Pizza Club

Everybody wants to be in pizza club. So last night was pizza night. I have to make the disclaimer up front that I did not make my own pizza dough. I bought it at the grocery store. I've actually looked many times for raw pizza dough at my store, and never found it. Well, I finally discovered it in the bakery section. At last! Now its not that pizza dough is particularly hard to make. Its actually quite easy using the dough hook on my KitchenAid. And I have a great recipe I use from Alton Brown. But on a weeknight I just don't have the time to wait for dough to rise. So I think buying the uncooked dough is a pretty good alternative to those already cooked crusts that don't really have the taste and texture of pizza at all.

I started by patting out the dough into a rough circle.

Then brushed it with olive oil and topped it with thin slices of fresh mozzarella and crumbles of goat cheese.



Then some slices of fresh tomato.

And roasted eggplant and onions.

Then the whole think got a coating of grated parmesan.

And into the a 500º oven on a hot pizza stone.



It only took about 10 minutes to get nice and crispy. But I had to check the bottom to make sure.

Not much better than homemade pizza!


Except maybe homemade pizza with a glass of wine...


I have to throw out a BIG thank you to all the lovely folks in my department at work for throwing an adorable group shower for me and 4 other people who are currently engaged. The first girl is getting married next weekend, kicking off a year of weddings in our department. Our friends put on a lovely surprise brunch on Thursday (disguised as a mandatory HR meeting that us shaking in our boots a bit!) with lots of delicious food and of course, champagne. Lovely Lindsay made the cutest cupcakes.

She molded these chocolate brides and groom by hand and even added the little bouquets and hair. Too cute! I'm saving my bride - I just can't bear to eat her. Special thanks to my girls Lisa and Holly who played a big role in the planning. They'll be joining us with some other friends on the Cape tomorrow. I can't wait to get back to the beach!