Grilled Pizza Tutorial....

......courtesy of Lyndsay and Dan!

After kayaking on the Cape last weekend we headed to L + D's house for hugs, kisses, and pizza!
We realized we had not seen them since the wedding!
Wow...they are Mr. and Mrs...the wedding still seems like a dream day.

But..on to pizza.


Step One....prepare the grill.
Dan uses coals, not gas.
Me...I like gas. No, Jim, not that kind.
Ahem.

Dan has an oily (canola) rag to rub his (cast iron..nice..jealous of that) grill to make sure the dough won't stick.
Very important step.
Also, notice the mise en place in the foreground.
That's en francais for "everything in place".
All the toppings for the pizza are cut and ready to pile on.
Very important when things cook quickly.
Wine for the photographer is equally important.
Step Two.....Prepare the dough.
Lyndsay and Dan make the dough in their bread machine (jealous, again) and it is lovely and pliable.
Lyndsay rolls it out on their counter until it is uniform thickness.
She rubs the dough with flour, making sure it is not sticky.

Step Three...Onto the hot grill.
The dough is quickly placed on the grill, smoothing out the edges.

A rapt audience is always highly recommended.

Close the grill for a few moments, telling jokes while you wait.

hahahhahahhahahahhahha

Step Four...the flip.Dough is ready to flip..carefully...it's hot.
Tongs are recommended.

oooo...perfect...love those grill marks.

Step Five....toppings.
As soon as the dough is flipped, pile on the toppings.

Barbecue sauce on first...

Spread it around...

Add more toppings...veggies..chicken, cheese.

Step Six....Close lid for a bit until cheese melts.

Step Seven...slice.

Dan is using this really cool Pizza Man slicer.
Makes quick work of those pizza pies.

Step Seven.....even more toppings.

Oh, yeah..Yum is right.

Thanks L and D...you guys are pizza Gods!!!!

My guy

My guy is handsome! My guy makes me laugh every day. My guy does dishes, vacuums, dusts and does laundry. Yup, he does. My guy even washes floors. My guy loves his 3 kids with his whole heart. My guy got up in the middle of the night many times when our kids were little. My guy is caring, considerate and thoughtful. My guy brings me roses :) My guy does not let me hold the remote...lol (ok, he's not perfect!) My guy moves from "his" chair to the loveseat just to sit next to me and rub my feet. My guy knows when I am upset with one glance. My guy gets up early on weekends to make coffee for us. My guy knows exactly how to calm me. My guy still makes my heart go pitter patter. My guy makes pizza. Awesome pizza. My guy treats my mom like she is his mom. My guy writes me a love note every morning before he leaves for work. My guy has been my best friend for 36 years. And he is all mine.
Love you, my guy.
Happy 31st Anniversary.

Pictures of an Everday Life

As a follow up to my Hooray for the Everyday post, I am posting some pictures of my day yesterday...nothing remarkable...but, still, I am ever so grateful for my everyday life.

Yesterday, I:
1. Packaged up some forgotten items to mail to Taylor...
2. Filled out forms and wrote out a check for a nursing conference next month.

3. Did about 4 loads of laundry...

4. Drove to the post office to mail the package...

5. Did some baking and cooking, and kitchen organizing...

6. Read a few pages of this recent book that is fascinating me...

7. Went to the gym for a workout..

8. Came home, had dinner, and settled down on the couch with my honey for a DVR treat.

A lovely ordinary day.
How was your everday life?

The Island

We headed to the Cape yesterday, with two agenda's.
First (most important): Hug daughter, son in law, and daughter's mother in law.
Second: Explore a new kayaking spot on this beautiful day.
(Washburn Island)

We put in at Edward's Boat Landing, and headed down the Child's River.
Although bright and sunny, it was quite windy...probably left over from Hurricane Earl, who probably felt embarrassed that he turned into such a wimp by the time he arrived at the Cape.
Kayaking against the wind AND against the tide coming in
made for slow going as we headed south.
But we enjoyed looking at the cottages and homes along the river, each of which had boats tied out front.

The bigger the house, the bigger the boat that was tied to their wharf.



It was comfortably warm in the sun, despite the wind.
(Probably because we were getting quite a workout with our arms, paddling hard to keep from standing still)

We reached Washburn Island about 30 min later, right after several waves decided to wash into our kayak as we pulled up to the beach.....lol.
But, necessity is the mother of invention, and after dumping out most of the water, we used my sweatshirt to sop up the rest.

Mikko was thrilled with all the smells of the seaweed,
and spent the next 15 min rolling around in it.

Meanwhile, we sat and soaked up the rays, drying out our very wet bottoms :0)

The waves and wind had washed up tons of shells, including this (very much alive) scallop.

Jim drew me an anniversary valentine in the sand...aww.
Yup, 31 years married this week.<3

Mikko was very perturbed that the water was NOT drinkable.
She couldn't quite figure that out.

So she went back to exploring seaweed, shells, and crabs.

Time to head out...

It was MUCH easier paddling on the way back..the tide and the wind were with us.

Up next: Hugs and kisses.

Hooray

One of my favorite blogs had a great post today...you can read Ali's blog here.

Ali's recurrent theme over many months and years she has been writing (both on her blog, scrapbooking entries, journal entries and books) is to
CELEBRATE the EVERYDAY.
Not celebrating just special moments, like birthdays and holidays, but celebrating the everyday journey.

Exactly what my friend Gayle wrote about on her blog recently.

For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:
"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. "

What provoked the blog post today for Ali was getting this
IKEA catalog cover
in the mail recently.
This catalog also happens to be sitting on my beside table.

So I thought, like Ali, I would write about the everyday moments I am celebrating today:

Hooray for alternate Fridays when my hubby works from home.
Hooray for my 3 children who are all incredible kids who work hard at doing the right thing.
Hooray for fall flowers still blooming in my garden.
Hooray for breakfast at our local little restaurant 5 min from our house.
Hooray for jeans that have been worn just enough to be soft and slide on easily.
Hooray for end of the summer soft serve ice cream cones.
Hooray for corn on the cob and tomatoes off the vine.
Hooray for peaceful kayak trips.
Hooray for long weekends.
Hooray for days and nights spent with family and friends enjoying the sweet summer evenings.
Hooray for unexpected checks in the mail.
Hooray for good books that keep you up way too late at night.
Hooray for a furry little dog that also tries hard to do the right thing, and usually succeeds.
Hooray for little Mason jars that hold my end of the summer blooms.
Hooray for email, texting, and, yes, even Facebook that keeps me connected to my children, friends, and family.
Hooray for laughing, and crying uncontrollably, because they both offer a welcome release.
Hooray for my little window air conditioners, who keep chugging along and make us happy on these way too hot days.
Hooray for our house that we live in, where lots of love and life has happened,
despite the fact that it needs painting. (and cleaning.)
Hooray for my everyday life.

Music of the Night

Once we had Taylor comfortably settled into her dorm room on move in day last week, we headed back to meet up with Jimmy and Liza.

It was time.

Time to chill out with 2 favorite cousins and listen to an awesome band.
Time to tap our feet and play imaginary drums with our hands.
Time for quiet conversation of the adult kind.

We headed over the causeway to South Hero from Burlington.
The temperature was perfect..chilly enough for jackets, but not too cold.



South Hero is one of the small towns on Grand Isle, one of the Champlain Islands.
(Click on map to make larger)
Jim and I and the kids camped on Grand Isle about 15 years ago
at this VT State Park....click here.


We were headed to Snow Farm Winery, a picturesque vineyard who just happens to have fabulous outdoor concerts all summer in an idyllic setting.

As we parked our car in a big field, we could hear the band starting.

And we quickly settled in for an amazing treat...
The band was called Dirt Road,
a group of four talented, awesome musicians.

They were all friends of Liza and Jimmy's, which made it even better.
We even got to go "backstage" after the concert and meet the band!
LOL

The night was magical.

The setting could not have been more peaceful.

We even got to see a rainbow :0)

We shared food and drink and lots of laughs.

About midway thru the concert, Liza and I meandered our way into the tasting room to sample some of the Snow Farm Winery varietals.

Cheers.

As the sun fell, the colors were incredible.

And the band played on....

Thanks, Dirt Road.
And special thanks to Liza and Jim for
everything.