New pizza bike holds pop-up picnics for charity

An Ottawa woman is throwing wood-fired, pedal-powered pizza parties in Ottawa this summer to raise money for a local food bank.

Lyn Elliott has set up a trailer with all the gear needed to make small pizzas, which can be towed behind her bicycle.

Throughout the summer she'll be posting the locations of her pop-up pizza parties on her Twitter and Instagram accounts for anyone who wants to come.

"People can bring their favourite toppings, I'll bring the dough, and we'll see what happens," she said.

The first location hasn't been announced yet.

'A great way to meet people'

Elliott told Ottawa Morning's Hallie Cotnam Tuesday that she used her portable stove for informal pizza potlucks last year.

"I noticed it's a great way to meet people and get to know your neighbours," she said. "So what if we did invite all the neighbours and see who we get to meet and build some community?"

She was able to build the trailer after getting a $1,000 grant from Awesome Ottawa, which doles out funding to projects promoting community development, the arts or anything generally awesome.

The rest of the money will go toward making dough.

The pizza will be free with a suggested donation to the Parkdale Food Centre's food bank.

"One of my good friends, when she was a single mom in her 20s, really counted on a food bank in Thunder Bay to feed her daughters," Elliott explained. "[That's] when I found out what people are food insecure actually need: not necessarily canned peas, but cash donations so they can get what they want."

The process

Need some inspiration?

Ottawa Morning asked listeners for recipe suggestions during Tuesday's show, and here are some of them:

And Elliott's choice...