High school teammate Joe Vasta and I became friends because we had a mutual love for the game of lacrosse and good food. On Friday nights his mom made homemade pizza and when you walked into the house the wonderful aroma of baking pizzas was unforgettable. Mrs. Vasta made great pizza! But what’s interesting is that she grew up in an Irish American family in Croton and thus she had to learn to make pizza as a new bride. She married Joe’s dad Salvatore Vasta, a warm working class Italian American who loved his heritage and its food. Mr. Vasta must have grew up eating homemade pizza in his home and wanted that experience for his children too. Mrs. Vasta understood that and learned how to cook Italian food for her very large family as an expression of love. The experience of eating Mrs. Vasta homemade pizza back in the 1980s, planted a seed in my mind that I wanted to do the same for my family. Last night I solved the pizza mystery (it’s really not a mystery, it’s getting passed the fear of failure) and I am own my way to developing a new family tradition that I hope to pass on to my two children. Mrs. Vasta, thank you for inviting me into your home and for your culinary inspiration.
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