Five Great ... Pizzerias for Thin-Crust Pizza

Did you know that about 3 billion pizzas are sold in the United States each year? Or that women are twice as likely as men to order vegetarian toppings on their pizza? How about that pizzerias make up about 17 percent of all American restaurants?

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto.Well, for this edition of “Five Great … “ we’re going to focus on just five of those pizzerias. Specifically, five places where you can get great thin-crust pizza. Next week, we’ll tackle five great places where you can get a deep-dish pizza. Now, please know that this is by no means meant to be portrayed as a definitive list. I did consult a number of readers and friends in the area to maintain geographic diversity, but one of the purposes of the ‘Five Great … “ series is to get readers to share some of their favorites and perhaps inspire all of us to try something new. So let the pizza wars begin!

* Aurelio's: The thin-crust pizza at this spot arrives weighed down with a heavy amount of toppings and cheese. Has more than 40 locations, including in Geneva, Naperville, Plainfield, South Elgin and Winfield. True fans know to order their pizza by number.

* Gratto’s: This Italian tapas-style restaurant in downtown Geneva offers brick-oven pizza (only available for takeout) that is similar to the huge foldable slices you’d find in New York City. Located at 207 S. Third St. in Geneva. Also has a location at 433 N. Main in Glen Ellyn.

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Weekend Spotlight: Lots of Sweet Chances to Learn About Maple Syrup

One of the many happy memories from my childhood involves a field trip my class took to see maple trees tapped and the maple sap then turned into syrup. Can you guess what the “Weekend Spotlight” is about today?

Photo courtesy of Naper Settlement.The Kane County Forest Preserve is holding its “Maple Sugaring Days” this Sunday at the Brewster Creek Forest Preserve  in St. Charles from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Next weekend, the program will move to Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn, also from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 13.

At both events, you’ll get a chance to see a maple tree tapped and watch as map sap is collected in a bucket. The sap will then simmer over a fire on its way to becoming syrup.

There will be hands-on activities, plus “Sugarin’ Time” hikes, where you’ll learn to tell the difference between maples and other hardwood trees. The programs are free, and no registration is required.

In addition to the above Kane County Forest Preserve events, you have a number of other opportunities in March to learn more about how map sap turns into maple syrup:

* Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago is holding a “Maple Sugaring” event on Saturday, March 12, and Sunday, March 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities will be ongoing. The program and entry to the farm is free, and registration is not required.

* Fullersburg Woods in Oak Brook (part of the DuPage County Forest Preserve) is holding its “Get Sticky! Maple Syrup Sundays” event on Sunday, March 13 and Sunday, March 20, from noon to 4 p.m. It includes a self-guided walk through the woods and ongoing activities. The program is free, and registration is not required.

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Who Needs a Sand Box When You Can Have a Rice Box?

Today we have a guest "indoor activity" post written by the editor of Local Fun for Kids, a new website that is helping bring more attention to locally run parenting sites across the country, including Go West Young Mom. The blog has lots of recipes, crafts and more fun ideas, too, so make sure to add it to your bookmarks. -- Tara

Photo courtesy of Local Fun for Kids.My little guys love playing outside, and one of my 3-year-old son’s favorite activities is playing in the dirt with his trucks. As soon as spring rolls around, he will be out there again digging for hours and covered in dirt and mud. As long as he's happy, that's fine with me.

He recently got a Caterpillar remote control digger for his birthday.  But, how much fun is a digger, if you can't dig?  So, I pulled out a medium-sized storage container, and put some green felt on the bottom, which makes it a better surface to drive the digger. I then poured in the some blue and green rice, which was dyed with food coloring a few days earlier.  If you’ve never colored rice before, you can find an easy how to guide here.

This little ‘rice box’ was such a hit!

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Weeknight Dinners: Pulled Chicken or Pork Sandwiches

This easy recipe for pulled pork or chicken sandwiches comes from one our regular food contributors, Tracy Richter.  -- Tara

Pulled Chicken or Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2-4 cooked chicken breasts or pork chops shredded by hand or with a fork

Equal amounts of ketchup and barbeque sauce (about ½ a cup each for 2 breasts)

Good sandwich buns

Directions:

1 – In a pan mix meat, ketchup and barbeque sauce.

2 – Heat until warmed through.

3 – Serve on good quality round buns.

She'sWrite: My Mother-in-Law, Myself

Here’s a multiple choice question for you. My mother-in-law is A) meddling B) critical C) not understanding D) none of the above. If you answered D, you are correct.

The writer with her son Logan and mother-in-law.My mother-in-law lives in Norway, but we’re quite close. She’s very nice, yet also very strong-willed and opinionated. I’m also strong-willed and not shy on sharing my opinion, but what makes our relationship work so well is that we have a healthy dose of respect for each other.

Relationships with mother-in-laws can be tricky. It’s like a tale of two queens in one kingdom. They’re the mother, they’ve watched your partner grow up, guiding them along the way. When you come into the picture it’s like there’s a new queen in the castle, new rules and now your partner is listening to someone else’s guidance: yours. (Well, at least we hope our partners are listening to us …)

I remember the first defining moment between me and my MIL. It was shortly after Hubby and I married and she and I were hanging out in her kitchen. She turned to me in her sweet accent and eagerly asked if we were going to start having kids. I told her no, we were going to wait a bit.

She frowned and asked if I was sure, because it would be nice to start a family. I paused to ponder how to phrase my answer. One of the great things about Norwegians is their brutal honesty, so I told the truth. We wanted to have kids, but I wanted to spend time working on my career first, so babies had to wait. She frowned again and then said: “Well that makes sense. I tell (my daughter) to wait to have kids, so why shouldn’t it be the same for you?”

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