Pizza, to me, is a delicacy. I consider it a forbidden fruit and a luxury rolled into one. It may be because, when I was growing up, my parents told my siblings and I that we wouldn’t like it.

Can you imagine? The reality is that pizza really was a delicacy to my folks. They bought the old Appian Way Pizza Mix 12ct and one wouldn’t quite spread across five people; neither would the budget spread to two pizzas. So, Mom would make the pizza on Sunday nights after church when we children were supposed to be in bed anyway. And, in all fairness, I think they thought the spicy sauce really might not be to our liking.

Then, I married a pizza fanatic. On our honeymoon, we ordered a pizza one night from a place called Pizza A Go Go. Deeply Italian, and completely delicious. We ate half, leaving the rest out for the night in our hotel room. The next morning, my new husband got up and helped himself to a piece straight out of the room temperature box. No refrigeration; no microwave to warm it. I was horrified. Cold pizza. Food poisoning. And worse – what kind of cretin had I married?

He survived, and the marriage survived. Pizza A Go Go still thrives, although in a new location, last time we checked.

Now, I love pizza in any form and at any time of the day. I’ll take the cracker crust of the Midwest. The oily triangle of the East Coast. The deep dish of Chicago and the homemade organic. I love it with any and all toppings, and I’ll eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The point is, we all have pizza memories. It’s a staple of our American culture, and that’s why we chose to kick off 2009 with a celebration of pizza.

So, however you like your pizza – and we know you like it – enjoy our recipes and recommendations. After all, pizza is a great slice of life.