When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie. . That's Amore!

Raynes Pre-baked Pizza Pie, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

For Rayne's Birthday we had a "make your own pizza" night as well as an outdoor movie, The Godfather. It was lovely. Like I said in a previous post, birthdays this year are going to be on a much smaller scale, still wonderful, but not as grandiose. And this was just that, intimate, delicious, and still very special.

Make your own pizza night made me realize just how much I love cooking with people, and not just for them. Everyone was in the kitchen kneading, rolling, saucing, sprinkling toppings and baking. All drinking sparkling apple wine with raspberries and lemon zest, talking, playing and laughing together.

And the pizza itself was AMAZING! Quite possibly the greatest pizza I've ever had. I cheated, and bought dough from Fairhaven Pizza located just down the street. I love their whole wheat crust, but our pizzas were better than any I've had there. If you want to hold your own "make your own pizza night" might I suggest you buy your pizza crust (makes things easier), and as far as toppings go here are some suggesstions (what we had):

- sliced shitake
- caramelized onion
- kalamata olives
- red onion
- white onion
- fresh basil
- spicy italian sausage
- asiago
- dubliner cheese
- feta
- marinated artichoke hearts
- fresh mini mozorella balls
- avocado (not good)
- shrimp (also, not good)
- green onion
- garlic (both roasted, and fresh)
- tomato
- red pepper
- orange pepper

I think that's all of it, and it was truly fantastic.
I highly recommend cooking with people sometimes as opposed to cooking for them, or being cooked for. It really brings everyone together, and was absolutely perfect for a birthday celebration.