From the Editor’s Desk: No time for a gift like the present

Ideally, giving back to your community should be as streamlined into
your life as brushing your teeth. In many cases it is to a degree, as
our livelihoods are an inherent contribution. What we should all aspire
to is giving back the gift of our time, our most precious commodity,
freely and with purpose. This is why Canadian Pizza magazine has teamed
up with Saputo to introduce the first annual Saputo Pizza with Purpose
award.

Ideally, giving back to your community should be as streamlined into your life as brushing your teeth. In many cases it is to a degree, as our livelihoods are an inherent contribution. What we should all aspire to is giving back the gift of our time, our most precious commodity, freely and with purpose. This is why Canadian Pizza magazine has teamed up with Saputo to introduce the first annual Saputo Pizza with Purpose award.

This contest, being introduced in this edition, aims to recognize the efforts of peers amongst the pizzerias who are going above and beyond the call of duty to contribute. We are looking for fundraising activity, sponsorships, participation in community events and creative contributions. Think out-of-the-box. I know one businessman who trains seeing-eye dogs, which is completely unrelated to his profession, but his cause has become a passionate part of his company. Dogs might not be a fit for your operation, but you get the idea on how we can all begin to find a way to bring our own passions into the pizzeria.

Contributions can be local and only affect your community, or be national in scope. Or both. The winner won’t be determined solely on the amount of money raised. The winner will be chosen based on a culmination of activity over the whole year. Everything you do in 2009 counts and we want to hear about it. Your entry will be graded by a panel that includes experts on philanthropy as well as Saputo, who will be donating $2,500 to the winner to spend as they wish.

Candidates are self-nominated only, so if you would like to get in the running for this award, contact me at laiken@annexweb.com with a 100-word pitch on why you should be a candidate. After we have qualified your candidacy by checking that you meet the criteria of being an independent owner or franchisee, we will send you an application. Track your efforts right up until Dec. 31, 2009 and feel free to let us know how it’s going! We will be highlighting candidates throughout the year. Since everything you do this year counts, take until Feb. 8, 2010 to submit your final application to us detailing your year of giving back. The winner will be announced in March and featured in the April/May 2010 issue of Canadian Pizza magazine.

As we introduce our new contest, we are pleased to announce the results of our last competition – Chef of the Year. Congratulations to Tom Stankiewicz of Bondi’s Pizza in London, Ont., for taking top honours with his Pizza Calabria. Diana Coutu of Diana’s Gourmet Pizzeria in Winnipeg earned a runner-up spot with her Quattro Canadese Pizzas su Biga Pasta. Stephen Goddard of Pomodori, N.B., rounded out the top three with his Mushroom Marsala Pizza. The three highest scoring recipes were baked in the Annex test kitchen and voted on by a panel of tasters. This year we received more entries than ever before, and would like to thank all of you who entered. It was an exciting competition. You’ll find the top two recipes within the pages of this issue and the third finalist in the June edition. Enjoy!