Pizza in a Pinch

It was my first proper meal with Margy in what seemed like a week, but thanks to New York City traffic I didn't even cook for her.

My plan was to drive through town after a great hang with my relatives and get home to the burbs in time to make dinner, but southbound traffic didn't let that happen. However, due to the magic of cell phones I was able to take advantage of this hideous delay by scooping up my girl at the train station and giving her a ride home. When we reached our destination, we were hungry enough that grabbing a pizza seemed like our only option.

The pie was the local "old reliable," not nearly as good as Mama's (or Margy's), but there when you need it and tasty enough. Because we dig anchovies but prefer just a scattering, we pulled our usual trick: We order a pie with half sausage and put our own anchovies on the plain slices, reheating them quickly in the oven.

And though we usually drink beer with pizza, this time we picked up a bottle of A Mano 2003, from Italy's Puglia region. Apparently it's like a zinfandel, and it was excellent -- deep and full bodied but light enough to balance nicely with the salty pizza. I think it was like 10 or 11 bucks. Margy and I recommend it for sure.