice and a much, much wider variety of foods that he likes. We have looked forward to sharing meals together as a family with Alton in our lives, and now that he is out of the "plain food" stage of toddler development, we are being more daring and including him in all of the dishes that we prepare. From grilled salmon to turkey tacos to couscous, he seems to be happy thus far to dig in to whatever we are eating. Last night was baby's first...pizza!
I wanted to make something fun and tasty for dinner Friday night, and to that end had purchased ready-made pizza dough, mozzarella cheese, and some prosciutto earlier in the week. We had some sliced raw zucchini leftover from a recipe I had made a few days earlier, so I started by sautéing that on the stove before I put it on the pizza, and also baked the crust in the oven a bit ahead of time, both so as to expedite the cooking process of the pie. I had tomato sauce ready-made in the freezer, thawed it out during the day, and once it was spread on the nearly-toasty crust I sprinkled it liberally with dried oregano, a spice that my Mom has always insisted is for pizza sauce, not regular tomato sauce. Some sliced prosciutto, the tender sautéed zucchini, and shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses all got added on top of that and finished in the oven for another ten minutes or so. Bravo!
We let it cool on the counter and prepared for Alton's first pizza experience by pulling out the camera before settling him in his booster seat. A few small pieces were cut for him, the bib was donned, and he went to town! After we showed him how to hold the piece and take bites out of the whole thing, like a sandwich, he did pretty well for awhile on his own before putting the slice down on his plate and disassembling the whole thing (little Engineer-in-training that he is). Cheese and toppings were removed, sauce was scraped off the crust with a finger and licked up, and the crust was nibbled from sides and center like a field mouse. He loved it and was only maybe 50-70% covered in sauce when it was all over. Our Italian baby has a new favorite food. *Tears!* We are so proud. Maybe we can slip in a trip to the infamous Bay Area Zachary's pizza the next time we are in California!