"When the Moon Hits Your Eye......"

.."Like a Big Pizza Pie..."

 "That's Amore!"

I love Dean Martin...and homemade pizza....and my friends! A couple weekends ago, Isaac and I hosted an engagement party for Levi & Haley (In the first picture posted.) We are so happy for them, and excited for their wedding on August 18th. I was also very honored when Haley asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. 

 Rob & Megan with their masterpiece. 

 Isaac Meier  & his pie

I love fresh mozzarella! 

We were originally going to have a fancy-pantsy Italian themed dinner party for the couple, but we decided to "de-stuff" our party & have a fun-filled night of making pizza, drinking tons of vino, playing games & smoking cigars! We can save the proper parties for when we get older!

Isaac and I did all of the grocery shopping for the party Friday evening. We bought all kinds of toppings, including fresh sliced pepperoni, fresh basil, mozzarella, three kinds of sausage & all sorts of veggies. Yum!

Saturday morning I made 4 batches of dough & set the stage for the party.

 We covered our counters with paper & then I labeled all of the ingredients with chalk. 

 I love parties when the guests get to be involved!

 mmmm....cheese

I think I almost ate the entire role of fresh mozzarella

 Where guests rolled out their dough & got saucy!

Enjoying all of the prep work!

For dessert, I made cannoli. I made the filling and then we purchased the shells from Avaluttos, our favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Mission.

Preparing the cannoli filling. Yummy ricotta cheese, cream, powdered sugar, almond extract & mini chocolate chips. 

The bride-to-be assisting me with the cannoli filling. 

Congratulations, you crazy kids! We couldn't be more excited for you!


*In More Recent Happenings...*


Isaac is out of the house today studying at KU, so Benson & I have been hanging out together cleaning & meal planning. I can't wait to make all of the meals I have planned for this week. There are two recipes that I am quite excited to try:


http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/ooey-gooey-caramel-pumpkin-blondies-with-chocolate-and-walnuts/


I'll probably take these to work on Monday so I don't eat the entire pan!


http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/apple-peanut-butter-snack-bars/

These also looked pretty good & will give Isaac something to snack on when he's studying during test week. 


Also on the menu for the week: 
*Homemade Corn Dogs ( I Love the Pioneer Woman!)
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/appetizers-and-snacks/classic-corn-dogs-and-cheese-on-a-stick/
* Vermicelli
* A Big ol' pot of Chili (as requested by the husband!)


Looking forward to a great week of cooking!