All in the Family: Corropolese Tomato Pie

Not quite pizza, but certainly a relative, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of the delicacies we enjoyed at the Oscar party - Corropolese tomato pie. It's been a staple at gatherings since I was a kid - back in the day when family and friends argued which area tomato pie was the best: Corropolese or Bake Meister. Well, Bake Meister is now closed and Corropolese has two additional locations, so I guess we know who won that contest. And they didn't even have to use mice.

On to the pie. The dough is the perfectly soft consistency for the sweet (and ample) sauce. Sprinkled with a bit of fresh parm on top, and that is it: simple, yet delicious goodness. Large and affordable, it's a perfect addition to any party menu. We always order in advance to be sure they don't run out, but you could also get there early in the morning to secure your pie.

Doesn't Scrubbing Bubbles make a power sprayer for this?

"May I remind you that you're the one who originally wanted a bulldog."

"May I remind you who his favorite is."

Well, I am his favorite. And it's hard to remember what my life was like before Bumpkin. But that certainly doesn't mean that I should be expected to scrub his boogies off the walls all by myself. Just in time for our annual Oscar party next weekend, we're doing our annual boogie cleaning this weekend.

If you've never owned a bulldog, you probably think this sounds a bit nuts. I'm not talking about the kind of boogies that you discreetly try to remove from your nose while you're parked at a red light or alone in the supermarket aisle. Our Bumpkin accumulates eye boogies in his eye fold several times a day. And if we don't catch them and wipe them off, he proceeds to shake his head and sends them flying to land everywhere and anywhere ... on the walls, on my pajamas, in our nibble's hair. I'm even trying to teach the nibble how to remove them from Bump's face with a tissue, although he's having a hard time grasping the concept of boogies residing somewhere other than in the nose.