Identical Cousin Calzones

Calzones are an easy and tasty alternative to ordering pizza. The best part is that everybody gets to put what they want in them, at our house it is usually whatever is left over in the fridge (salami, ham, peppers, mushrooms, etc so no two are exactly the same) and loads of mozzarella cheese. Keeping with the traditional method, no sauce goes in them, but is served on the side for dipping. I used to make my own dough, but I have begun buying my pizza dough at Trader Joes (I know, I don't know how I would live without that store), and at $1.09 for a 16 ounce dough ball, it is too good to pass up. When my daughter and I recently made these, it was uncanny how they came out looking exactly the same, even though we each made our own they were filled differently on the inside. As fun to make as they are to eat.

As a side note, I would like to welcome my Russian readers. Thank you for discovering "Cooking with Alice" and now reading this blog as well.

Identical cousins, a kooky idea that was employed on numerous shows, Ann B. Davis as Alice/Emma on "The Brady Bunch", Carolyn Jones as Morticia/Melancholia on "The Addams Family", to name two. Now, what about  "I Dream of Jeannie"? Well,  it was Barbara Eden as Jeannie and her evil twin sister (also known as Jeannie because there was apparently a shortage of creativity on that set), although she also occasionally did have a cousin who caused trouble as well - that show had it all. But, when strictly speaking of identical cousins, the stand outs for me are of course "The Patty Duke Show" and "Bewitched." Both shared the same producers (as did Jeannie), who obviously thought doubles were such a good idea they used the technique over and over and over again. The difference was that Patty Duke's overall premise was two identical cousins, Patty Lane from New York, and Cathy Lane from Scotland. Bewitched, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, had Samantha (the good witch) only occasionally bothered by Serena (the bad witch).  My husband's cousin had a baby and named her Serena and my first reaction was "who would name their child after the evil cousin on "Bewitched"?! Nevertheless, the gimmick remains the same: one with blonde hair, one with dark hair, highlighting the yin and the yang between the two look alike characters, and asking the viewers to suspend all common sense that it could actually happen. Yet, as a child, I was mesmerized by the "technology" that allowed Patty, Elizabeth, Barbara, Carolyn and Ann B.to be in the same room with themselves. And when Serena would show up, cleverly "disguise" herself as Samantha, and cause trouble for Darren when he had an important advertising account that Larry Tate was counting on, boy was that comedy.  Patty Duke, however, wins for best theme song with lyrics, describing the cousins identities as follows: "Where Cathy adores a minuet, the Ballet Russes, and crepe suzette, our Patty loves to rock and roll, a hot dog makes her lose control -- what a wild duet! Still, they're cousins, identical cousins and you'll find, they laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike -you can lose your mind, when cousins are two of a kind". A hot dog makes her lose control, that cracks me up. For the record, my cousin Kathy does not even remotely resemble me.

The Recipe:

16 oz. pizza dough, cut in half
Mozzarella cheese
Salami/Pepperoni/Ham/Peppers/Mushrooms/Pineapple (whatever strikes your fancy)
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz. of tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface (I have a most excellent bread board that I use) and cut in half. Set aside one half and punch down the other, lifting and stretching it into a thin circle. Fill with cheese/meat/veggies and fold over, sealing edges by pressing with a fork. Repeat with second dough piece. Brush each with the egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and the cheese begins to ooze. Serves two, whether you look alike or not.