That sounds great, Matt.

I have no dog in the thin crust/thick crust fight; I'll take either one, as long as said crusts are not themselves stuffed with cheese or some such nonsense.

And I'm extremely hesitant to label anything off-limits as a pizza topping -- when I was in Italy lo these many decades ago (sniff), the only constant connecting all the pizzas I saw from Florence to Venice to Rome to the little waterfront bakeries in Brindisi near the ferry to Greece was that the stuff on top was sitting on top of some kind of bready crust. Sometimes thick, sometimes thin, but always a bready crust, topped with stuff that was savory, tasty and local. Which meant that I saw everything from mozzarella and fresh tomatoes and red onions to calamari (tentacles included) and roasted peppers to straw mushrooms, potatoes and the sausagey remnants of local piggies.

If you push me good and hard, I'd say that legumes probably don't belong on pizza, especially if they're refried, and carrots will make me frown a scrunch-faced frown. Also, that something that's really an entire other meal thrown on top of a pizza crust may call itself a pizza if it wants, but it's kind of sad. Beyond that, I'm a pizza polytheist.

minced garlic is a perfectly acceptable pizza topping.

My friend and I used to stage Barbie executions. That was always fun.

Once I discovered the Bastille, my Barbies got guillotined a lot. Viva la revolution!

As a former NYCer, I will say that there is the same amount of International food choice here in LA--it's just a bit different, with more Latin American, less European varieties and about the same Asian. Wthin a few miles I can get Oaxacan, Peruvian, Michoacan, Guadalajaran, Guatemalan, Cuban, Honduran, and Brazilian.

minced garlic is a perfectly acceptable pizza topping.

Absolutely.

I only didn't list it because it seemed more like "seasoning". (Acceptable ones of which include and are pretty much limited to: garlic, garlic powder, oregano, pepper flakes, basil, parm)

I used to hitch my Breyer horses up to my Barbie carrier and play "Barbie goes West." Of course, I didn't have a Barbie so much as a Francie and a Skipper.

Nutty, it seems like your definition of pie is anything made with pie pastry, and that it's only pie pastry if you say so.

Pie pastry has a particular makeup: there are variations in the amount and type of fat, amount of sugar, and additional ingredients like nuts or spices, but yeah. Pie pastry (pate brisé, pate sucré) is a particular thing, and pies are made from pie pastry.

Mr. Kipling's apple pie has a shortbreadlike pastry I haven't seen outside his brand here.

Actually, I have made shortbread crusts -- used for smaller items like tarts, not for a full-sized pie. Shortbread crusts won't take the same kind of abuse that regular pie crusts will, because they have a much higher sugar quotient, and because they're patted into the pan rather than rolled. They burn quickly in the oven (boy, do they burn!), and can't usually be baked long enough for any fruit filling to cook. So you have to pre-cook any filling, and then assemble it after or at the very end of baking.

Which can be awesome, when you are making lime curd tarts. But while pies and tarts are closely related, I wouldn't call them synonyms for each other. Although clearly, Mr. Kipling would.

Hey, I was watching America's Test Kitchen and they showed a cobbler that was so not what I thought a cobbler is: basically - fruit and sugar with biscuits on top. They, of course, remade it to be better but it was still: fruit and sugar with biscuits.

That can't be right, can it?

I don't get pizza with exotic ingredients, generally.

Currently I like a combo of Italian sausage, feta, onions and mushrooms.

I've gotten really hooked on feta as a result of eating multiple feta omelets as cheap food while finishing the book. Hello salty goodness!

I do like the fancy upscale wood burning pizzas though. You can get a very nice one at Chow here in the city and you don't have to wait for two hours, and it comes with fancy schmancy Rocket and fennell and stuff. So good though. Perfect crust and fresh mozza.

Arinell is the closest local equivalent to a NY slice and I do like to get one and fold it up when I'm poking around in Berkeley. Very thin crust with a buttery deliciousness.

But I also really like deep dish when it's done well, and Zachary's in the East Bay does a very credible version.