The Evolution of Pizza Night

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Before we left Nevada, pizza night was courtesy of Pizza Factory. And it typically happened after a motorcycling day. We’d start happy hour on the front porch and a hot, delicious pizza would be delivered to us as we watched the sun set after a day in the saddle. Groovy, right?

That rhythm got thrown on its head when we became full-timers but we occasionally got to enjoy our favorite pizza when we were back in Pizza Factory territory again.

Small town pizza scene

Then we landed in Silver City, New Mexico.

Living in a small town has its perks. You also have to make a lot of adjustments in your expectations of what’s available. We have the major pizza brands here and—when we arrived five years ago—one local pizza shop.

During the chaos of moving into the house, we ordered from one of the “big brands” for a quick-fix dinner on a crazy day. And it quickly reminded us why we don’t order from them. It was technically pizza, and it was delivered to our front door, but that’s about all the praise we could give it.

As we settled in, we got to know the local joint. It’s good pizza, for sure. There were two problems though. Number one, they don’t deliver. And part of the joy of our past pizza nights was the luxury of having the pizza show just up at our house.

Number two, it was pretty spendy. That’s not a complaint or judgment, just the reality of a small business in a small town that doesn’t have the economies of scale a franchise does which allows them to keep costs down. But it was one of the early experiences that required us to adjust our expectations in our new, rural stomping grounds.

Close up of pastry mat with various cooking tools and ingredients on it. — When you can’t get what you want you do it yourself.

What now?

Enter the new-and-improved pizza night.

I don’t recall the exact trajectory of the conversations but eventually we came to the conclusion we simply needed to start making our own homemade pizza.

We tip-toed into the homemade pizza arena. It started with some pre-made crusts and lots of experimentation with various brands of sauces until we landed on our favorite*. We quickly graduated to crust mixes—but only briefly before we embraced fully making our own pizza dough*.

We invested in our own pizza stone, rolling pin, pizza peel, and pastry mat* which have been crucial to our success. And we began building out our suite of in-house toppings. And there’s even a pizza night playlist we’ve put together to jam to during the pizza-making extravaganza.

Now that we’re settled into our new pizza night rhythm, we frequently marvel at the trajectory it’s taken. It’s certainly become a fun ritual (in spite of my lack of joy for cooking in general) for us but it’s a very different vibe than our previous pizza nights. What we initially lamented has turned into something better. Go fig, right?

Close of of man's hands rolling out pizza dough with a rolling pin on a pastry mat. — The pastry mat and rolling pin

Piza dough resting on a wooden pizza peel — The pastry mat and rolling pin

The ultimate homemade pizza dream

Now that we’ve fully embraced in-house pizza, we have dreams of upping our game further. The ultimate goal is our own wood-fired pizza oven in the backyard. That’s a long way off given everything we have to do in our massive renovation project. But we will be able to start making our own sauce once the kitchen is overhauled. And eventually from our own tomatoes once the garden is in place.

Our Favorite Pizzas

We’re not a cooking or recipe site obviously but here’s our favorite topping combos just in case you’re inspired to experiment with your own homemade pizza.

Cowboy: sausage, onion, feta, artichoke hearts
Hawaiian: diced ham, pineapple
Caprese: sliced tomato, prosciutto, fresh basil, garlic
Pear & prosciutto: pear slices, prosciutto, no sauce
New Mexico: pork carnitas, pine nuts, green chile, garlic

Man standing at a kitchen stove and tilting a cutting board with a pizza on it towards the camera. — J showing off a Cowboy pizza

Pizza with pear and prosciutto toppings on a cutting board on a kitchen counter. — J showing off a Cowboy pizza

Pro tip

Pizza making is pretty messy. The flour seems to get everywhere. So J. has enthusiastically re-embraced his chef’s coat and I’m partial to aprons. I have a bunch of designs in my art shop so if you’re looking for unique, stylish protective-wear for your own pizza nights, check them out. We appreciate your support of our little business.