MONDAY’S GRANDCHILD

Judy and I look forward to Mondays ‘cause it’s the day we get to pick Lily up from her church’s “Wee Pre-School”! As excited as we are, she sometimes is less than enthusiastic, sometimes hanging her head with her lower lip sticking out, or, like yesterday, starts crying for her mother! This always makes the teacher a little apprehensive about turning her over to us. However, we have all the right credentials and we know her name…so we must be okay!

I’m always afraid to say, “Lily, tell the teacher who we are,” because you never know what she might say in the moment of missing her parents. Then what do you tell the police!

Anyway, about a block down the street, she stops crying, not a tear anywhere, and starts talking to us. Of course, this is after we’ve told her we are going somewhere to eat, going to the park, or going home to ride her bicycle.Bribery has been a tool of good parenting for ages, and it usually works!

This week we decided to eat out before going home, and pizza seemed to be the magic word in Lily’s mind this week. So, we stopped off at Brixx Pizza, home of “wood fired” pizzas!

The waitress gave Lily a lump of raw dough to play with, and some crayons. She pounded the dough, and we kept encouraging her to make a hand-print in the middle, but she decided it was much more fun to bite off little pieces and put them back on the plate. They usually take anything made by a child to the oven and bake it, but Lily wasn’t interested in playing their game.

Instead, she loved the “cave” under the table where she played with an imaginary bear! Luckily for us the place is new and the area under the table was carpeted and clean. She popped up every now and then to shout out “smile” to me holding the camera! It’s almost impossible to get a shot of wiggly 3-year-old!

Most shots are of the side or back of her head, with her still saying “smile”!

The pizzas were unique, but quite good, so we’ll probably go back at some point. The one shown is a “Bronx Bomber” with spicy Italian sausage, prosciutto, Gorgonzola cheese, tomato sauce and fresh oregano leaves. Judy had the Chicken Florentine with wood-roasted chicken, crumbled bacon, Roma tomatoes, fresh spinach, and feta and mozzarella cheeses. Lily’s was a cheese pizza that must have been good; because she wouldn’t even let me eat the end pieces she had leftover!

Back at home, she rode her bike, and busied herself plucking Holly Berries from the shrubs, and playing an imaginary fiddle made of a pine-cone and a stick she found.She had so much fun that we could not get her to take a nap. She lay on the bed and “rested” reading her books, saying her ABC's, and singing every song she knew.

Soon Corey arrived and she got up excited to see her dad and the prospects of seeing “her baby” (her little sister Kinsley) again!

Momma Judy and Papaw are left waiting for Monday to come around so they can play again too!

ANGELOS’ THE BRICK OVEN PIZZERIA

I wasn’t going to post this, but I was sitting here looking back through photos and I came across these shots I took at Angelos’ The Brick Oven Pizzeria about a week ago, and now I’m so hungry I could eat a horse…if it was cooked and put on a pizza!

The Brick Oven is located in Lenoir City, Tennessee, Hwy 321, in the former location of Altrudas, directly in front of Home Depot!

Judy and I just happened upon this place after one for her brace tightening appointments. She was as hungry as I was, but needed something she could chew off easily with the pink and red braces she had just had refitted. The first thing I saw was their sign and the word “pizzeria,” which to me meant beer!

The place was cozy, with a cheerful staff of young ladies, one of which you can see trying to keep a low profile behind the bar! My kind of people and bar!

Judy ordered the lasagna and I anxiously awaited the personal pan “meat madness” pizza! A tall cold Killian’s helped pass the time!

Turns out the portions are more than enough – we both took half our orders home and enjoyed them a second time the next day for lunch. It has to be a good sized “personal pan pizza” for me to take some home!

The other pleasing thing was the price…the total tab for everything was $20! That must have been the reason for all the families coming and going. It is a must place to eat!

I have a special section of photos in Flickr called “Bars I’ve Visited” and so I had to take a shot of the little bar before leaving. Just as I snapped the photo one of the lively young waitresses jumped into the photo. I love it when people act alive and friendly, so I regret not getting her name.

Snapping pictures of my food always gets the attention of the staff, if not the patrons near my table, and always embarrasses whoever is dinning with me. Invariably someone will ask me about the photos and if everything is alright, and I’ll tell them that I’m a food critic for the News Sentinel in Knoxville, followed by a “just kiddin’”, but somehow they never seem to believe that I’m not! I do seem to get good service once I’ve gotten their attention with the flash!

Often times I will give the waiter/waitress a “Mushy’s Moochings” “blogness card” and tell them to look it up on line! It’s loads of fun even if they snicker at me behind my back!

Next time you go out, take a few snaps and make a few notes, and see if you don’t get better service!

BIG ED’S PIZZA – A LEGEND IN OAK RIDGE

Ms. Mushy and I saw “Spidyman” Friday, and we were the only 2 people in the theater! This is another perk of being retired…the 12:05 during the week is usually sparsely attended. We then topped off a lovely day together by visiting Bid Ed’s Pizza.

Since 1970 Big Ed Neusel’s Pizza, at Number 1 Broadway in Jackson Square, has been an institution, a one of a kind place to go and have old Italian style pizza and a beer. That’s all they have, so it has been perfected over the years to a succinct taste. Thin chewy crust with a fat fluffy rim that comes from dough made on site daily and a hot juicy middle available with 10 all natural ingredients!

Besides the sauce, you begin with cheese and then add up to 5 additional items, or get the “Special” and get 6! That’s my favorite…the works!

There are four draft beers, no bottles, to choose from by the glass or pitcher.

Big Ed’s has been mentioned on many national sports shows and many sports stars, and other celebrities have visited there and left banners and photos that adorn the 18-foot walls. There is an eclectic mix of autographed footballs, baseballs, and military memorabilia hanging there or in locked showcases. You could spend an hour just reading the graffiti on the stairs down to the restrooms, or looking at the signatures and dedications local schools and universities have made to Big Ed.

Some of the most important items hanging around are the paraphernalia from military units -- Blue Angels, Marines, Navy -- decorate the walls. Big Ed served in Vietnam as a Marine himself!

Big Ed’s is actually internationally famous (Google and see) and is one the “must visits” when coming to the Knoxville/Oak Ridge, Tennessee area.

High school kids have always worked “behind the glass” making the fresh pizzas for Big Ed. Many have earned their way on to college with a job tossing pizzas in the air at Big Ed’s.

Big Ed died in 1998, but the traditions continue with son David.

Big Ed crafted the cost of operating his business by providing only the barest of amenities – pizza comes hot on an aluminum tray, but you have to pulled the molten pieces off onto 6” paper (thin) plates and saw off bites (until it cools) with a plastic fork! Nothing fancy here except the taste of the pizza!

Going into Big Ed’s is like going back in time for me. I used to go to this same place (called something else then) with my parents when they went out dancing around 1949-51. I was 3 or 4 years old and I remember them holding me up between them as they danced. Gees, I wish I could remember the music – one was probably "Good Night Irene" – and get more of a visual recollection, but I only see the three-headed dancers!