In theory, homemade pizza with heart-shaped pepperoni sounds like a sweet gesture on this saccharine-soaked holiday. As with matters of the heart, timing is everything, and pizza dough is no exception.

I first cemented the steps last year with much less sophisticated cutlery and no proper pan or pizza stone. But this year, I still found myself staring into the oven wondering why the crust wasn’t fully cooking all the way through after doubling the time listed on the directions.

It still tasted good, once you got past the fact that it required utensils. (Still beats crowded restaurants and overpriced holiday menus!)

If anyone has the answer to avoiding a soupy mess, please let me know. Potential culprits: too much sauce? Mushrooms?

Maybe I’ll get it right in 2015.