When I started my senior year in high school I found that I was in need of some extra funds. I had just met a new girl and I wanted to hang out with her more and more. The problem is that girls take money, so I set off in search of a job. I put in an application at a local food restaurant called Sweet Mama’s, but I didn’t expect to get a reply because they already had a full staff. It is a local favorite andis well known for its baked goods. Every day they make a variety of fresh pastries, cookies, and pork pops. Pork pops are Sweet mama's specialty. Eating just a few of the bite-sized mixtures of cheese, sausage, and flaky bread puts any day off to a great start.
Sweet Mamas selection of food midway through a morning rush. It normally contains muffins, danishes, doughnuts, slices of cake, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, and nearly any cookie imaginable.
The bakers arrive at 3 am every morning to start preparing the dough and begin baking. By 6 am, the doors are opened and the employees are greeted by a wave of warm, hungry customers. Nearly everyone stops by on his or her way to school or work. I know that you aren’t supposed to start off your morning with cookies, but I can’t even begin to tell you how often I did. Many times as I was driving to school I would stop by and kick off my morning with warm, gooey chocolate-chip cookies and a side of pork pops. They also serve a glass of sweet tea that just can’t be beaten. Customers, such as myself, continue to pour into the restaurant until closing time at 3 pm.
The owner and my future boss, dubbed “Boomer” by the locals, was looking to further expand his hours of operation except with a twist; Sweet mama’s would now be open for dinner and would be serving pizza. A week after I put my application, in I got a call from my previous employer, Mike. I had worked for him at Pizza Inn during my sophomore year in high school until they ran out of business. Boomer had hired him to run the pizza department at Sweet Mama’s and he recommended me as an employee to Boomer. I was ecstatic. Not only did I get a source of income so that I could take my soon-to-be girlfriend on dates, but my best friends John and Charlie had both gotten jobs there as well. I was the luckiest guy on earth.
A frontal view of the main entrance to Sweet Mamas. The pizza department is just to the right.
I started work a few days later, and it felt like fate that I was there. Sweet Mama’s had been my favorite restaurant since I was a kid, and now I was working here doing something that was new to its history. It was a joy to work there with my best friends, and a joy to make pizza. As we worked, we would compete to see who could make the tastiest looking pizza, or who could roll one the fastest. As fun as this was, the real joys came with our break. Every night, Mike allowed us to make a pizza to split between the three of us, and it was then that I truly fell in love with pizza.
While we worked, we would pass the time by fantasizing about what sort of toppings we wanted on our pizza that night. This normally took us awhile because the three of us all have different tastes. Sometimes we would have to divide the pizza into thirds and each go our own route. This could get tricky, especially if each third of the pizza had a different type of sauce on it because they would all start to run together. However, most of the time we found a pizza that sounded appetizing to all three of us. Once we did, we would take pride as we made our pizza with confectionary perfection. When the pizza was on its way out of the oven, we would crowd around it in excitement to see if it had turned out the way we planned. Usually it did. We would then cut it and commence its destruction.
On one occasion we decided to do it big. This was going to be the best pizza that any of us had ever made, or tasted. One special thing about Sweet Mama’s is that it also has some of the best BBQ in the area. This means that we are able to put special BBQ meats as toppings on the pizza if a guest requests them. Fortunately for us, few of the customers knew this, and we often had extra. This is the stuff we wanted! We selected some of the finest pieces of pulled pork that had been roasting overnight. They were filled with flavor and juice, and we couldn’t help but sample a few of them before putting them on the pizza. We complemented the succulent pulled pork with pieces of bacon—not bacon bits. After adding bacon, we sprinkled diced onions over the top and a garnish of cheddar cheese. For the finishing touches, we lathered the crusts with butter, and lightly added hot sauce across the entirety of the pizza. This last part may sound questionable, but it compliments the pulled pork well. The spiciness cooks out of the pizza and we are left only with the delicious seasoning that it gives. When our masterpiece came out of the over, it looked perfect and we all took a bite out of heaven.
This is the actual pizza we ate that day.
I can honestly say that those days were some of the happiest days of my life. There is nothing better than working hard to achieve something with your friends and then reaping the rewards as a team. Making and eating pizza brought us closer together as friends, and I think that we all began to think of ourselves more as brothers. The food at Sweet Mama’s has significantly impacted my life because it taught me to work together as a team. Most importantly, it enabled us to share in our hard work and enjoy the benefits together. I will never forget the impact it has had on my life, or the joys that I experienced while working there.
"Image note: All images were photographed by myself. While they my not look "professional" they are definitely authentic.
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