Board Games and Mini Pizzas

Roomy and I had a gaggle of friends over last weekend for a board game night. We played Taboo and Mad Gab and Roomy's new favorite, Quelf.

Quelf was really good for my friends (and especially Roomy) because it's not really competitive.  The description states that Quelf "gives random a new name," and that is certainly accurate!  There are quiz cards and category cards, but the best are the action cards.  My personal favorite actions from game night included having to toast "to ancient times and distant music" every time we drank and when one of my friends had to pretend he was a cowboy riding an ostrich around a beached whale, giving a monologue.  Hilarity ensued!

Of course, it would not have been a womanly party at my house without food.  A while ago, I saw this caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza made by my hero, Pioneer Woman.  I knew it needed to be in my mouth!  It gave me a brilliant idea for party food, mini pizzas!  I knew most of my friends would not be interested in high-brow toppings, like caramelized onions, so I provided lots of different topping options and let people make their own pizzas.

I was so proud of my whimsical tags!  I don't think Roomy thought I was as cute as I thought I was, but she was secretly pretty impressed.

I was leery of Pioneer Woman's dough because there was no kneading involved and in a trial run, her crust turned out really average.  It killed me to do it and it felt like a betrayal, but I went with Alton Brown's Pizza Crust.  I'm glad I did because it turned out great.  (I'm sorry, PW, can you ever forgive me for not being in love with everything you do?)

Would you forgive me if I tell you that this pizza was just about perfect?  The balance of the sweet and salty, the flavor of both parmesan and mozzarella cheese....Delectable!

Chips and Salsa

My womanly knitting friends asked me to stop baking for knitting nights.  I think they enjoyed the baked goods a little too much and it was not good for the snugness of their pants.  That's what I'm telling myself any way.

This week, I decided to switch things up a little and make one of my favorite snacks that I'm really good at convincing myself is healthy: homemade chips and salsa.

When Roomy and I did a Daniel Fast, we discovered the greatness of making our own tortilla chips.  We cut regular corn tortillas in quarters, sprinkle them with vegetable oil and salt and bake them in a single layer on a cookie sheet at 350°.  I never set a timer; I just bake them until I can smell them, usually about 12 minutes.  This method occasionally leads to trays of burnt chips, but it works out around here because burnt ones are Roomy's favorites.

Why I like making my own chips: 1) They are delicious! 2) The crunch factor!  They are thicker and crunchier than say Tostitos. 3) They are baked, not fried. 4) I have total control of how much salt and oil go on them. 5) Because they're thick, they hold up well under the mountain of salsa I pile on top.

Why I don't like making my own chips: 1) It takes quite a while.  I usually spend most of an afternoon rotating cookie sheets of chips in and out of the oven. 2) The crunch factor!  I literally chipped a tooth on one of these babies.

I'll admit that I'm a total salsa snob! I generally hate store bought salsa and won't even go near Pace or it's jarred buddies.  I make pico de gallo often, but in the winter, it scares me.  Pico de gallo is so easily ruined by unripe or overripe tomatoes.  Thank goodness my hero, Pioneer Woman, has a salsa recipe made with canned tomatoes to help a girl out!  This recipe is amazing!  (Was there ever any doubt?)  Roomy declared that it's the only salsa she ever wants to eat again!

It turned out great!  (Please note that this picture is Almost Womanly because my chips are in an aluminum bowl because I'm seriously lacking in the adorable serving bowl department and both bowls are sitting on the carpet in my living room to catch the light.)

I also enjoyed making PW's salsa because I got to use one of my best friends in the kitchen, my super old, cracked almost on it's last legs food processor.  I inherited it from my step mom, the chef.  Unlike most people, when I moved out of my parents house and into my first apartment, I had a fully stocked kitchen, thanks to hand-me-downs like this!