Pizza By The Slice

Picture this, last year during Easter week I'm sitting there drinking a hot cup of happiness brewed fresh from my new Keurig machine as I was getting my day going.  The checkbook was balanced, workout was done and I was all ready to start the day. So I'm just sitting there updating my Facebook, googling this and stumbling upon that when all of a sudden Yahoo tells me where to find the country’s best pizza.  All I could think was, “Is it true?  Can the country's best pizza be right here in my own backyard?... 

Just then my iPhone rang snapping me out of my pizza daze and it’s my manager Mr. Bricks.  But this time he’s not calling to ramble on about McRib's being back again.  To my surprise he is actually calling to tell me I need to get my Greek butt in gear because I have an audition in an hour.

Perfect I’m thinking, I’ll slide on by and grab a slice of the country's "best pizza" right after my audition.  So I grabbed my sweetie, laced up my sneakers and together we set out on a mission.  We were super excited.  See when it comes to pizza by the slice it’s something of a tradition or almost a religious experience for us.  In a way it’s like a perpetual Easter Egg hunt.  We go around all over the place searching high and low in every town we travel to, in order to find the best slice.

In my noggin nothing quite compares to a fresh hot slice washed down by an iced cup of happiness followed by a little chocolate treat.  Being that it was right around Easter we were already in the egg-hunt mode and we were off.

So we hurried off to my audition as fast as we could because we were both about to digest our spleens.  I race inside and flash my Greek baby-blues and flip my golden locks.  (Yes I booked it – hello people… Cystex Cranberry).  Then as fast as could be I was back in the car on 21^st and 5^th ave in NYC.  My sweetie had already entered the location of the Pizza-Joint that was proclaimed to be the “best slice in NY” into his iPhone GPS.  We drove right past what up until then we had considered the best pizza in the city, the one we had always gone to.  We felt a little kick in the heart as though we were about to cheat on them.

We raced uptown on 8^th ave, then right on 57^th and a quick left into Central Park to cut down on time.  Dodging people on bikes and skates buggies and pigeons we came to 110^th street just before stopping outside “Presidential Pizza before making a halting stop and almost ran down a meter maid while doing so.  “What are we getting?” I asked.  Without blinking he said, “The usual.  The only way to truly know if the pizza is as good is to go with a good old fashioned slice of plain.”

I stroll up to the counter, “Give me two slices of plain,” I say.  I was probably bouncing like a little kid in a candy store with a grin from ear to ear as I said it I was so hungry.  Then the man slides me two pieces on some paper plates.  I dab off some of the grease with a napkin so I won’t drip on my outfit or my sneakers.  Then I sprinkle them with oregano just before leaving to join my sweetie waiting in the car.  I hand a slice to him and we both revel for a few seconds in the joy of knowing we are about to eat the holy grail of all pizza.  We both simultaneously chomp down and I'm thinking  “Good Grief - I want to die"… not because it was good but because it was the worst piece of pizza pie I had ever had.  Then about the same time we both say "this pizza is Gross!" It was like chewing on a piece of cardboard.  There wasn't enough sauce, and the cheese was like rubber.  The iced coffee and Cadbury eggs were going to have to save the day, and save the day they did.

The moral of the story... you can't always believe everything you read on the internet.  Sure it was muckery to go on a wild goose chase to eat what in my humble opinion was the worst slice of pizza I have ever had, but at the end of the day if that's the worst thing that happened, I'm doing pretty good.  I'm happy, healthy, I have a sweetie, four fur~babies, and a heavenly father who loves me so much that he sent his only son to die for me.  Yeah, it's Easter Sunday, he is Risen and that means for me - life is pretty darn good.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Pizza - The Other Food Group

Mr. Bricks spent an hour trying to convince me that Pizza was a food group in the Government's new recently unveiled Choose my Plate new food pyramid. He even provided the above photograph as proof that Pizza is a food group that the Government wants us to eat on a regular basis. I'm unsure why he would not know I would realize the image was photoshopped for his benefit. Maybe it's my blonde hair? Could the chemicals be seeping into my noggin, ya think?

I like Pizza just like the next Greek girl does, but I also know the ingredients in Pizza can wreak havoc on a body if you don't work out on a regular basis if you eat a lot of it. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I am just saying I like Pizza ~ but I like my skinny jeans... so, if I eat a little Pizza, I work out a bit more. (Something Mr. Bricks knows nothing about, btw).

No matter what the food in question is when having a conversation with Mr. Bricks, if I like it & it's good for you, it's a sure thing that Mr. Bricks will make a face as if he is about to hurl.  I've tried on many occasions to convince him to eat healthier to no avail.  I tell him he can still have lots of yummy foods, just modified, or if that is not possible that everything in moderation. His reply... "oh so you mean I can have three McRibs per day instead of 5"?  See what I mean?

Some of the ways I make things healthier are pretty simple, but often overlooked. First I always eat every three hours, if not the horns will come out. I used to think it was just part of my Greekness, but I have since learned that your body is actually designed that way.  It's kind of like a fire, you can keep a fire burning by keeping kindling wood on it, but if you put a bunch of big logs onto a fire, the fire will burn out.  Same thing with your body, small meals every three hours while you're awake & you're golden.  It's what those little meals consist of that can lead to lots of Muckery.

The saying "you are what you eat" is really very true (and this may be why Mr. Bricks resembles a Mc Rib sandwich, just sayin).  Sodium is the hidden reason why so many people "think" they are eating healthy and are really not.  Most things have insane amounts of sodium in them, so you really need to check out the labels, especially so called "healthy" fast food.  I try to eat at home to avoid sodium, I stick to lean protein at every meal, lots of salad, and vegetables.  There are a few things I absolutely can not live without, well we already know ~ I'm not giving up coffee ever....  back to the list: Egg Whites, Lowfat Ranch, Olive Oil (teeny drizzles), Morningstar Farms Griller's Original veggie burger, raw almonds, Smart Balance Skim Lactose Free Milk, Fage Greek 0% Yogurt, Steel Cut Oatmeal, Peanut Butter (it's a superfood), Protein powder, tons of water & chocolate... I eat a small piece of chocolate after dinner every day. I like to think of it as my reward for working out so hard.  Oh and baked potatoes, most people stay away from carbs, and yes refined sugars/any sort of white bread you should stay way from.  However, contrary to popular belief potatoes are a super food (just like spinach & Broccoli) and very good for you.  It's what people put on them that can lead to trouble. I like to have lowfat Smart Balance & lowfat Cottage Cheeese on mine, Yummo!

Maybe, that's why Mr. Bricks is going to have to have his own tour bus... Mine will be filled with workout equipment, a treadmill, healthy food, and yes even the occasional slice of pizza.  His will be filled with Diet Coke, McRibs, and anything else salty and the polar opposite of a superfood.

Have a healthy super day.

Blessings!

Ava

xox

Mystic Pizza

This is a great old school movie

When you are looking for an old-time classic movie to rent from Netflix or Blockbuster, I highly recommend Mystic Pizza. When you are hungry for a tasty snack I highly recommend pizza, whether it is mystic or not. One of the best part of living in New York City is Pizza. Yup. Pizza. You can get the best (and worst) pizza 24 hours a day in Manhattan.

Real New York City Pizza - yummo!

When I am on the road doing shows and start jonsing for pizza, I will from time to time ask a local where is their favorite place in that city is to go get a slice of  pizza? Sharing the name of their favorite pizza place must be like sharing a juicy rumor about a former BFF, because most people were excited and eager to give up the information where to get a slice of pie.

Not all pizza is created equal. Recently I was in nearby Connecticut and I was hoodwinked into going to the reported birthplace of the American pizzeria, the Frank Pepe Pizzeria of New Haven, Connecticut. I say hoodwinked because my friends convinced me that I would enjoy a slice of the white clam pie, claiming it was the pizzeria's most popular type of pizza. I can tell my friends were not on the company's payroll. They couldn't have been for making a recommendation like that, because it was not a good recommendation. Clam as a pizza toping - that is just so wrong - on so many levels. And let me tell you it was just as disgusting as it sounds.  After that experience, I made a pledge to my little Greek self that any slice of pizza I put in my pie hole (and yes, it's a pizza pie hole) needs to have red sauce, not white sauce - that's just how I roll. I tried to be polite and eat one slice, but I felt like Mr. Bricks trying to swallow vegetables. I was gagging and coughing and using massive amounts of water just to get down each bite. It was not a site for the faint of heart.

So what do you like on your pizza?

Blessings,

Ava

xox