Pizza

Focaccia and pizza are my favorite things made from bread dough and they are as good as they are easy to prepare. Focaccia, the Italian flat bread, can be made in round or rectangular shapes, and its dough is nothing more than flour, water, yeast, salt and a little oil, which is added for flavor and ease of handling. Usually no more than an inch thick, most focacce (the plural) are served as an accompaniment to a meal, or, especially in the rectangular shape, split for sandwiches.Typically, a focaccia is baked with a topping, often nothing more than a drizzling of olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse salt.

Owner Haluk Kantar has big plans for his pizza-focused sports bar. Last April, he opened the first HomeSlyce Pizza Bar in Federal Hill. Six months later, a second location came downtown to North Charles Street, next to Mick O'Shea's. Kantar - who also owns the Turkish restaurant Cazbar in Mount Vernon - recently said Canton and Hampden are likely the next neighborhoods to get their own HomeSlyce. After the city, he wants to expand south to Columbia, College Park and eventually D.C. Kantar has ambitious plans for HomeSlyce, and based on a recent Saturday night at the downtown bar, it made sense why. The atmosphere was approachable and laid back, and never boring.

Everyone loves the smell of piping-hot pizza. But no one loves the smell of a burning pizza box. Turns out, this is a difficult scent to eradicate from the home, and I've tried — even frying tilapia for dinner one evening. But the scent of flaming cardboard somehow persists. Almost all of my friends use the oven, set very low, to keep their pizzas warm in the box while they wait for their guests to arrive, for the evening news to be over or for the salad to be made. No one I know has encountered a problem with this.

Parents of children who attend 14 Harford County public schools were warned by school officials Thursday night that their children may have eaten a pizza product that is subject to a voluntary recall because of possible E. coli bacteria contamination. The affected schools are 12 elementary schools around the county and two secondary schools. The school system said the product, Pepperoni Pizzatas, has been removed from its food inventory, along with all products by the same manufacturer, Rich Products Corp.

Pat's Pizzeria has made its mark on Harford Countywith its sought after slices and its family-friendly atmosphere. Originally the brainchild of three cousins from New Jersey, Tony, John and Joe, the franchise grew to over 50 locations in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. And today, every Pat's franchise is owned by a relative of the founding cousins. So in the spirit of keeping it all in the family, nephews of the founding partners, Christos and his brother, Stathis Kotanidis, own the Havre de Grace, Bel Air, and Edgewood locations of Pat's Pizzeria.

The Red Star 906 S. Wolfe St. -- 410-675-0212 Hours --11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. daily Restaurant's estimate --15-20 minutes Ready in --17 minutes With the thinnest, toughest crust and no carrots, this pizza, $9.98, ranked low on our list. We liked the spicy red-pepper sauce and the large amount of chicken scattered on top. But overall, the pizza wasn't that satisfying. Know of a good carryout place? Let us hear about it. Write to sam.sessa@baltsun.com.

New Orleans. Congress and people are in a cutting and banning mood. You hear this all the time now.Today I thought I'd do my part and try to find something to ban and cut.I see in the paper that a boy in Miami shot a man for wanting an extra slice from the pizza the boy bought for some homeless people, including the greedy man. Charity was mixed up in this kid with a heightened sense of justice. I've always been leery of charity for that reason: It's just bait, usually.I also see that in California a pizza thief got 25-years-to-life.

Shawan Plaza, 11321 York Road, Hunt Valley. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays,11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 9 p.m. Sundays. (410) 785-LEDO. For years former University of Maryland students or anyone who had lived in the College Park area would make the trek back to Ledo's whenever they were in the mood for pizza, because in those days, there was absolutely nothing like Ledo's Pizza. Today, Ledo fans can order pizza in 20 locations around the state.I stopped by the Hunt Valley Ledo to see if it brought back tasty memories and I was not disappointed.

ONE mother shares a strange dream that came early one morning before her son's first day of school: As she walked the hallways, she realized every billboard was brightly decorated by a corporate sponsor.The dream was forgotten until a PTA meeting some weeks later, when her son's kindergarten teacher explained a schoolwide reading incentive program. Each month, children who finished 10 books would receive a reward. Great, thought the mother, until she heard more.Each child's prize: a coupon from a pizza franchise for a child-size pie. She noticed the bright red roof of the restaurant on the coupon.

Anne Arundel County police are interviewing witnesses and looking for suspects in the Friday night shooting death of a 20-year-old man who was in a Glen Burnie pizza store during an armed holdup, according to police Lt. J.D. Batten Jr. Police said four men entered Mr. Wings and Pizza, in the 7600 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. at 9 p.m. Friday and announced a holdup. Two were armed. When Misael Abdias Flores of the first block of Kuethe Road in Glen Burnie and a female employee both told them to leave, one of the men shot Flores in the upper torso, then all four robbers fled on foot.

Occasionally this column takes a look at what happened to a person or thing that was a memorable part of Laurel's past. This month it looks at two Laurel icons from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Laurel High coach set the standard Laurel High School was never known for fielding excellent football teams. Ron Ladue changed that. Ladue inherited a football program that was not expected to win. But Ladue's teams did win and changed the expectations for Laurel High.

People who follow Julie Bowen on Twitter might have been in for a shock if they saw what she was Tweeting around lunchtime Wednesday. Let's just say, she wasn't herself. Tweets included: "Am I the most talented actor on Modern Family? In a word, yes. But everyone is great. " "Four days without shoplifting, if you don't count Luna Bars. " "Pizza is for fatties #tweetingnoteating" There was also: "in my opinion, @ LanceArmstong did what needed to be done FOR AMERICA.

Domino's Pizza is adding to its $5.99 value pizza deal with a new promotion, discounted non-pizza items. The nation's second largest pizza chain says it will now let customers substitute other items for $5.99, including Oven Baked Sandwiches, Penne Pastas, Stuffed Cheesy Bread or an eight-piece order of chicken, Nation's Restaurant News reported. January is the time of year when restaurant chains promote low-calorie options or special deals to appeal to consumers who've resolved to lose weight or save money in the new year, the trade journal says.

Starting Monday, Bagby Pizza is expanding its delivery area to the East Baltimore neighborhoods of Harbor East, Little Italy, Fells Point and Butchers Hill. The restaurant will deliver, in addition to its pizzas, a full menu of sandwiches, salads, soups and pastas. Bagby's delivery service will run Monday through Wednesday from 5 p.m.-9 p.m., Thursdays from 5 p.m.-9:30 p.m. and weekends from noon until close. There's a minimum delivery order of $12 and a delivery fee of $2. See also: Baltimores' oddest special deliveries Follow Baltimore Diner on Twitter @gorelickingood  

Sam Swicegood slipped a fiberglass stake up his sleeve before he stepped out of his Chevy Lumina to deliver a pizza in Glen Burnie — just in case. When Swicegood walked toward a house on Lincoln Court about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, a group of boys surrounded him and one punched him in the face, according to police. Swicegood said he remembers swinging the stake — left in his car from a dismantled tent — and using the screen door on the empty house as a shield. The assailants ran away empty-handed.

This just in. Serious Eats and other New York food websites are reporting that the popular Brooklyn, N.Y. pizza shop Paulie Gee's will open a Baltimore location next spring in the old Hampden Republican Club building. According to Adam Kuban's story on Serious Eats, Paulie Gee's Hampden will be a collaboration between Paulie Gee owner and the Baltimore-based author of the Pizzablogger website. The blogger, who prefers to remain anonymous, operated a pizza stand at the Baltimore Farmers' Market this year.

The line between subtle and bland can be small. As I ate pizza from Maxie's in Charles Village, my mind kept jumping back and forth between the two adjectives. The pizzas have thin, well-made crusts, but it was the toppings that gave me pause. Sometimes they had delicate flavors, while other times they were dull. The white eggplant pizza ($18.95 for a large), with baked eggplant, spinach, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, plus garlic and seasoning, had distinct spinach and garlic notes.

Facci is a new bistro-style Italian restaurant near Columbia. The good and very affordably food here is from chef Gino Palma-Esposito, who co-owns Facci with his wife Pilar. If his calling card is Neopolitan style pizza made in wood-burning ovens — crusts made from imported dough, sauce made from imported canned tomatoes — his open kitchen turns out very tasty, generously portioned, and thoughtfully assembled appetizers, entrees and pasta dishes, too. Just when you think Facci is playing it safe, it will come close to knocking your socks off, like with the best take on pasta with clams to show up in a long time, a ridiculously satisfying meatball appetizer, or a heavenly dessert like the zabaglione with strawberries.

A pizza delivery driver fought off five would-be robbers with a metal pipe Friday in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County police said. One of the suspects assaulted the 24-year-old driver around 7:30 p.m. when he exited his vehicle to make the delivery. Five suspects approached the driver and tried to rob him. One man assaulted the victim who fought off the suspects using a metal pipe he had with him. The suspects didn't get anything from the Pizza Hut driver, police said. Several officers including a K-9 and aviation unit were called in to search the area.

Police are looking for two men who robbed a pizza delivery driver in Glen Burnie Tuesday, police said. The 46-year-old victim was delivering pizzas to a house in the 600 block of Leprechaun Lane at 7:37 p.m. when two men approached him. One displayed a knife and demanded cash, police said. The victim gave the suspects an undisclosed amount of money while one of the men stole the pizzas. The suspects ran toward Four Leaf Clover Drive. They are described as black men. One is 6 feet tall and wore a dark sweatshirt with a hood and khaki pants.