Homemade Pizza at Sally's

As an adult who's joyfully finished with college, I love diving into a book I can enjoy without thinking too much. (Thank you, Candace Bushnell!)

But as a child, I immersed myself in every scene via my imagination. Not merely a spectator, I made myself a character.

I formed cheese and pulled taffy with Laura and Mary in the Little House books, and I yelled at Fudge to just leave his brother, Peter, alone.

Here's a vibrantly illustrated book that provides a hands-on activity and food lesson aimed at toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary students. Tie your aprons and make homemade pizza tonight with Monica Wellington's picture book Pizza at Sally’s (Dutton, 2006).

Pizza at Sally’s opens with a lesson in food sourcing. Sally grows tomatoes in her community garden in the city. She buys cheese from her shopkeeper-neighbor, and the flour Sally uses in her pizza crust comes from wheat farms far away.

Simple words accompany the unique, bold paintings and copies of photos and labels arranged in collages throughout Pizza at Sally’s. Parents and kids follow the chef’s pizza-making process step-by-step while their mouths water for a taste.

The book closes with a basic recipe for homemade pizza crust you and your kid chef can top with your family's favorite ingredients. Dough prep time is about an hour and twenty minutes, including rising time. The Kitchen and Dumplings crew liked Sally's pizza crust recipe so much, we adapted it for our pretzel dippers recipe.

With help from Mom or Dad, even toddlers can sink their tiny hands into Sally's pizza project and proudly tell everyone they helped make supper.

Here's a photo of our delicious pepperoni pie. Kid Chef mixed up the dough and napped while it rose. Then he kneaded the dough and smothered it with sauce and toppings. What a big helper!

Until next time,
Tricia