Where does it say in the Torah?

My mother in law used to nag me (there's a redundant sentence) about our Friday night meals. So did my oldest daughter. Between these two, I could do no right.

Opinion one: Where does it say in the Torah that we have to eat chicken on Friday night?

Opinion two: You should serve your kids foods they love on Friday so that they will look forward to Shabbat.

Solution: for the last 2 years, my family has been having pizza on Friday nights.

Response one: You are the best Imma in the whole world.

Response two: Pizza????? Pizza????? Are you nuts?????

Friday night meal is probably the best meal of the week. The house is clean, the kitchen fragrant with something delicious, there is dessert to look forward to (Li'Khvod Shabbat) and as the sun goes down and dusk turns everything soft and gentle-like, a sense of peace descends on the family. Shabbat Shalom.

We light the candles, say the blessings, the girls laugh at my husband's rendition of the kiddush (how many words per second can you say and still sound good?), the challah is golden and yummy, all is well. 

Then I serve the meal I have worked so hard to make. 

Number one daughter (the vegetarian) "Why can't we have dairy once in a while? Does being Jewish mean that we must have meat at every meal?". 

Number two daughter (who likes beef with a side of chicken) "Chicken? again? I'm not hungry." 

Husband (trying gallantly to save the day): "Maybe if you did not cook it so long...". 

There goes my peaceful Shabbat.

The thing is, I have read the Torah cover to cover and it really does not say anywhere that you must have chicken on Friday. It is simply a way to make Shabbat special by eating the foods that you wish you could eat every day but can't afford during the rest of the week [usually because of either price (in the old days) or calories (nowadays)]. So my MIL was (gulp) right (don't you just hate when this happens?): I should serve my family the foods they love and crave in order for them to look forward to Shabbat.

Quick polling of the family shows that their preferred food, the one they love and crave and want to eat above all else, is pizza. As my friend Lisa says "Your child is a pizza-tarian". No problem. I can do that. 

Horrified look from MIL : "Pizza? You are serving pizza on Friday night? You should not do that. This is not right. You should serve proper food on Friday night. Pizza is not an actual food." I point out that it was her advice to serve foods that the kids will look forward to. Her expression seems to indicate that I have failed as a mother if the food my kids like best is pizza. She may be on to something.

So I compromise. I serve pizza but I improve it. Here's the thing: Much as I agree with the idea that the work of preparing for Shabbat has merit, preparations that leave me exhausted or annoyed do not agree with me. I have tried making pizza from scratch and the results were not worth the effort. I apologize to all you awesome bakers out there who can make pizza with your eyes closed. My hat's off to you, but I just can't do that. It is important to know your own limitations and this is one of mine. So here's what I do:

I buy the simplest cheese pizza I can find. About 45 minutes before candle-light time, I preheat the oven to whatever temperature it says on the box and, while the oven preheats, I brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil (and drizzle a little over the pie itself), sprinkle it with very thinly sliced toppings (red onion, mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, olives, extra cheese of whatever kind I have on hand) and season with granulated garlic and Italian seasoning. By the time the pizza is ready, it's time to light the candles and the family is happy. Number one daughter is still not quite satisfied. It seems I am handicapped in the area of arranging the toppings in an orderly fashion on top of the pizza (which, apparently, greatly affects the flavor). But, being a generous soul, she forgives me every week anew. They do say the spirit of Shabbat makes people better than their everyday nature.

MIL learned to live with the great disappointment that I am to her.

Shabbat Shalom

Osnat

PS 

Best part of the Pizza for Friday night deal is: you can have dairy desserts. You gotta admit that in the department of desserts, dairy is the way to go. Here is the easiest dessert in the world, which I learned from my friend Lisa, who can cook a Rosh Hashana meal for 30 people while working full time (and then some) and make it not only yummy but beautifully presented, too. It's called Yogurt pie and sounds unlikely to be palatable but it tastes like sweet clouds:   Mix one 8oz container of thawed cool whip with one 8oz container of flavored yogurt (berry flavor is best but I had good results with almost any flavor). Spoon into a prepared graham cracker pie shell. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. It's a little difficult to serve, being so fluffy, so be ready with a large spoon.

Thanks Lisa.