When I was in middle school, I had homemade Sicilian- style pizza at a friend’s house. It was square and had a fluffy thick crust. I remember very vividly her mother walking up to the table and using scissors to cut the pizza into squares. Mind blown!

We did not cut pizza in our house with scissors, probably because our pizza came out of the box already cut into soggy triangles. Don’t get me wrong: My mom is an amazing cook, but Sicilian pizza wasn’t part of her repertoire.

This small, seemingly insignificant memory has clearly stuck with me. Maybe it was the homemade pizza, maybe it was the scissors. Probably both. To honor this memory, I’d like to invite you to create your own special homemade pizza party, complete with scissors.

As summer wanes and fall begins in our area, luscious produce is still bountiful in local home gardens and markets. Send the kids into the garden to pick the left-behind tomatoes or head to the farmers’ market and buy the ugly ones at a discount and whip up this No-Cook Tomato Sauce to top your pizza. It’s simple to make, has just a few ingredients and everyone can help put it together. Add an easy no-fuss pizza dough and fresh mozzarella cheese and you’ve got a pizza party. And don’t forget the scissors…