New Years Day Pizza Party

by Erin



Happy New Year, folks! It's been a busy holiday season for both of us and our beloved blog has fallen to the bottom of the "to do" list, but we have resolved to be better about it! Starting RIGHT NOW.

Personally I prefer New Years Day far and above New Years Eve. While I had a lovely New Years Eve this year (thanks to Xani and Dave for including me in part of their wonderful multi-course meal (post coming soon) and to Sarah and Brian for having me at their party), I have always loved NYD and this year was no exception.

The day began with a tradition where Xani and I wander aimlessly throughout our neighborhood looking for somewhere to get brunch/lunch. Per the tradition, everywhere we wanted to go was either closed or so crowded we couldn't stand it. After several strike outs, we made our way to Ledo Pizza, a Maryland classic, for a pie, a sub, and some calzone. No pics but it really hit the spot!


Then in the evening, I got together with a group of friends from law school and work and we went duckpin bowling! For those of you not from the Baltimore area, duckpin is a local pastime with smaller pins and balls, and 3 chances to knock down the pins. At Patterson Lanes, where we went bowling, it's BYOB and BYOS (snacks!) so we had an awesome spread of goodies to enjoy while bowling.

I brought the marshmallows :)

Mmm fancy beers....

After bowling, we continued the party over at Matthew's Pizza for some dinner (yes, this was the second time in one day I had pizza. Happy new year!). Matthew's is famous in Baltimore and claims to be the city's first pizzeria, established in 1943. They serve deep dish pizza, which is atypical 'round these parts, and I had never been so I was extra excited to finally go on NYD.



We got 4 kinds of pizza: Traditional, 4 Seasons, Great White, Margherita.

The Traditional was one of my favorites. It was just tomatoes and hand-grated reggianito cheese (we didn't get any toppings) but it was really satisfying and delicious. The crust was thick and chewy but still very different from Chicago-style deep dish.

Pizza pictures courtesy of Cezar - thanks hun!

Thick crust makes Matthew's great!

The Great White was made with mozzarella and reggianito cheeses (no tomato sauce) and caramelized sweet onions on top. I love white pizza and this was one of the better ones I've had recently, due to the onions and the nice thick crust.



The Margherita had basil, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and extra virgin olive oil and was also very good. We added Margherita at the last minute because our waitress told us 3 pizzas wouldn't have been enough for our big group, so it was a game-time decision that ended up being a good choice.



Finally, there was the 4 Seasons pizza, which had mozzarella, artichoke hearts, black olives, anchovies, mushrooms, and proscuitto on top. The gentlemen at the table nicknamed this pizza "man pizza" because they weren't afraid of the anchovies. At this point I am only into white anchovies, so I passed on the 4 Seasons. The others were so good, I didn't feel like I was missing out.



I will definitely go back to Matthew's to try more of their pizza - it was excellent and so Baltimore! Plus they have cannoli from Vaccaro's and gelato which looked delicious (I couldn't bring myself to eat ice cream when it was so cold out!).

What a great New Years Day! I had so much fun with my friends and family, couldn't have asked for a better day. Happy 2010 - it's gonna be a great year!

Cheers,
EP