Summer Pizza!

Happy Summer pizzablog readers! And a shout out to all the troops, past and present.

We had the best Memorial Day pizza night ever! Our second attempt of grilling a pizza was a complete success. Nice job, Jen. Here is a picture of our scrumptious grilled veggie pizza...

If you would like to recreate it, contact Jen or Katie. It looked hard.

The salad on the other hand, was simple and delicious.   To make it cut up endive and avacado.  Top with a dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, and dijon mustard.  It was the best salad I've had in a long time.  Maybe ever. 

Our Emily celebrated her big b-day last week! To celebrate, we indulged in a healthful dessert: strawberries and angel food cake with an optional topping of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I opted yes to both of the creams of course. Speaking of calories, we helped Bekah, our special Pizza Night guest, realize that wine is in fact not calorie free. Oh, if we were all that naive...

It was a big night because this is the first time the pizza girls have all been together for at least two or three weeks. Good times...

Here is the latest news in our lives: Emily is getting married in like two weeks, Molly loves her new niece, I am on summer vacation, Jen is living life 2012, Sam has an awesome garden, and Katie is obsessed with iphoneography. Here is a sample of a pic from our weekend in Breck.

I posted it on Facebook and it got a LOT of likes. I now have a new faith in the Facebook community that they are not only interested in the latest news about so and so's kid sleeping through the night, but they also like good pictures and are jealous that I get to see the beauty of the mountains each day. If you would like to continue to see Katie's picture-a-day, please check out her blog at:  Www.blipfoto.com/muchogusto

Okay, I didn't watch whole show (we were having too much fun outside), but we are loving Emily's season so far. First off, Emily is gorgeous, but we just can't seem to get past her fake teeth. They make her lips do funny things sometimes and they need a little bit of discoloration like the rest of the world's teeth. Look into it Em. Or use red wine as mouthwash or something.

We want to start a game of how many times Emily and the men discuss "being there for the right reasons". Let's start the game next week. My guess is it will be mentioned 8 times. Also, I feel like this season should be called "Ricki Tick Gets a New Father". Come on, they do NOT want to be a dads. They just hope they make it to the fantasy suite and would like to appear in as many US Weeklys as possible.

 

 

The group date was awesome. "Disgruntled housewife" as she was nicknamed by the group had some great quotes. "Do you work out" and "take your shirt off", were our favorites.

 

 

Poor Tony. I think Jen put it best when she said, "Emily doesn't want to be YOUR mom". Grow up a little, man. He actually took it well when Emily sent him on his way, but we aren't going to miss him and his whining.

Sadly, I don't know what else happened in the show. What were your favorite moments of the night?

The Nonni Pizza

We were inspired by The Nonni, a pizza at Lala's for tonight's creation.  Red sauce, spicy sausage, Peppadew peppers, roasted fennel, and cheese.  Don't know how to roast fennel or what Peppadew peppers?  Google it.

Good morning Pizzablog readers!  (To be read in that Robin Williams, 'Good morning Vietnam!' voice... read it again with the right voice.  Don't worry, we'll wait.)

Okay, let's get started on last night's episode... Emily and Riki's search for fame, uh, I mean love! 

First off, the two one on one dates:  As unrealistic as all the bungee jumping and Cirque de Soleil-ing are during the other seasons, I think I'm going to need some dates like that pretty soon so I don't die of boredom watching Emily make cookies and contribute to the obesity epidemic of the youth of America while she delivers them to Ricki's soccer team.  And a fancy hotel in West Virginia?  No offense to you West Virginia natives out there who read the blog, but I think I'd consider any date where you have to travel to West Virginia a fail.  That one was obviously doomed from the start.  However, didn't you find it interesting that we didn't get to see his limo confessional after he got the boot?  Does that mean he didn't say anything?  Or that he has a cold heart?  Or perhaps he knew he wasn't actually in love with her after only one date and was able to be realistic about his feelings of disappointment.  Well done gel-haired guy who didn't get the rose on Emily's West Virginia hotel date.

And now for the group date: The arrival of Miss Piggy and Kermit on The Bachelorette was met with just as much enthusiasm as each time Chris Harrison graces the screen.  It was an unexpected return to our childhood.  There was laughing, there was singing, we were mesmerized!  To quote Jen:  'Miss Piggy is really funny.'  Does that mean we're starved for good entertainment or is she really funny to the rest of you as well?  Please comment with your thoughts. 

Favorite moment of the night:  Ryan's 7 page letter that Emily read out loud while Tony stood by awkwardly and listened.  We thought it was never going to end, which I believe Emily thought as well.

Our faves:  Charlie is my number one.  I just think he's such a sweet and sincere guy.  I don't think Emily will be able to see him past all the six packs, gelled hair, and 7 page notes, so I don't expect him to win, but I still like him.  Arie (sp?) is another group favorite.  We think they have good chemistry and that he's quite nice to look at.  We'd love to continue to look at him for many more episodes.  Chris and Jef are her favorites though.  How does she like Jef?  He looks like he's 20 (which would be a normal age if this were The Bachelor, but these men are actually past puberty, unlike the adolescent girls they find for The Bachelor), and the hair?  Really Jef?  And what happened to the second 'f' in your name?  It has two 'f's. 

Pizzablog's burning questions:  Readers, we have so many thoughts that we're thinking and want to know the thoughts you're thinking as well.  Therefore, we have created a question and answer forum called: 'Pizzablog's Burning Questions'.  Read the questions below and answer them (as many or few as you would like) in the comments section.  We'd love to have a healthy debate or conversation going. 
  1.  Which pizzablog girl should be the next Bachelorette?  We think Jen would be outstanding (I mean, she has the same swimsuit as Emily!  She's practically the Bachelorette already!).
2.  Over the course of the next episode, how many times will Emily use the words 'single mom'?  We're going to start a tally.  Whoever has the right prediction will win a special pizzablog prize!
3.  Is Miss Piggy funny?
4.  Which bachelor do you like the best?  the least?  Who do you think is going to win?
5.  How long was Ryan's letter?
6.  What is the tattoo on Emily's wrist?  Special prize for anyone who can tell us.

And now for our last section, other news:  In other news,  I am starting a new hobby... photography!  I'm taking a photo a day for each day that I am 32.  I'm getting pretty creative too!  Thanks to my good friend Denielle, I am learning all the tricks of iphonography and I think they're not too bad.  Just imagine how good they'll be by the end of my 32nd year of life!  See photo: 

Allison and Erin, we hear you are loyal pizzablog readers!  Yay!  Our readership is up to 5!  One more and we'll have to start counting on 2 hands!

Sam has a big interview today!  Good luck!

Laurie got an exciting new job for next year!  She'll be the Jack of All Trades at her school.  Congrats!

Jen is embarking upon her quest to be the next Bachelorette.  She's already got the swim suit, what should she do next? 

Molly and Emily weren't with us this week.  Hopefully next week! 

Happy Memorial Day pizzablog readers!  See you in the comments section!

The First Episode of the Season Pizza!

We continue to post pictures of the pizza, but we know you're here for the commentary on the show.  Or that you're actually not here at all and only a figment of my imagination.  In my 'reality' tv show life, I have a major blog following and will soon get sponsors and live a life of leisure and blogging.

Good morning Pizzablog readers!  Our 'guest' blogger (who I am trying to convince to become full time... positive feedback for her in the comments section are greatly appreciated) once again has to work instead of watch someone else do her job, so she's taking the week off of blogging.  However, we couldn't leave you without our thoughts on the first show of the season! 

Let's just start with this:  Who has two thumbs and thinks that bringing an ostrich egg to the first night of The Bachelorette is a dumb idea?  This girl!  Who has two thumbs and thinks that it is environmentally irresponsible to fly in on a helicopter?  This girl!  Who has four thumbs and left pizza night before the show was over???  Just kidding... I won't rat out the girls who needed to go home and get their beauty sleep.  I mean, we're out there competing for men with Emily, we need all the beauty sleep we can get!  At least our teeth are better than hers.  Oh... that was mean.  Sorry...

So, readers... who are your favorites?  I like Charlie (he's the one who fell off the porch and had a traumatic brain injury, right?) and Ryan (although I think the personal trainer thing is going to get old) and I know she really likes Chris.  So those are my faves.  I don't think Charlie will make it far though, although he's probably the least douchey of all the guys there.

Who are your least favorites?  I really don't like the whiney guy who couldn't stop complaining about helicopter guy.  Every time helicopter guy walked into the room whiney guy would say they were talking about him.  Cat fight here we come!!!

My prediction on this season's twist:  The Bachelorette brings in 25 six year old boys to vie for Ricky-Tick's heart.  Now wouldn't that just top the list of most disturbing things ever done on national TV?  Come on Chris Harrison, make it happen!!!  

Who has two thumbs and is going to comment on your favorites and least favorites after the first episode?  YOU DO blog reader!  Can't wait to read your comments!  Whoever picks the winner gets their choice of a) a cake pop; b) a Katie's Kookie; or c) a high five.  

I choose Chris to win.  (I think...)

Dear Pizzablog readers (aka:  Lisa and Jen),

Next week is the big Emily/Ricki Tick Bachelorette Premiere!  We can barely wait for the new season and are working on creating our own “Fantasy Bachelorette” that you are welcome to participate in.  Pick your top three choices on the ABC bachelorette site http://abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelorette/bachelor-announcement before next Monday.  You will be earning points on your faves based on different criteria such as first to discuss the death of a parent/loved one, first one to cry, first to be in a hot tub with Emily, etc.  Maybe you can help us think of the categories as well.   Here is a bonus question for 500 points:   What do you think the biggest twist of the season is going to be?   Put your top three and the biggest twist in the comment section.  Come on people, you have nothing else to do!

I’ll give you some more updates on the lives of the pizza girls as well as some random facts until we have more pressing Bachelorette drama to discuss.  Oh, and there will be another contest in this post (very exciting). 

Happy Birthday week Katie!  We will be celebrating on the real day by dining on the patio of Carmine’s on Penn this Thursday to help ring in her 32^nd year of life.  It’s going to be a good one….

Katie has been extremely busy redecorating her Grant Street  condo.  Seriously she’s been to Hobby Lobby more in the past week than most people go all year.  That said, she has done well making the place look super cute and cozy.  My favorite addition would have to be the two trunks stacked in the corner.  Here is a picture.  They are both decorative and functional (lots of storage).  She might have a shopping addiction (omniomania), maybe for a birthday present we can get her some counseling. 

Auntie Molly gets to go to NYC this weekend to see the newest addition to the family, baby Gracie.   Enjoy cuddling with the little bundle of joy and take lots of pictures (we’ll post one next week).  You are going to love being an aunt!  She will be busy the next couple of weeks visiting Gracie and traveling to Mississippi (I think) for work. 

Molly and Emily are busy running a ton to get ready for the Boulder Boulder on Memorial Day.  Molly has been training so hard her toenail is getting ready to fall off.  Actually it was from ice climbing in Montana, but still, hard core. 

We celebrated Emily, the bride-to-be, on Sunday with our favorite kind of shower, eating brunch together (no games and one present).   The wedding is in a little over a month! 

Jen taught us an interesting fact about new methods in CPR.  Apparently you aren’t supposed to breathe in the victim’s mouth anymore, just make about 100 chest compressions per minute.  Even if you break some ribs.  Yikes!  I hope I never have to save someone’s life, but just in case, I’m going to be prepared.  Watch this short film to learn how:  http://handsonlycpr.org/.

Believe it or not Jen has ANOTHER pet peeve!  I thought we would make this into another contest for a spot at pizza night.   Lisa, if you win again, you not only get to come to pizza night, but you also get to pick the pizza!  Wow!  Here is the question:  What is Jen’s biggest driving related pet peeve?  Go. 

Like Katie, I have some goals of doing a little redecorating in my living room.  I have found two couches that I would like to have some opinions on.  Please let me know If you like couch #1:

Or couch #2: 

     

 

Sam never ceases to amaze me with her delicious fruit desserts.  She prepared a strawberry rhubarb pie for the birthday girl.  Yum!  She has also just gotten back from a fun weekend in St. Louis having a reunion with all her cruise ship amigos!

Now for the birthday girl’s pizza!  She requested BBQ, which is becoming a crowd pleaser I must say.  To make it you need to:   1)cook the dough 2) Mix together BBQ sauce, corn, chicken, and grilled onions in a bowl and spread on the dough 3) Sprinkle cheddar cheese (or the cheese of your choice) on top.

For next week:  Bring your own topping pizza! 

	deliziös (delicious in German, according to Google translate).

Good morning blog readers!  We are patiently awaiting the new season of Bachelorette (airing on May 14^th, 7 p.m. mountain time) starring Emily, and of course the adorable Ricki Tick.  Until then, we have to fill our Monday nights having real conversations about stuff. 

Here is an interesting list I found about all the failed (or failing, i.e. Ben and Courtney) relationships in Bachelor and Bachelorette history.  I guess we keep thinking there has to be another Trista and Ryan out there, so we continue to watch and are hoping for the best during Emily’s upcoming season J.  Maybe it happens once every 10 years.  It’s time. 

The Bachelorette

Season 1: Success! Trista Rehn picked Ryan Sutter and the couple has been married for seven years.
Season 2: Meredith Phillips and Ian McKee failed to make it past a year of being engaged.
Season 3: Jen Schefft and nobody. None of the guys on season 3 were worthy enough for Jen.
Season 4: DeAnna Pappas and Jesse Csincsak were engaged for four months before it ended.
Season 5: Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski lasted through a year of being engaged before splitting.
Season 6: Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez were engaged for 18 months.
Season 7: Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum were engaged on May 13, 2011 and are still together! (J.P. wasn't her first choice though - she fell for contestant Bentley Williams but he walked out on her in one of the final few episodes of the show)
Season 8: Emily Maynard and ?

The Bachelor

Season 1: Alex Michel and Amanda Marsh never got engaged and only dated for several months.
Season 2: Aaron Buerge and Helene Eksterowicz were engaged for two months before calling it quits.
Season 3: Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft were engaged for 10 months before splitting. Jen went on to star in The Bachelorette season 3 (see above).
Season 4: Bob Guiney and Estella Gardinier were together for less than a month.
Season 5: Jesse Palmer and Jessica Bowlin dated for under a month.
Season 6: Byron Velvick and Mary Delgado - Almost! They were engaged for five years before ending their relationship.
Season 7: Charlie O'Connell and Sarah Brice didnt' get engaged, but they did date for five years before splitting.
Season 8: Travis Lane Stork and Sarah Stone didn't make the half-year mark and get engaged, they split after only six months of dating.
Season 9: Prince Lorenzo Borghese and Jennifer Wilson: see season 8.
Season 10: Andy Baldwin and Tessa Horst were engaged for three months before the ring came off.
Season 11: Brad Womack fell for both DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft, but proposed to neither.
Season 12: Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas ended their engagement after five months.
Season 13: Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney - Jason actually proposed to Melissa Rycroft on the show's finale, but he had second thoughts during the reunion show and instead proposed to Melissa Rycroft. The couple have been married for four months.
Season 14: Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi split up after just a three-month engagement.
Season 15: Brad Womack and Emily Maynard struggled through six months of being engaged before giving in to the pressures and troubles.
Season 16: Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson

In other news: 

Our Emily’s bachelorette party was a hit.  There was lots of fun and woo-ing going on at Linger and Candlelight on Saturday night.  Less than 2 months until the “big day”!  

The always stylish Molly shared some great websites for discounted fashion and accessories.  Here they are: www.ruelala.com, www.ideeli.com, and www.gilt.com.  I can’t wait to spend more money on things I don’t need. 

Beinvenidos a los estados unidos Jen! We hope you had a wonderful time in the land of Mexico.  We’ll probably be jealous of your tan!  

Katie and I actually got a slight tan sitting out at the Park & Co patio on Sunday!  We are loving the fantastic summer-like weather that we’ve been having in Denver lately.  Here is a picture of us enjoying some prosecco.   Katie posted this photo on Facebook with her new iPhone (She can't stop talking about it, it's another one of her 'favorite things'.  How many favorite things can one person have, really?).  She has been puzzled by the fact that no one “liked” this picture while 20 people "liked" a post just before hers that said ‘Isaac peed in the potty!’.  Is our day of drinking in the sunshine 20 times less impressive than Isaac peeing in the potty?  Please help us understand this phenomenon. And like the photo!  We'll try to get at least 10 "likes".  Thanks for your help!

Now for the German pizza (sadly we didn't have a Sound of Music sing-a-long like we planned):   Here’s how to try it:  Cook the dough.  Spread a thin layer of apricot preserves as the base (sounds weird, but gives it a nice flavor).  Then sprinkle the grilled onions, sauerkraut and small pieces of bratwurst on top of the preserves.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Cook.  Add a little spicy mustard for dipping.  Yum!  It wasn’t the best pizza ever, but it’s always fun to try something new.  We would probably give it 3 ½ roses, or whatever icon you would suggest using for this post (I don’t know how to do that).

For next week:  Molly has offered to host the pizza girls!  We will have one of our favorite pizzas, bring your own topping.   We always get such interesting and delicious combinations.  


Congratulations to last week's contest winner for figuring out that alot is Jen's biggest grammar pet peeve!  Lisa wins a guest spot at pizza night the next time she's in town!  Yay!

Update!

Dear pizzablog readers (if you're out there),

This is Laurie, your guest blogger. Because I've taught my students everything they should know in first grade, I have a nothing to do. Just kidding, I have a student teacher who has taken over my class for a couple weeks. I thought I'd use all this free time for good and update you on the lives of the “Pizza Girls”. We've been busy doing all sorts of interesting things. I turned 33 on Tuesday. We celebrated by having dinner at a new restaurant (to us), Cuba Cuba. Yum!

Jen will be traveling to the land of Mexico this weekend with her companion Bekah. She won this all expense paid trip because she is such an awesome salesperson. Congratulations for selling stuff that we don’t understand. Also, it was brought to our attention that Jen has a grammar pet peeve. Your job, pizzablog readers, is to figure out what that pet peeve is. There is a repeated mistake that I have made in this post (probably more, but one intentionally). If you find out what the grammar pet peeve is, please comment and you'll win the contest. And for future reference, if you ever use this grammar mistake in an email to Jen, she will think you are so dumb, for real. So don’t do it people!

As you may know our Emily is getting married. We are so happy for her! Well, maybe we’re 95% happy and 5% jealous. Okay, it’s probably more like 70%/30%, but still, mostly, we are thrilled. This weekend we will all be celebrating the beautiful bachelorette by dining at Linger, the coolest new restaurant in the Highlands. If you hear some "woo girls" around town (a How I Met Your Mother phrase if you didn't know), it is probably us.

The world traveler, Sam, just returned from a fantastic trip to Costa Rica! Her dear friend got married in Manuel Antonio. Good choice Sam's friend. Sam has been to alot of countries in her short life. Can you guess how many? The winner of this contest will get something really cool.

Katie is busy being the best teacher in the world. Besides that, she is able to fit in some workouts (even though she has a labral tare) and a substantial amount of reading. She is so well read. Her latest book is titled Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs. Here are a few important facts she would like to share:

1) We should only spend about 51 seconds going #2 on the toilet.

2) We should always breathe through our noses because we have hair in our nostrils that filter out harmful bacteria.

Take a few minutes today reflecting on these fascinating facts. Here is a link to get your copy of the book (it got 5 star reviews, I’m totally reading it when I’m done with Mockingjay) http://www.amazon.com/Drop-Dead-Healthy-Humble-Perfection/dp/0743598768. Or just go to your public library and get it for free!

Sadly, our philanthropic Molly was unable to attend last night because she was at a Junior League function. We missed you Molly! I know she has been doing alot of running and signed up to run her first marathon in October (Emily and I will also be running with her)! Very exciting.

Oh, you might want to hear about the pizza! I feel a special bond to anything barbeque as I come from KC, one of the BBQ meccas of the US. Here is a link if you are interested in the history of Kansas City Barbeque http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City-style_barbecue. I believe that any BBQ lover would LOVE our version. Here’s how to make your own. Cook the dough. Add some BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's). Add some pulled chicken (or pork). Sprinkle on some cheddar cheese and corn. Bake. Serve with coleslaw or any other side dishes you might enjoy with BBQ. I love fried okra personally.

For next week: We had some riveting conversation about the Sound of Music and Helga (unrelated), and have been inspired to have a German themed pizza. This is big! It is difficult at this point in pizza night to experience a brand-new type of pizza since we have had alot! I’m sure a Sound of Music sing-a-long will be involved in the evening as well. We should try live streaming so you can be in on the fun!

Laurie's Birthday Pizza!

Happy Birthday Laurie! We hope you enjoyed your special request mint chocolate chocolate kookies!

Did you miss us? We've been busy travelling to foreign countries, running half marathons, and just being awesome. Sorry you've had to check the pizzablog repeatedly only to see the same old 'Lazy Pizza Night' post. We are lazy no more!!!

In the past month since you've last heard from us, Molly and Emily ran a half marathon, Jen, Laurie, and I travelled to Chile (and back!), and Sam has been to Costa Rica (well, she's there right now). Other things have happened too, but those are the most exciting. Also, according to US Weekly, Ben and Courtney moved in together. I'm not sure I believe that, but I do tend to believe most things I read in that magazine. I still don't think it'll work...

Okay, now for Laurie's birthday pizza: Put some red sauce on the base. Top with sliced tomatoes, artichokes, and mozzarella cheese. Bake and eat! Yum! Some spicy Italian meats and fresh basil would be a good addition too if you feel up for it.

Up Next: Barbecue pizza! We've been wanting to do this one for a while and haven't gotten around to it... next week there's no stopping us!

Tonight's birthday hat rating : (We actually didn't vote, but everyone seemed pretty happy with it.)