Today's food post is about pizza. This past weekend, we went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen, which was wonderful. We ordered a Peking duck pizza and a pear & gorgonzola pizza. They were both yummy. The CPK here in Austin is on the south-west side of town, whereas we reside on the northern outskirts of the city, so it's not often we have the opportunity to eat there. In fact, this was our first time there (I had eaten at CPK in So Cal before). I can't wait to try some of their other creations.

We sometimes make pizza at home, from scratch. It's pretty fun to put on the ingredients, but I leave it to Mariko to prepare the dough. I can never make a nice, even pie crust. Once we made chicken and feta pizza, which was great, and then we had some leftover jerk chicken that we made a pizza out of. That was delicious as well. And of course we make the regular tomato sauce pizza with pepperoni and onion. mmmm.

Mariko says she misses Japanese pizza, and I have to admit, I miss it too. We used to have a place called Pizza Captain deliver to us when we lived in Yokohama. They had a great corn and mayo pizza. It's really pretty good. Other popular toppings are ika (squid), nori (seaweed), and asparagus. Last time we were visiting Japan, we had a kani (crab) pizza, and it was great! Check out the menu at Pizza Hut Japan, and tell me those don't look awesome!

Here in the states, we have several pizza-delivery chains. Mariko's favorite is Papa John's, but I prefer Pizza Hut. But the Pizza Hut pizza has to be a pan pizza. The bottom of the crust is a little crispy and very buttery. Its great. I think my favorite toppings have to be Italian sausage and mushrooms, although I really like pepperoni, onion, and jalapeños. And plenty of crushed red pepper! I am also a fan of anchovies on my pizza. They are so salty, just thinking about it is making my mouth water right now. I'm not too fond of olives or bell peppers, though. Papa John's pizza is good too, especially because of their garlic butter dipping sauce and pepperoncini's.

One of my favorite pizza memories was when I was visiting my brother in NYC. The pizza there was amazing. I once ordered a "slice" and the thing was so big, I couldn't see the paper plate underneath! It was a basic plain cheese pizza slice, but it tasted so good. A little garlic powder and oregano on it, and I was set!

Ok, it's lunchtime. Whew!