Back in the good old days, Friday night meant the end of the school week and a date with a boyfriend, or a night out with friends. The words Friday night always evoked some degree of excitement.

A lot has changed since those days, but Friday nights still make me happy.

The school week has morphed into the work week, and Friday night is still something to look forward to. Dates in Boothbay Harbor, after a certain age, aren't all that forthcoming. But that's fine. I'm tired on Friday night. It's a good night to relax, have a Manhattan (OK, the Manhattan thing isn't limited to just Friday night) watch a few episodes of my latest favorite series on Netflix streaming, and cook up something special for dinner.

Friday night is often pizza night at my house.

There are lots of theories as to the true origin of pizza. Pizza-like foods, flatbreads with different toppings, originated in Greece. But most agree that the first pizza, as we know it today — a crust, covered with a tomato sauce and cheese — was in Naples, Italy in 1889, when a baker, Raffaele Esposito, made what he called a pizza for Queen Margherita. Legend has it that the pizza was made to represent the Italian flag, with red tomato sauce, white mozzarella and green basil. Thus the pizza became known as “pizza Margherita.”

Around 1905 Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzera in the U.S., in New York City. Now there are more than 70,000 pizzerias in the U.S.

There are some decent pizza joints in and around Boothbay Harbor, and a lot of people order out, but I've always preferred to make my own.

First, as my friends know, I'm cheap. It's cheaper to make my own pizza than order out. And mine is really as good as most of the pizza joints. Sometimes better. At least in my own mind.

I don't make my own dough. Why bother when I can get fresh Portland Pie dough at Hannaford. As you may have gathered if you've read any of my columns, you know that I love good food, and I love to cook, so if the Portland Pie dough wasn't great, I'd make my own.

Beth O’Connor, who owns Abigail’s Bed & Breakfast in Camden, isn’t lazy. She makes her own, using Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast mixed with 3/4 cup lukewarm water, 2 cups flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. After mixing in a stand mixer for three or four minutes, she covers it and lets it rise for an hour.

Once you have the dough, making your own pizza is really pretty simple. But there are a few things I've learned over the solo Friday nights that make for a better pizza.

First – preheat the oven. The hotter the better. 550 degrees is not too hot. Some pizza ovens heat up to 1,000 degrees. Seriously. Pay attention. A hot oven equals an awesome pizza.

Let the dough warm to room temperature. You can even warm it up for a minute (or less) in the oven. If you try to press it out cold it won't respond. Bad dough!

Once the dough is easily pliable, stretch it and pull it a little then lay it on a pan, or hot pizza stone, sprinkled with some cornmeal to prevent sticking. Flatten and press it to the desired shape, dribble with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, and place in the center of the hot oven.

Bake just the crust for a couple minutes. This keeps it from absorbing too much liquid from sauce and vegetables, and it will be a crisper pizza.

Take the crust out of the oven and dribble a little more olive oil if desired, then spread tomato sauce. There are plenty of good sauces you can get in a jar — I like to make my own. Simply saute some garlic in olive oil, throw in some crushed tomatoes, and stir. You can add oregano, basil and fresh ground pepper, but simple is always good.

Then mozzarella. Grated or fresh. I prefer fresh, but the grated is fine. As little or as much as you like. It's your pizza.

Then the toppings. There’s an endless list. You want four or five? Go ahead. But as stated in my last column, about sandwiches — if manners maketh man, bread maketh sandwich — the same applies to pizza crust. If the crust is good, and I have some decent olive oil, sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese (and a Manhattan, of course) I'm happy.

If you're new to making your own pizza, start with a simple Margherita. Dough, sauce, olive oil, mozzarella and some fresh basil is all you’ll need. And a hot oven.

Cooking time, of course, is dependent on the temperature of your oven. At 500 degrees, check after eight or nine minutes. It might take 12. Just take it out when it looks good — the crust is brown in places and the sauce is bubbling up through the melted white/golden brown mozzarella. It's your pizza. Cook as little or as long as you like.

Or go to your favorite pizzeria and buy one. I remember a Friday night in the ’70s. It was a first date. Ronnie ordered a pizza from Red’s, a pizza joint in Sanford, Maine. I waited in the car while he went in to pick it up. Ronnie was nervous, being a first date and all, and I think he was trying to be cool. He came back to the car carrying the large pizza under one arm, sideways. To his credit, he was embarrassed. But it was my last date with him.

Disclaimer: I'm not a chef. I lay no claim to being an authority on food or cooking. I'm a good cook, and a lover of good food. And I know how to spell and put a sentence together. This column is simply meant to be fun, and hopefully inspiring. So to anyone reading this whose hackles are raised because you know more about the subject of food than I, relax. I believe you.

For more of Suzi’s food stories click here.