Culinary Adventure - Pizza

Homemade pizza using garden harvest

A couple of girlfriends and I got together to spend a little time together on Saturday afternoon.  Both of them are the types that "don't really cook" so I didn't mention that they were going to be integrally involved in helping make our meal come together.  I wanted them to see that it's not really as hard as they thought it was, and it can be a lot of fun and very satisfying to make a meal from scratch.  I had them walk with me through the garden and pick anything that was ripe that they might like to put on homemade pizza.  We harvested, basil, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach and supplemented with veggies and cheese that I had delivered during the week from Washington's Green Grocer.  A neighbor provided us with some garlic harvested from her garden, and I also had some pasta sauce I had canned from last year's harvest along with some store purchased sauce and pesto that I had prepared the week before.  I wanted them to see that you can use whatever you have on hand (or is ripe) and turn it into a great meal.  I prepped a pizza dough recipe from Jamie Oliver before they arrived, but you can just as easily use a prepared pizza dough from the grocery store to save time.  I really enjoyed watching them chop and arrange everything just so on the dough, making edible art.  I love to show people that they can be creative when they think they aren't.  

I hope they left feeling a little more connected to where their food comes from and feeling that they can make delicious, nutritious meals at home more often for themselves too.  

Thanks for reading!