It's National Pizza Pie Day, So Let's Celebrate

Happy National Pizza Pie Day! Yep, today's the day we celebrate pizza and all its wonderful glory. Next to tacos, pizza is definitely my favorite food.

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Weird how National Pizza Pie Day falls in February when October is National Pizza Month, but whatever. It just means more days to celebrate what is possibly the world's favorite food.

I think back to being a kid and going to Pizza Hut with my family: the checkerboard table covers, the salad bar, the pitcher of soda. Life was so much simpler then, and maybe that's what pizza really symbolizes to me - a simple life when we actually ate as a family and talked to each other while we waited on our order to arrive to our table.

I remember laughter from my mom and dad and brother. And who can forget the look at that beautiful work of art as our pizza was being delivered by the waitress. I can clearly remember the sound of everybody's ooh's and ahh's as she put the pizza in the middle of our table. I couldn't wait to get my piece and take a bite.

I still get that same feeling when it's delivered to our house. Opening the box to check out the pizza is still one of my favorite, 'simplest things in life' to enjoy.

Being a kid and eating at Pizza Hut was a magical experience. One I will always remember and cherish.

As I've grown up and raised my own family, pizza has always been the emergency dinner plan when things get hectic, and 9 times outta 10 it's always received well. I credit that to the fact that pizza is the best comfort food out there for kids and adults of all ages. It's quick and easy and everybody loves it.

So in honor of National Pizza Pie Day, here are some fun facts about pizza courtesy of Picklman's Gourmet Café.

- Over 5-billion pizzas are sold all over the world each year – 3-billion of those are sold in the United States.
- Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices of pizza per second.
- 36-percent of those pizza slices are pepperoni slices, making pepperoni the number one choice among pizza toppings in the United States.
- Saturday night is the most popular night to eat pizza.

And a few more fun facts.

- According to American Business Lists, there are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.
- According to Pizza.com, the highest-grossing single-unit independent pizzeria in the nation, Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, is in Anchorage, Alaska. Their annual sales are approximately $6 million.

So celebrate National Pizza Pie Day with a slice of your favorite pizza!