Mom's Bake At Home Pizza Brings Magic to Your House

Mom’s Bake At Home Pizza is an experience—a good one.  Mom’s brings experiences into your home that a standard takeout or delivery pizza parlor cannot—the magic of participating in the creation of dinner and the sweet yeasty aroma of a fresh baked pizza that will fill your home and linger even after the pie has been consumed. 

Making pizza dough at home takes time and planning.  And, not every home cook is comfortable turning yeast, flour, water and salt into dough.   If you are one of the few who is, after you mix and knead the dough it needs to be refrigerated so that it can rest for twenty-four hours for the flour to fully hydrate.  Next you bring your dough to room temperature and throw or toss it to obtain the desired elasticity which is no easy task (we make lots of home pizzas and while my husband can toss quite well I find it more than a touch challenging).  Finally you have to assemble your pie—sauce, toppings—and maneuver it into your oven while hopefully maintaining its characteristic circle form—no doubt a peel and pizza stone are assets in this process. 

I am pleased to announce that thanks to Mom’s you can bake pizza at home and reap the magic and aroma without need of advance planning or jazzy pizza making tools. 

I walked into Mom’s in Chestnut Hill (there are 8 other locations spanning 4 counties in PA and there is even a NJ location) on a week day evening with the confused look of a novice.  Though during my time at Mom’s there was a steady stream of customers—always a good sign—the staff did not skip a beat and were more than happy to accommodate all of my questions and to guide me through the process. 

One of very few suggestions that I would throw into the wish-list pot is that it would be helpful to have clearer signage listing the menu.  Had it not been for the happy and helpful staff behind the counter it would not have been overtly clear to me that I could choose between white, whole wheat, whole grain or gluten-free crust.  This is a serious benefit and one which I have yet to encounter in another local pizza parlor—scream it from the roof tops.

It was also through conversation—this time with Barb Gunning the owner—that I learned about a new product, Ruby & Pearl’s homemade rolls  located in a freezer case behind me as I stood at the counter (I know all the product placement folks are cringing).  I also learned that Mom’s wings are roasted, not fried (a plus in my book), and gluten free!  They were serving 10 to an order the day I came in.  Another major benefit to customers and something that I have never seen at another parlor is that if the size of the wings happens to be small you get more—no loss of value at the whim of a poultry farmer.

I may have walked in confused but I walked out in the know, carrying 3 pies, 4 homemade rolls, 10 wings and a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough!  My anticipation was palpable and the drive home seemed forever. 

In addition to my desire to thank Mom’s for magic and bottle worthy scents my sincerest gratitude is given for the priceless expressions of joy painted across my children’s faces when they learned that we were going to be baking the pizzas at our house—thanks too to the inventor of the oven light.

In they went—all 3 pies (perhaps something that Mom’s would not recommend but I had mouths to feed) and the wings.  Though we have the all the bells and whistles for making pizzas, I opted to use the foil liner provided by Mom’s.   One standard oven—top rack host to 16” white crust traditional cheese pizza  and a 10” multigrain crust adorned with one of their recommended combinations—BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, onions and sweet red peppers.  Second rack sufficient to accommodate a 10” gluten free crust pie with red sauce (you can also opt for white), cheese, artichokes and olives (this was a design-your-own option) and the wings.  Of note, Mom’s also has a medium pie size that rings in at 14”. 

Meanwhile, I had Ruby & Pearl’s going in the toaster oven—my choices—cheese steak, Reuben, BBQ chicken, and seafood.  They are only labeled with small stickers that read “CS,” “R,” “BBQ” or “S” so help may be needed in making your selections. 

You may be wondering by this point—how did it taste?  By no stretch of the imagination was Mom’s the best pizza I have ever had.  It was however better than most, and with all the added benefits well worth frequent return trips.  The instructions on the box recommended cooking the pie until the cheese began to brown.  It did and the added nuttiness of the browned bits was welcomed.  The crust did not have much elasticity but rather was of the crispier grease-free variety. 

I quite liked the whole grain crust—it was my favorite in fact—it was not heavy and dense as I expected it to be.  Quite the contrary it was light and airy and would make a perfectly able canvas to any topping combinations. I enjoyed their BBQ chicken suggestions—there was no shortage of sauce and it was sweet, smoky and tangy just as it should be.  The chicken was moist and the onions and peppers enhanced the finished product. 

I freely admit that I am not well versed in the gluten free realm.  That being said I thought the gluten free pie was tasty—it did of course sport my favorite choice of toppings.  Once baked the crust crisped up quite a bit and was a rather hard to bite along the edges.  It was not so good that I would personally choose it over their other options but altogether I was impressed and would love a celiac reader to chime in! 

The wings were meaty, moist, not-surprisingly-due-to-their-roasted-treatment non-greasy and well received by all—even my husband who was visibly distressed to learn that they were roasted.  Heat wise they were pitched as medium and medium they were. 

We enjoyed the homemade rolls too.  It would have been helpful to have received heating instructions for them however.  We did receive a business card but I had to fly by the seat of my pants on the heating—went with 350 degrees until they looked done.  They came frozen so this took 20 minutes or so.  My husband and I were both surprised to discover that the one that we though the least of going into this—Reuben—turned out to be our favorite.  I have got to say a Reuben in an eggroll wrapper is an unusual combination but don’t dis it until you try it—unusual, yes, but succulent and full of flavor.  The other 3 flavors were interesting too—the glory of the eggroll wrapper is that it really holds in moisture so everything was juicy and the flavors had marinating time so they presented well.  These 3 flavors were studded with red peppers too—fine by me but not everyone likes them. 

The finale, the chocolate chip cookies scored high marks in the aroma department but fell a bit flat in terms of taste.  My husband’s version is just so good that I fear I may not be a fair judge.  I have a serious sweet tooth however and out of 16 cookies I only ate one.  The kids loved them.

Pizza lovers of Chestnut Hill, swing by Mom’s on your way home from work, toss dinner into the oven, while your house is filling with the sweet smells of paradise don your jammies and fluff up the cushions on your couch—this is optimal movie night food so pick your top choice in your instant queue and enjoy.