In Full Effect

Friday night was pizza night in full effect this weekend! First, a deliciously random shot of the work treats I made this week:

Inspired by Beth’s post this week about using Oreo cookies in lieu of chocolate chips, I decided to go for the Lazy Heather version and do it with cookie bars!  Basically I used the high altitude version of this recipe, but instead of the full amount of chips I added both chips and Oreos.  And, as always, the lazy version means decreasing the oven temp and smashing the dough into a 9 x 13 pan.  Because as much as I love to bake I just can’t (or won’t, one of the two) spend all night making individual cookies.  Not that my co-workers mind… 🙂

So where was I?  Oh yes, Friday night dinner.  Nate and I have, for the past 6 months or so, deemed Friday night pizza night.  So when we decided to get together with our friend Stephanie and her awesome boyfriend, Justin, we decided that we’d still stick with the pizza theme.  Enter Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria!  I started the night off right with a little apertif so to speak.  This is the Venetian Spritz (which, by the way, I was mocked for trying to say like a grown-up):

This was a great way to start the evening!  It had prosecco, orange liqueur, soda, and a twist of orange.  Light, and perfect for a hot summer night! Nate and I split the Insalata di Nemi, with arugula, romaine, strawberries, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and a light house balsamic vinaigrette:

If that salad doesn’t scream summer, then I don’t know what does. Perhaps this incredible pizza?!  Nate and I also decided to split the Manhattan pizza, which was phenomenal.  Basil pesto, mozzarella, limoncello chicken breast, red onion (which was shredded…consider my culinary life to be forever transformed), grape tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, and toasted pine nuts.  In a pine nutshell this was heaven on earth 🙂

Dinner was awesome, but the company is what made the night 🙂  I so wish that I had taken a picture of them so you guys could all see how cute they are!  I would have to say though, the highlight of the conversation had to have revolved around Justin’s new invention idea:  a utensil that would be better than a salad fork at picking up salad.  He believes that, rather using a technique to eating salad, you should be able to pick up pieces of the lettuce without having to hold them onto the fork with another item, i.e. cheese.  And so the ideas flowed forth:  tongs, a special ‘scooping’ fork, and so on.  However, the best funniest idea came from my husband:  a slap spoon.  Apparently one would take this utensil and slap the salad, at which point the salad would stick to said utensil and henceforth be lifted to the mouth by the diner.  Problem solved, right?

If that’s not award-winning, I don’t know what is. 🙂

Anyway, I always love to share these little stories with you guys…whether you like them or not, I don’t know, but it brings me joy to write about them!

And so, dear friends, I will be leaving you with this photo of me.  I guess I just figure that with my year blogiversary approaching in January (which is ONLY 4 months away?!) you guys should know more about the girl behind the blog.  Not that I don’t spill my guts out to you guys on a weekly basis, but I feel like you should know what I look like.  You know, just because or just in case you were wondering 🙂

What’s the best/funniest invention you’ve ever come up with (or that you’ve ever heard of)? I think the slapping salad spoon has got to be one of my favorites…I had to have burned around 20 bajillion calories laughing about that one!