Pizza – P-town Style

            Rick and I were invited to a pizza party last night. It was something of a random, unexpected invite from Megan, the famous Westside dog walker! Megan knows every dog around the neighborhood by name and EVERYONE knows Megan, SO to be included in a select group of only ten people who were allowed to be a part of the party was quite an honor.

            “Megan has invited us to a pizza party,” I told my husband.

            “Well, that’s nice. We should go,” he replied.

            “I think so too. I’ll tell her we’ll be there.”

            “It’ll be nice to have a night out, no cooking, good company,” I added.

            That statement was not completely accurate, however. We arrived at the Bovine Bakery in downtown Petaluma at 6:30 p. m. And who showed up? Ten of us: Megan, Diane, Ben, Cole, Ren, Lori, Tracy, Tony, Rick, and me . . . just as planned. We walked into the bakery, met Carolyn the awesome owner, and looked around. Where was the party?

            “I won this party,” Megan smiled.

            How? Where’s the pizza?  I was a bit confused.

            Carolyn set things straight. “Come on back,” she said. “We’re ready.”

            We followed her to the back of the bakery only to find ten pizza tins loaded with fresh dough, all surrounding bowls of various cheeses, olives, onions, salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes, and myriad other ingredients that we were allowed to pile high on our own creations. We were making pizza!

            Tony, a former baker himself, led the way and before we knew it, all of us were laughing, interacting, picking, oohing, and gushing about our handcrafted pizzas. When we were satisfied, Carolyn shoved them into hot ovens and we stepped back to sip a bit of wine, enjoy a salad, and pull out the iPhones for photos.

            Topping off the evening was the camaraderie. We knew Megan as the dog-walker; Tony was our former mail carrier; Tracy was my former student, and the rest were strangers. Not any more. We’ve made new friends, and because of Megan’s inclusion of us, enjoyed an evening of laughter, photographs, animated conversation, and, for some of us, memories of days gone by. And of course I cannot ignore the delicious pizza. (We all are quite talented cooks! Ha!)

Every one of us who accepted Megan’s invitation left Bovine Bakery last night, two and a half hours after we arrived, with full tummies, smiles on our faces, and the realization that good folks are all around us. It was a simple gathering, I suppose, but I won’t forget it. Thanks, Megan.

AND, if ever in Petaluma, CA, one might want to check out Bovine Bakery on 4^th Street. It’s a treat waiting to happen.

In the photo of the group: Diane, Lori, Megan, Judi, Rick (in back) and Ren, Tracy, Cole, and Ben in front. Tony had to leave before this photo was taken.

In the photo to the left: Carolyn, the owner of Bovine Bakery, and OUR pizzas.