The Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE and the Temple of Doom

There are three stages in the pre-consumption life of a pizza: fresh, leftovers, and science fair experiment. Prior to my eating the Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE pizza, the only time I would have found anything large and green on a pizza I'd ordered would have been well after it was into the last stage (pickles notwithstanding).

Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE, fresh from the oven

I'm vaguely familiar with artichokes. I once had a sandwich containing some. Not on purpose, mind you. I was trying to play it cool at a very fancy sandwich shop to which I had accompanied a cute girl, and, overwhelmed by the complexity of the menu and certain that she would judge my overall intellect by my sandwich's contents, my order was simply, "Make that two." It was ... okay. We're just good friends these days. 

Let's not even get started on the fact that it's actually the artichoke hearts that you are eating, either. In my head, this is all I see ...

"Kalim .... wait, what the?"

All the artichoke talk notwithstanding, this actually ended up being one of my favorite Papa Murphy's pizzas so far. I picked a few artichokes off the pizza to try on their own, and while I wouldn't crave a bowl full of artichokes and nothing else, I found I liked them quite a lot when paired with the other flavors on the pizza. This pizza uses a white creamy garlic sauce instead of your typical tomato-based affair, and it works very well with the other toppings (namely, chicken, bacon, spinach, parmesean, "zesty" herbs, and of course, artichoke hearts). Somewhat surprisingly to myself, I also loved having the spinach on this pizza. Who would have thought a double-dose of greens on a pizza would be so appealing.

Freshly unwrapped

Uncooked close-up

I once tried a BLT pizza (again, at the behest of a girl ... my food choices followed my heart more than my taste buds in college), which was nothing more than a bacon pizza that we took home and then topped with mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce. It was horrid, and I spent most of the night crop-dusting her foyer after consuming that abomination. Leafy greens have never been high on my pizza topping list since that night. I'm happy to say that following my foray into spinach on this pizza, I'm open to trying more leafy greens on future pies.

Hot and ready!

Post cooking close-up. YUM!

Thin crust depth. It's pretty crazy comparing this to one of the stuffed crusts.

My favorite thing about this pizza is how much flavor it manages to pack in while still feeling like a very light-on-the-stomach meal. We haven't had any deLITE pizzas in a while, and I've definitely missed them. Of all the deLITE's we've had, this is currently my favorite. I'm also happy to report that it reheats quite nicely. Being that it's a rather atypical grouping of flavors on a pizza and that it is so light on the stomach, I actually had a slice for breakfast a couple of days later. It beat the socks off starting my weekend with a bowl of fiber cereal!

The family sized pizza cut into eight large slices

First-person view

That's one pretty slice of pizza

The household discussed our opinions (well, at least the ones who are old enough to talk coherently), and we all wholeheartedly agreed: this pizza is a must-try!

Toppings close-up on the slice

The Bizarro Pizza and a 4-Year-Old's Fight Against Cancer

Click here to to skip ahead and read about 4-year-old Leah's brave fight against neuroblastoma cancer first.

Depending on how you came upon this blog and your relationship or lack thereof with my family, you may or may not be aware of the following fact: I'm a bit of a geek. I realize that doesn't necessarily tell you all that much about me in this day in age; the label "geek" is much more far-reaching now than it might have been in the 80's or 90's. But I think I fall somewhere comfortably in between Big Bang Theory and the fellow working at your local Apple Genius Bar. This picture of the left side of my desk probably sums me up nicely:

Spidey still can't decide on a new paint color for our living room

With that in mind, I'd like to dub our pizza this week "The Bizarro." It's the most appropriate name I could think of for a pizza so deliciously opposite of its own self. Plus, it has a bit more universal appeal than dubbing it "The Superboy #68" for our less geeky followers.

'Pineaapppllleeeeee!'  "Back, you crazed ruffian! You'll destroy us all!"

If you're thinking this pizza-of-a-home-divided sounds familiar, it's because it's almost the same toppings as the very first pizza we ever blogged about: our Double Heartbaker pizza back in February. The end result was the same this time around, aside from being decidedly rounder and with more evenly distributed slices. Delicious. Papa Murphy's pepperoni pizza remains one of the wife's de facto standards in what a good pizza should taste like, and pineapple continues to be my all-time favorite. She decided she wanted a little more meat this time around, so she also asked for some Italian sausage on her half, as well.

Made your way - even if they think your way is a little nuts

"Here you go, crazy-dude!"

M.C. Skat Kat would be proud.

If you haven't tried pineapple pizza yet, I highly recommend you give it a try at least once. If you're gun-shy about spreading it across your whole pizza in the event you don't like it, just ask the folks behind the counter to only put it on 1/4th of your pizza, and then get your normal favorite toppings on the other 3/4ths of it.

Cooking complete!

All the toppings managed to stay in their own area pretty well!

I'll even elaborate and say that before I became a take-n-bake fanatic, I was a die-hard Papa John's fan. Their pineapple pizza was pretty much the only pizza I ate all throughout my college years (which probably had as much to do with the garlic dipping sauce as it did my love of pineapple). But as much as I liked their pineapple pizza, it still doesn't hold a candle to the ones we get from Papa Murphy's. Price and portion size was one of the biggest reasons we initially switched to buying Papa Murphy's pizzas, but there ended up being no comparison between the taste and quality of pineapples once we'd made the switch. If it wouldn't make for the most boring blog in the world, it's what I would eat every single time we have pizza. So try it! And if you've never had it before and decide to actually take me up on this proposition, let me know what you thought about it.

Safer than splitting the atom, but almost as impressive.

Straight down the middle.

One of the reasons I decided to do a pizza this week that we'd already somewhat discussed before is because I wanted to talk to you about something else, as well. Or rather, someone else:

Leah Smallwood and her dad, Michael

This beautiful little four-year-old girl is Leah Bee Smallwood. On February 13th, the day after we started this blog, Leah was admitted to Vanderbilt and diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer. Leah's condition is considered high risk at this stage, but she has been fighting with the heart of a lion and doing well with her treatments. She's currently finishing up her fifth round of chemotherapy, but she's having to stay in the hospital for another couple of weeks this round due to her chemo port developing an infection and causing fevers.

Leah's father, Michael, was a childhood friend of mine. We grew up playing soccer together and participating in boy scouts. The last time I saw Michael was nearly four years ago in the checkout line at Home Depot. He had the most beautiful little baby girl with him, and she just made my heart melt. Since that day, I've been blessed with two daughters of my own. My little Thing 1 and Thing 2, who are my whole world. Thinking back to that first time I saw Leah, my heart aches knowing what a burden she is having to endure, and what a hardship her parents have to bear while still remaining strong for her. I can't even begin to imagine, and my heart goes out to all the families out there who can and have had to go down this same path. No child should ever have to grow up so fast or be so brave.

Leah's bracelets and plaque at Papa Murphy's

Social networking is a powerful tool, and the owner of our local Papa Murphy's franchises interacts a lot with the local community online and ending up hearing about Leah through the Facebook grapevine (you might recall me mentioning the pizza for charity event that was held in Middle Tennessee to raise money for the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt back in February, too). After getting in touch with Michael, all of the Middle Tennessee Papa Murphy's locations now have "Leah's Fight" bracelet's available for $5.00 to help support the family and Leah's fight. All proceeds go directly to the family, who are facing mounting medical costs for each round of treatments and surgery.

Leah showing off her new hat. Stylin'!

The next time you go out for pizza, I would implore you to take a moment to count your blessings and then share some of them with the Smallwood family. Every donation helps. You can also make donations at any Cornerstone Financial Credit Union in Middle Tennessee; just tell the teller you would like to donate to Leah Smallwood. If you are not local but would still like to donate, you can do so by mailing donations to:

Attn: Leah Smallwood Cornerstone Financial Credit Union

130 West Northfield Boulevard

Murfreesboro, TN 37129

If you'd like to get in touch with her family or follow her progress, Leah's father, Michael, has a Facebook page (it's not public, but you can message him there or send him a friend request). There is also a CaringBridge page for Leah, as well as a Facebook page and the website leahsfight.org, the latter two both being made and updated by one of Leah's sweet younger friends.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support in this difficult time. I know it means the world to the Smallwood family and to all of us who love them.

Getting to meet Jamie Lynn Spears.