Friday Night Pizza Night

Like many families, almost every Friday night we do pizza.  There once was a time when our pizza was accompanied by a pitcher of beer and good friends at a favorite sports bar.  These days, we eat in and our "cheers" includes clinks with 2 sippies.  Most weeks, my only contribution is preheating the oven while Andy and Charlotte work their magic, starting with Trader Joe's dough.  I don't remember exactly when their special tradition began, but it was early on-- we have home movies of Andy with Charlotte in the Baby Bjorn, dipping her footed jammies in sauce :)  And on a cold Friday night almost 14 months ago, they were hard at work in the kitchen when my water broke.  If I remember correctly in all the commotion, Charlotte's tears were due to the following concerns: 1) could they finish their pizza? 2) could she still watch Mama Mia before bed? and 3) what? "broke"?? ...In that order.

During the summer & early fall, our favorite pizzas are topped herbs and veggies from our garden.  The rest of the year is usually a mish mash of what's left of the week's produce.  Okay, there are also weeks when late work nights for Andy mean Jet's or a Hot & Ready pickup :)  But while the end result may differ, the excitement that mounts till Daddy walks through that door is always the same...

Prepping the crust...

  Hello HAM...we've missed you these past few Fridays of Lent!

2 minis ready to bake for Sha-Sha and Moo.  Andy selflessly makes the girls', then mine, and usually gets to his around 9pm after we've squeezed in baths & bedtime, and he's finished cutting up his 101 veggies (blech).

Patience.

Here we go.

and, of course, saving the best for last.