"K'" Date

Kick the Can to Knead Some Dough


There were a few obvious options for the "K" Date, but I like to plan our "ABC Dates" to surprise. Chris always tries to guess, but has not been right yet. The guesses started as we were getting dressed for the date. I told him to wear comfortable clothes and to be prepared to be in the heat for some activity. I also advised tennis shoes over flip flops. As he's getting dressed he says, "I love Go-Karting." Me too, nice try. A few other guesses, then I tell him we're going to drink a beer before we go. He doesn't know why we need to drink a beer at 2 in the afternoon before we go do an activity in the blazing sun, but he agrees and we crack open a Coors light that has been sitting in our garage fridge since before the dawn of time. The born on date reads Mar. 2008. As if a Coors Light isn't disgusting enough, it has to be expired too?

Now that we had our can, we walked out to the front of our house and I reveal to him the name of the game. My darling Chris, for our "K" Date we are going to play Kick the Can...all the way to Pizza Bella. He's up for it. Of course he is, that's why I love him. We've walked there before, but this was new. I then told him that once we arrived, we would Knead some dough and get a lesson in Pizza making. (I had gone in earlier and spoken to Pizza Bella's owner, Ivi, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and he had quickly agreed to the lesson anytime during their slow period, 2-4pm.)

Back to the can kicking. We started kicking that can, and boy was it loud. I pictured our neighbors peering out their windows, wondering who this riffraff is that has moved into their neighborhood. The walk is about 1.3 miles and the Coors Light can was holding up well as we made it to the main road and turned onto the sidewalk. We had gotten our rhythm and were passing the can back and forth with ease and flair. We started to get kocky and then Chris tripped. His wind-up was too big and he overshot the can. He almost ate it, and it was awesome. About a block later, while recovering the can out of the grass from a wild kick, I stepped back onto the edge of the sidewalk and nearly twisted my kankle. I couldn't believe how much coordination this task required.

We still had quite a ways to go when we came across a rather large pine cone. Chris decides to elevate the level of the game. So here we are, kicking a pine cone and a can down Beauclerc. A can and a cone was no sweat. We come upon a broken Solo cup, which we decide to throw into the mix. It was getting harder to keep track of these items, (and the can wasn't looking so hot.) A Dunkin Doughnuts Koolatta cup and a Big Gulp were subsequently spotted and before we knew it, we were kicking a small mound of trash down the road. If anyone had stopped we would have told them we were simply kleaning up our kommunity. We made it to Pizza Bella in one piece. I wish I could say the same for the Coors Light can.

The "K" Date only got better from there. Ivi (pronounced E-V), the Albanian (by way of Boston), was ready for us with aprons and towels and welcomed us right into the kitchen. He demonstrated the techniques for forming the crust, getting the bubbles out, stretching the dough, and then the toss. He made us a large canvas of dough and then instructed Chris on the proper way to add the sauce, cheese, and toppings. He popped it in the 650 degree oven and then it was our turn to give the dough a whirl. Chris, then me. He was a great instructor, but it's much harder than it looks. We took some shoddy video of the afternoon's events and added a catchy tune. If the delicious pizza pie's you see in this flick make your mouth water, we suggest you pop into Pizza Bella* and try one of Ivi's specialties. Be careful though, the calzones just might blow your mind.


*Pizza Bella is located on the corner of Beauclerc & San Jose Blvd. 904-731-4373