Pizza! Pizza Pie!
Welcome to my Cooking Club Post!
It happened to be Pizza night ( 3 years ago--oh my!) because Paul got a brand new pizza oven. One that goes right on top of his Webber Grill.
It was a small group of Cooking Clubbers, but some very serious ones.
See how all the guys are making sure Paul is using his pizza oven correctly?
All kidding aside, it was a fun evening of reminiscing and visiting.
I've always thought that having people over to dinner and breaking bread together (we always have bread! This time in the form of pizza crust) is kind of sacred in it's way. Connecting with friends over food is one of the greatest joys in life.
This past year has been a crazy one for getting together---
---Pizza Night was 3 years ago.
---and then we had 6 more Cooking Clubs. (I will post soon, I promise)
--Covid hit and we met no more.
--until November 2020
--where Sally said "I'll never more take for granted the pleasure of small talk with friends over a good meal"
So, when I say that we had a fun evening of visiting, that is nothing to scoff at or take for granted.
Friends and food are important!
Just this afternoon a text was going around, trying to find time to get together for another cooking club get-together. It's hard to do.
Half of this group is retired now and as April pointed out
Retired People tend to run a muck!!
They really do! and it makes me happy and sad at the same time.
Pizza is important too!
See some of our homemade pizza's below.
This one was made in the oven--not the pizza oven. I can't remember why exactly. It's been three years! LOL.
This was my appetizer pizza.
The veggie bars with the crescent roll crust? I just made it into a pizza shape.
The only photo of our dessert brownie pizza slices! Almost covered with ice-cream.
And a good carrot cookie.
Made with love by April.
Let's go back to the beginning for a minute--
Before their guests (all of us) arrived, Sally and Paul were busy with this:
And once we got there--- they did this:
Paul is going to give it his best shot!
Ta Dah!!
Before we ate, we enjoyed a cocktail on the deck--then it got too cold to eat outside so we ventured inside.
Where Debbie quickly put the finishing touches on her grilled romaine salad.
Where we ate and reminisced about old pizza parlors and then had to tell our spouses favorite pizza and see if we got it correct.
Spoiler alert!
We all did. We know our partners well.
We all remembered having "homemade" pizza like this when we were growing up in the 60's and 70's.
It all came out of a box! We were lucky if our mom's could find some sliced pepperoni to put on top.
So...table talk was remembering Shakey's Pizza Parlor. All of us had memories of it --the dark parlor with a fireplace and long tables. They had big windows where you could watch the pizza makers putting everything together and then slide it into that oven. It was so cool!
We all loved Shakey's.
Those of us from the Pacific Northwest all knew and loved Pizza Pete Pizza. And Godfather's Pizza was another one we all remembered.
Now those were good pizzas!
Everyone's favorite pizza?
Our spouses guessed right!
Paul--anchovies
Sally- bee sting prosciutto jalapenos and honey
Charlie -- Canadian bacon and pineapple and pepperoni (he's indecisive his wife says--but he agreed)
Deb E -- Canadian bacon and pineapple
Rich--pepperoni black olives and mushrooms
me/Debbie-- chicken Thai pizza
Doug -- pepperoni and extra cheese
April --pepperoni and extra cheese
I always find it interesting when couples like the exact same thing. Rich and I NEVER do. Never ever.
Later table talk started being about foods we would or wouldn't eat (it IS a food themed club after all). Who would eat snails? Or worms? Or insects?
Well guess what? Sally served us a cocktail that was very good! Very good.
Very . Good.
This liquor was colored by an insect up until 2006! LOL
We all got a good laugh over that.
Campari is often used in cocktails and is commonly served with soda water or citrus juice, or with prosecco as a spritz. It is produced by the Alfredo Campari Group, a multi-national company based in Italy.
History
Campari was invented in 1860 by Gaspare Campari in Novara, Italy. It was originally coloured with carmine dye, derived from crushed cochineal insects, which gave the drink its distinctive red colour. In 2006, Gruppo Campari ceased using carmine in its production.[1]
In 1904, Campari's first production plant was opened in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan, Italy. The company required bars that bought Campari to display the Campari Bitters sign. Under the direction of Davide Campari, Gaspare's son, the company began to export the beverage, first to Nice in the heart of the French Riviera, then overseas. The Campari brand is now distributed in over 190 countries.
In the Italian market, Campari mixed with soda water is sold in individual bottles as Campari Soda (10% alcohol by volume). Campari Soda is packaged in a distinctive bottle that was designed by Fortunato Depero in 1932.
Campari is an essential ingredient in the classic Negroni cocktail, the Garibaldi cocktail, the Americano (which was named at a time when few Americans were aware of Campari), and the spritz (an aperitif popular in northern Italy).
It was the best Cooking Club ever!
(except for our missing friends)
It was a great evening with the best friends ever!
And these cooking club meals were all good too... just click on the link to see.
Cooking Club #1 -Meals your mom used to make
Cooking Club #2- Cajun Cooking
Cooking Club #3 - Let's all go to Hawaii
Cooking Club #4 - American Regional Cooking --Great Lakes Region, featuring: SUPPER CLUBS!
Cooking Club #5 - Famous Chefs (long post with other stuff mixed in, but just trust me)
Cooking Club #6 -Meatball Madness -- or something round (long post combined with Famous Chef's. Scroll thru some stuff to get there)
Cooking Club #7 - Breakfast for dinner
Cooking Club #8 - Slow Cooking
Cooking Club #9 - Mexican Street Food
Cooking Club #10- Your Christmas Cookie Heritage
Cooking Club #11 - Cooking from labels/back of box, can, or carton
Cooking Club #12 - It's all Greek to Me!
Cooking Club #13 - A Root Beer Tasting Holiday
Cooking Club #14 - Thai Food
Coming Soon -- Pacific Northwest Region
Cooking Club Scavenger Hunt
Milk Street Mania
9x13 cooking
Jewish Deli Night
Italian Dinner
Happy Eating Everybody!
See you next time.
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