Day 354 - Pizza Parlanno (and Drive Thru Bethlehem!)

Last night David and I reprised our roles of Mary and Joseph in Drive Thru Bethlehem!!  It is held every year at the Drive In Church of Daytona Beach, FL.  We first noticed the church when we drove by it one time and couldn’t believe our eyes – a DRIVE IN CHURCH??  I researched it a bit and it is a legit thing:  people drive in, park, and stay in their cars for Sunday service, listening on the radio tuned into a specific channel.  :)  Then I found out they have a DRIVE THRU BETHLEHEM, and well, how could I pass that up??? 

Drive Thru Bethlehem family photo 2015:  Joseph holding Black 'n' White, me holding plastic Baby Jesus, and depressed donkey Forest behind me.

The first year I signed us up to be an angel (me) standing waaaaay high up on scaffolding and wearing beauuuutiful wings, and a Wise Man (David) pointing at the star.  Only when we got there, they had an emergency:  NO MARY!  So they asked if I would play Mary, and the rest is history (or her-story, as the case would be).  J  Last night was year number 3 for me to play Mary and year 2 for David as Joseph. 

Mary and Baby Jesus in a quiet moment, getting PHOTO BOMBED by Salt the bunny

Typical manger photo scene - camera proppped on the ground in hay and poop,
Mary runs to her seat to get there before the camera timer goes off, and the GOATS start eating the camera,
necessitating Mary to LEAP UP to save the camera and both of us to crack up.

We only do a 2 hour shift, but it is so lovely!  Cars turn off their headlights, tune into the right radio station, and drive thru to see basket and rug weavers, angels on high (scaffolding, which looked quite dangerous in high winds last night!), a baker, candlemaker, wise men, and of course, the grand finale of MARY and JOSEPH with little BABY JESUS (who is played by a doll that has really strangely demonic looking eyeballs and Elvis like hair…  Every year I want to bring my own doll but am afraid to look like a Mary prima donna so I don’t…).  Our stable has REAL LIVE ANIMALS in it and they are always hilarious.  This year we had geese, a duck (we can’t tell ducks and geese apart mind you), 2 baby lambs, 2 bunnies (named Salt ‘n’ Peppa!!), a one month old donkey named Forest who seemed extremely depressed and we suspect needed medication, a mini bull named Kai who became fast friends with David/Joseph, 2 tiny goats (one who had devil like horns that we named “Satan” but later learned was actually named Cain), and a sheep.  For someone who has not really been around animals, this is my yearly exposure!!  For 2 hours I am surrounded by farm life!!  I even pet some of them last night.  The little black and white goat (who we named Black ‘n’ White) was super cute, and the mini bull and baby donkey were so surprisingly SOFT. 

Mary in a moment of PANIC - the animals were going nuts!!

I love that evening every year.  I always suspect I get more out of it than the people in the cars driving through.  Last night we got the most genuine “God bless you” that I have ever heard directed at us, and a woman who sounded as if her breath was actually taken away by it all managed to squeak out, “It is so be-auuuu-ti-ful…..”.  We have never attended church there but are glad they let us volunteer every year.

Peace on earth, good will to man.  Joseph signing off for the year.

I am late writing today’s review (it is 4:00 pm) because I am feeling so lazy.  I finally showered (with TJ’s Refresh Body Wash, of course, reviewed here just yesterday) and am now sitting out on the patio to write.  It is 71 degrees so this is a lovely excuse to get some fresh air and write.

Let’s review Pizza Parlanno, shall we?

  

It's a frozen pizza, do look in the frozen section to find it.  Duh.

I didn’t think this pizza was great.  it was a FROZEN PIZZA, not much better than any you would get at another store.  I don’t have a lot of frozen pizza eating experience to compare this one to, but I don’t think it is much better than the BBQ Chicken one we ate the other night with our guests

(reviewed here). 

David added extra mozzarella to this one, which helped.  I added garlic powder and crushed red pepper which also improved the taste. The main taste I got out of this pizza was SAUSAGE.  I didn’t really taste the pepperoni at all (even though I could see it).  the only tastes I got were SAUSAGE, cheese, and crust. 

Just because it wasn't my favorite dinner doesn't mean I didn't eat a lot of it.

This pizza will do the job if you need a quick dinner but I could not call it “gourmet” food.

David agrees that this is a “do the job” type of dish.  He says, “It is a meat enjoyers pizza.  The sausage and pepperoni both seem like high quality meat and not gristle.  The extra mozzarella cheese is nice but may not be necessary because the crust tastes good.  It’s a frozen pizza, but it is a good quality one.  I would give it a 4.”

I would use the five bucks to buy one of TJ's better tasting pizzas/flat breads if I were you.

Neither of us could taste the peppers, but David could taste the pepperoni.  This is a fast, quick, and easy dish.  It is not one I want to eat every week (I probably won’t buy it again), but if you are a family that likes PIZZA a lot, you might dig it.  I give it a 3.

Price – $4.99

Rating (average of 2) – 3.5

Day 341 - BBQ Chicken Pizza

As  mentioned elsewhere in this blog, we do not eat a lot of pizza.  When we DO, we often make it ourselves using TJ’s dough ( reviewed here).  But because I wanted to try a product we had not eaten before, I picked up a frozen pizza – TJ’s BBQ Chicken Pizza topped with tangy BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella, Gouda, and red onions. 

 

Here's the box.  It is in the frozen food section.

I popped that sucker in the oven the other night when we had some friends from Kansas City staying with us.  They were on a cool quest – Tracy decided she wanted to see as many Christmas trees as she could this holiday season and Vince works for an airline (which means free flights!) so off they went!!!  I had tickets to the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony so they put DC on their list to visit!  They had been outside for a few hours waiting for the tree to be lit, then had stopped in a pizzeria on the way back to our house (unbeknownst to me, or I would not have tried to feed them PIZZA!).  Anyway, of course I made them try it and help review it even though they weren’t hungry.  J  Cuz that’s  what friends are for, right?

David was the "limo driver" to pick up the guests at the airport.

The box said it was 3 servings of pizza.  We had 2 hungry people (David and myself) and 2 full people (the guests).  After a couple of bites I brought out the Trader Joe’s Green Dragon sauce for those who were interested.  Here is what people thought of the pizza:

After cooking, before eating.

David – “I like it.  It is nice.  I like the sauce and items like the chicken ratio in the middle.  As it gets toward the ends there is quite a lot of CRUST.  Thank God someone recommended Sriracha sauce and that makes it ok in the crusty area, otherwise it would be a little barren.  This could be a dinner.  It is convenient and it is tasty.  I would give it a 4.” (Editor here:  it was not sriracha, it was TJ’s Green Dragon sauce (not yet reviewed), and “someone” did not recommend it, I (Susan) went and got it out of the fridge and walked it allllll the way to the dining room (like 15 steps maybe!).  But TJ’s DOES do a good sriracha sauce, it was reviewed here .

Guest reviewer Vince (married to Tracy, from a small town that loves to shoot off fireworks near Kansas City, where they KNOW their BBQ sauce) – “I enjoyed it, it was very tasty.  But the sauce was lacking and it could use a little bit more BBQ sauce.  I give it a 3.” 

Guest reviewers VINCE and TRACY!

Guest reviewer Tracy (a very fun woman) – “I would give it a 4.5. I REALLLLLY liked it for a frozen pizza.  I am most impressed with the cheese ratio because I always have to add additional cheese to my frozen pizzas and this one I didn’t find lacking in that area at all.  The BBQ sauce was a little sweet for my taste but I got over that pretty quickly and the sriracha sauce was a nice tip!”  (Editor again:  IT WAS GREEN DRAGON SAUCE, PEOPLE!  J )

Me – I thought there was too much CRUST around the edge.  I wish the cheesey part would have spread out further so there was less naked crust.  I could have used more SAUCE on it, too.  I thought the chicken was good, but overall I thought the pizza was a bit boring.  The Green Dragon hot sauce helped a lot, but I do not think you should have to add hot sauce, I think the pizza should be able to stand on its own.  I give it a 3.5. 

Not a bad price.

Well, scores were pretty varied – from a 3 to a 4.5.  I will average them together and give it a final number.

Tracy on her quest to SEE MANY CHRISTMAS TREES - this one is at Union Station, Washington DC.  

Price – $4.99

Rating – 3.75

Day 278 - Pizza Al Pollo Asado

This product is brought to you by “Trader Jose’s” J.  It is, as it states on the box, a “corn masa crust with grilled chicken breast, refried beans, jack cheese, and tomatillo salsa”.  The package says it is one serving, but we are sort of small people and we split it in half, which was plenty.   I didn’t think David would like it, he sort of wrinkled his nose up when I put it in our shopping cart.

Will it be DRY?  Will it be TASTY??  

Surprise - we both liked it!  Looking at the photo on the box, we had a fear that it might taste a bit “cardboard-y”, but we were pleasantly surprised that it didn’t.  The crust, called “corn masa crust”, was a bit moist and yielding.  David says, “It looks like it might be dry, but the masa and the refried beans on it makes it MOIST enough.  And it has a little cheese on it!  So it is sort of like refried beans in a tamale.  There isn’t a lot of chicken taste goin’ on but that’s alright.  It’s a nicely balanced dish.”

The corn meal-y crust is the thickest part.  I like it – it is interesting.  It is a different TEXTURE than most foods.  We do not eat a lot of refried beans so that was a nice change of pace to have those.  I put Hatch Valley Salsa on top of my pizza (that salsa being my latest TJ’s obsession…  I talked a couple into buying a jar last time we were at Trader Joe’s!  I hope they liked it).  The salsa on top made the pizza a bit more moist.

Winner winner pollo dinner!  It was good!  (It tasted better than it looks in this photo)

The photo on the package shows the pizza with cilantro on top – I wish we had done that.  I think cilantro would make another nice flavor to add to this combo.  The box says you could top it with lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream, too, but that sounds like a lot of work to me…  We used this as a “quick, heat it for 14 minutes in the oven and let’s have dinner” kind of meal.  We served it with left over tater tots and chicken picata from the night before.

Cheap, unique, tasty frozen food - a Trader Joe's speciality!

This isn’t something I would want to eat every night, but does add variety to our diet.  I will get it again.

Price – $2.29 (which is really cheap)

Rating - 4

Day 204 - Organic Woodfired Sicilian Style Pizza

Look, we pulled into home around 1:15 AM.  When we got here, our grass was a mile high (we had been gone three weeks) and the fence in our front yard had been hit by a car and knocked over.  We unloaded the car, futzed around in our hot and musty smelling house, and finally got around 5 hours sleep before getting up and working a very hard day.

So FORGIVE ME if I wasn’t in the mood to actually cook something for dinner tonight, ok???

We went to a local Trader Joe’s (the Clarendon store in Arlington, VA) to get something easy to make for dinner.  This pizza seemed like just the thing.  The box boasts of red pepper, provolone, and pearl mozzarella.  Sounds good, no?

Here's the box.  Looks good, doesn't it?

Sounds good, but doesn’t TASTE good.  It tasted like a cracker with some crap on it.  Not literal CRAP, mind, you, but crappy food.  The tomato sauce was not luscious.  The red peppers were not amazing. Heck, even the two types of cheese were blah. 

Ready to cut and eat.

This pizza came with a little packet of olive oil with red pepper.  The box explains, in large letters, “Unlike a Sicilian Summer our signature style pizza let’s* (sic) you choose your level of hot-ness.  Drizzle the pizza with all of the oil for a spicy boost or use just a little for a milder flavor.”

HOWEVER, if you read the very fine print on the little olive oil packet, you are supposed to drizzle said olive oil on half way through cooking the pizza.  OH SNAP!  I wish the box would have told us that so we were have done that.  Instead, we drizzled after cooking.

Good ingredients, bad pizza

Crust – super duper hard (cracker-esque)

Sauce – boring

Red peppers – dull

Cheeses – not inviting

Half way through one piece David gave up and went into the kitchen to remake his pizza into something more edible.  He added olives (from another store), fresh tomato from the garden, and mozzarella balls (from TJs).  He says, “The “pearls” were smaller than oyster pearls, given the effect on the original pizza”. 

David, before he gave up and totally doctored his pizza trying to add flavor

I say - If we wanted to make our own pizza we would have done that from the get go!

Crappy, dull pizza.  Not worthy of the $5 or the calories.  Skip it and get something better.

*        Trader Joe’s corporate – grammar alert on this box.  Misplaced apostrophe.

 

Price - $4.99

Rating – 1.75