I've been to London ?

I have been to London. Many times in fact. No, not London, England, but London Street in Marion, Ohio. This little street, not much more than an alley, was the home of Jimbos Pizza Shop. My brother Reggie and I have made many visits to Jimbos . The owner operator was a super fellow and made a really good pizza. We believed it was the best option in town.
Reggie always gave Jimbo a lot of grief about the pizza. Not that he thought they were bad, he just liked to give Jimbo a hard time. Most of the time when Reggie ordered he would say, "don't be so stingy with the pepperoni" or maybe "put some hot peppers on it this time, we couldn't find them last time". Well this particular night Jimbo must have had enough. We ordered a pizza with banana peppers on it and Reggie gave him his favorite line over the phone. "Don't be stingy with the peppers". We picked up the pizza and returned home. Neither of us could eat it. There were peppers and/or cayenne pepper in the crust, the sauce, and even the cheese. All hidden so we wouldn't notice. There was also extra banana peppers on the top. He did exactly as Reggie had asked! He wasn't stingy with the peppers. We tried, but eating this pizza brought tears to our eyes. I do not know where this pizza would have fallen on the Scoville Heat Units Scale but it certainly lit us up. Reggie called Jimbo and cried uncle. He said he never would complain about anything again. Jimbo laughed and offered to replace it. We always liked that place, wish it was still open. I guess when we moved away there wasn't enough business!
Reggie and I have made a lot of pizzas over the years. In our early years most started in a box. Chef Boyardee Pizza. We made so many boxes that to this day, Chef Boyardee is my favorite pizza sauce. We would make the box pizzas and would add many of our own toppings. We both have passed the pizza making down to our children. Now we usually make our own dough for the crust and add our favorite toppings. Fortunately for me, Chef Boyardee sells their sauce separate from the box mixes.
The pizza pictured above is a recipe from Frontera Grille and Chef Rick Bayless. My son Ty made this pizza for us on my last visit. This Mexican style pizza starts with a homemade salsa verde and features chorizo sausage, bacon, onions, goat cheese and cilantro. It is one of our favorites. I made a more traditional pizza with cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, banana peppers and of course, Chef Boyardee sauce. Amazing food, amazing fellowship and amazing memories.

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