Whatever it means to be normal child, I’m pretty darn sure I wasn’t one.
Some kids visualize hitting a 9th inning home run with the count full to win the World Series in walk off fashion. I longed to tend lovingly to the needs of my guests during a busy fall foliage season. That’s right, as a young boy growing up in the 80s, my life’s dream was to run a charming B&B.
I was more of a gap to gap doubles hitter in Little League anyway.
My after school routine in the mid-1980s wasn’t any more mainstream than my career aspiration for an elementary school age child.
Every day, I’d walk home from the bus stop, pop a sheet of frozen Ellio’s Cheese Pizza into the toaster oven, and plop down on the sofa to watch Guiding Light with my mom. That’s Guiding Light the soap opera for those who spent their 80s childhood doing normal things like riding bikes and playing with G.I. Joes.
The fiery arguments between Alan and Reva on the TV would be muffled slightly by my munching of rectangular slices of crispy Ellio’s — always crispy, baked straight on the metal rack of the toaster oven. That was probably a good thing because I’m fairly certain those adult soap opera conversations weren’t always appropriate for a boy my age.
I’ll admit to not being the most nostalgic guy, although a couple years ago I did take my mom to a local theater to see Gypsy because her soap opera heartthrob from yesteryear, Robert Newman aka Joshua Lewis from Guiding Light, was starring. I sure could’ve gone for a sheet of Ellio’s during that musical, to really bring it all back home.
Even though I was the one with the pristine, albeit atypical, 80s childhood, it’s my wife who buckles up our daughters in the Delorean and revisits movies like Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. She also spins some Billy Joel and Tina Turner music for a bangle-bracelet, oversized sweater & wide belt, Ellio’s Pizza dance party.
Someone pass that can of Tab and buy me a few packs of Garbage Pail Kids, and I’ll jump back in time too!
While they are breaking out into a flashback flash mob in the living room, I’m in the kitchen baking those nostalgic sheets of Ellio’s Pizza. I still love breaking them into little rectangular slices along perforated lines, only now instead of for myself during my 3pm soap, I tend lovingly to my three adorable guests while they are time traveling back to the 80s.
Even when decades-old movies aren’t being fired up on Netflix and it’s modern music playing throughout the house, Ellio’s Pizza is still being enjoyed because it is so easy to bake small portions for just my daughters after school. This is key because they claim to be starving every single afternoon and are always begging for a snack within seconds of walking in the front door. With Ellio’s, they are smiling and satisfied within 12 minutes.
We like a rad #80sPizzaParty as much as any “Uptown Girl” trying to figure out “What’s Love Got To Do With It” but we don’t need an excuse to crank up the oven to 425 degrees! Ellio’s Pizza (Original Crust, please, in either the Extra Cheese or Supreme variety!) is a fun and delicious snack – perfect for the after school hunger pangs.
Check out the store locator on the Ellio’s website to learn where you can find these throwback pies. And while you’re at it, give Ellio’s a follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more 80’s fun.
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Dr. Oetker USA LLC. I received compensation for this post; however, all opinions expressed above and honest and unbiased. I really did love my collection of Garbage Pail Kids and watching Guiding Light with my mom every afternoon while eating Ellio’s Pizza.
