Kid-Size Pizza — Because Every First Recipe Is the Beginning of Something

January. The second book writing begins. 'For All the Donnas' is due spring 2024 — fifteen months to write a book that's bigger in scope, wider in perspective, and deeper in research than the first. The structure: twelve chapters, each featuring a different woman and her kitchen. Military wives, immigrant mothers, widows, single mothers, farm wives, urban cooks in food deserts. Each chapter: a story, a kitchen, recipes. The through-line: food as survival. Food as resistance. Food as the stubborn insistence that we deserve to eat well even when the world says we don't. I've interviewed six women so far. The remaining fourteen will happen over the next six months, requiring travel (some), phone calls (some), and kitchen visits (the best kind of interview — you learn more from watching a woman cook than from anything she says). Caleb learned to crack eggs this week. REALLY crack them. Not the supervised, hand-over-hand egg crack from last year. A SOLO crack. He picked up the egg, tapped it on the counter (too hard — shell fragments everywhere), opened it into the bowl (most of the egg made it; the shell did not), and said, 'I DID IT, MAMA!' He did it. Shell fragments and all. The first solo egg crack. Mom's milestone, repeated: - Grandma Carol: first egg crack unknown - Donna: first egg crack age 5 - Rachel: first egg crack age 4 - Caleb: first egg crack age 4 The timeline holds. The tradition descends. Hazel is eleven months old and pulling up on everything. She stands at the coffee table, at the couch, at the kitchen cabinets. She's going to walk soon. Caleb walked at thirteen months. Hazel is ahead of schedule, because Hazel does everything with quiet, fierce determination. Made Mom's scrambled eggs tonight — teaching Caleb. His first real recipe. Eggs, butter, salt. Stir slowly over low heat. 'Gentle,' I said. 'Don't rush them.' 'Like Grandma says about dumplings?' he asked. 'Exactly like Grandma says about dumplings.' He stirred. The eggs curled softly in the pan. They were slightly overcooked (a common first attempt) but they were EGGS. Made by a four-year-old. In a kitchen. With his mother. The teaching continues. Mom to me. Me to Caleb. Caleb to... whoever comes next. The eggs were slightly overcooked. The tradition was perfectly executed.

After the scrambled eggs—shell fragments, soft curls, and all—I started thinking about what comes next in Caleb’s recipe education. Mom’s eggs were the foundation, the first real thing. But a four-year-old who just learned to stir gently and wait is a four-year-old who is ready to build something. Kid-size pizza is exactly that: a recipe that puts small hands in charge, lets them choose, assemble, and own the result the same way Caleb owned those eggs. It’s not Grandma’s kitchen, but the principle is identical—give a child something real to make, step back just enough, and let the tradition do what it does.

Kid-Size Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 22 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 English muffins, split in half
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce or marinara
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup mini pepperoni slices (optional)
• 1/4 cup diced bell pepper (optional)
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Olive oil cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
2. Arrange the bases. Place English muffin halves cut-side up on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly.
3. Add the sauce. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce onto each muffin half. Let the kids spread it with the back of the spoon—right to the edges is fine.
4. Top with cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over each sauced muffin. Use roughly 2 tablespoons per half.
5. Add toppings. Set out the optional toppings in small bowls and let each child choose and arrange their own. This is their pizza.
6. Season. Sprinkle a pinch of Italian seasoning over the tops.
7. Bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and beginning to bubble at the edges and the muffin edges are lightly golden.
8. Cool briefly and serve. Let the pizzas rest 2 minutes before serving—the cheese holds heat and small mouths burn easily. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 480mg