A Well Rounded Party

What comes to mind when you think of something that is 12 FEET in circumference, 42" in diameter, weights in at just under 30 pounds and produces enough grease to run a car for a decade? If you just answered my waist line, you are not funny. In fact you are not even close, I checked. Turns out you can fit five of my waists comfortably inside this area. Ok, give up?
It happens to be a pizza from Big Lou's Pizza, and it is no joke. This pizza was incredible. My first thought was it had to be invented by Willy Wonka in his wonderful castle, but when Big Lou himself came and told us he himself made it, I took his word for it and preceded to way over fill two large paper plates with just one slice. The discussion that our table mainly centered on was trying to guess how many calories had to be festering right under that golden cheese. The consensus was that it was just a couple of hundred under 5 million calories. I ate, I sweat, I shifted in my seat pretending to clear room, I ate more, filled my plates up a second time, I ate even more, I sweat more, I shifted more, I slowed down and after using 35 napkins, a tub of ranch and a bottle of crushed red peppers, I stopped. I realized that somewhere between the 23rd bite and my final bite(67) I should have stopped.
That is an incredibly long story to lead into what I dreamed about last night. I dreamed about a huge fun party that had lots of guests. That was an incredibly short transition thought. Anyways, driving home from eating 7 pounds of pizza I tried thinking about this party again, but all I could think of was pizza. And then it clicked. Pizza and Parties are almost identical. They are both great fun at any age. They both are extremely versatile. And they both both start with p. But I would like to take it about six more steps further. How do you start a party?
CRUST/DOUGH - Every party has a host. Every pizza has a crust. It is what holds both the party and the pizza together. Usually it would be the person with the nicest house or the most "dough" that hosts parties. There can be many types of crust to a pizza. Same with a party. Lets say you want a fun out doors party with not too many boundaries, the pizza equivalent would be a crispy crust with the pizza toppings and all running right to the edge. A stuffed crust pizza likes to contain the toppings a bit more so it has the wall around the pizza, same with a house party. You have to have the Host/Crust. But what does the host need the most?
SAUCE - The host can not do all the work by themselves. They need help. And when they do they call on their closest friends to come help. This would be like the sauce, a perfect complement to any crust. These friends get there a few hours early to get every thing set up. This is why sauce for a pizza is always made in advance and is always the first one ready to meet up with the crust. Just these friends and the host could have their own party, and they doo all the time. Just like bread sticks and sauce is always good to have too. But were having a party! What do we need?
CHEESE - Cheese is the element that really turns this gathering of a few close friends into a party. The cheese would be the party starter/maintainer. This is the drinks, the games or the activities of the party. Cheese on a pizza helps melt all the elements of a pizza together. In a party, the drinks help melt away inhibitions and shyness, the games help melt away any reservations. Games mixed with drinks are great way to get any party started in a fun way and keep everything feeling good through out. I think this is why just good friends get together a lot and play games. That is why I think the classic cheese pizza is so popular. But what does any party need to really become a full fledged party?
TOPPINGS - Just like a pizza, a party should only get as big as the host can handle. That is why this is such a wide open field. There are so many kinds of toppings to put on a pizza, just like there are so many kinds of people you can invite to a party. Like an all veggie pizza seems to me would be like an all jammies dress girl gab fest ending with bed jumping and pillow fights. Like wise a meatsa measta pizza, would as you guested would be a play station playing, arm wrestling, smelly guys night. A true party for all would be the supreme pizza. That way you have every kind of person accounted for which makes for such fun. There is always the loud and crazy person that I would assume would be that spicy Italian sausage. Every party has the quiet person that never seems to mingle much, and that would be like the mushrooms that seem to blend in with the meats and have not much taste. But mainly everyone just hangs out together and has a good time. I never see my pizza toppings complain. But wait... Parties are never that smooth you always have people going off into their own comfort groups right?
SLICES - Like a pizza has slices so a party has clicks. It is just nature. Some clicks have all the "toppings" represented in their "slice," but a lot of times certain slices are picked clean of unwanted "kinds of people." When people eat a supreme pizza there is almost always something you want to pick off. Same at a party. There always seems to be some kind of issue going on at each gathering and in each "slice" of people that has someone feeling left out. And just like on a pizza it usually falls to that lonely place on the pan or cardboard. But a lot of times other people see that lonely "person" and decide they want that extra bit on their slice and they invite that "topping" over. So there are always a couple instances at every party that seem to make the night go one way or the other. What could do this to a pizza/party?
EXTRAS - Pizza was invented to be eaten just as it is. A round delicious treat. Same with a party. A good wholesome time. But both the pizza and the party have a long history of "extras" coming into play. The pizza for instance, now has parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper, garlic butter and many other sauces that one can add to it. A party has drinking games. I am sure there are more examples but I have drwn a blank. I am not saying that these extra sauces are bad for the "pizza" but they seem to give the party a different feel then they had at the beginning. I guess lumped in with extras could be the whole cold pizza similarity as well. Once a party has gone deep into the night it seems to come to a standstill, only parts of slices of pizza are left the original barricade of crust that had kept everyone together has given up and gone to bed. It is down to just one or two "clicks" of pizza left mulling about. What could possible happen to this party now?
TO-GO BOX - Party is over. Go home. Pizza is closed up in its container and will not feel right the next day. It won't look right the next day. Not until the dough gets back together with the sauce and cooks up another great party!

Until next time.