I t ’ s Bakeo f f T ime! Competition is an aspect of everyday life. We see it in sports, we see it in the classroom, and we even see it amongst friends in close quarters; however, competition always causes one particular characteristic to surface: the act of people rising to an even higher level. In my family, competition is what drives our cooking when it comes to pizza. Growing up we would have pizza bakeoffs. It wasn’t until I would tell my friends at school about it that I realized we were rather abnormal. See, a pizza bakeoff entails each person in my family making a pizza, and during the individual baking process, no one is allowed in the kitchen but the chef at the time. We number the pizzas, and eat them in the order they come out of the oven. The trick is that by the end of the night, we vote on which pizza we liked best. (mind you at this point we have consumed about a total of 9 pizzas). This competition takes a lot of mental and physical preparation, and people do anything in my family to win. The pizza bakeoff is none like any other competition out there, because the winner is awarded with full bragging rights of being attributed as the “pizza master”; in my family such a title goes a very long way. I remember one particular instance, my aunt was so gung-ho about winning she proclaimed that she was going to go through all possible measures in order to sway votes. I remember the night of this bakeoff, I could feel the tension building up as all my aunts and uncles pierced one another with their scowling looks of rivalry. When it was time for the consumption of pizza #3, there was a slightly audible clanging and blaring coming from my great aunt’s front lawn. Long behold, my aunt had called her high school drum line to play in honor of the bakeoff. I guess it is safe to say, that my aunt’s pizza was most likely pizza #3, but again, the pizzas still remained anonymous. I’m not sure who’s pizza was crowned winner that night, but I will always remember the night of the band pizza shenanigan. Mar inara P izza Rec ipe: Dough or Flat bread (I prefer flat bread--the remaining ingredients are so different than a normal pizza so it's fun to use something other than dough) 8 oz tomato sauce (small can) 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp of oregano Pinch of red pepper 2 cloves of chopped garlic Spread thin layer of tomato sauce with a spoon over bread surface. Thereafter, add spices and garlic according to taste. Remember there can never be too much garlic! Cook 350, approx 10-12 minutes on bottom oven rack.