pizza party

I don't like to host parties because 1) I'm not a very good planner (My friends and sisters pretty much planned my entire wedding) and 2) Our home is less than 500 sq feet. No Joke.

BUT, John and I wanted to have the high school ministry teachers over not only to hang out but also to thank them for all the love and support they showed the ministry and us personally.

We had a build your own pizza party! This was kind of tricky because the day was sooooo hot and we don't have an AC. Plus, if you're having the oven on at 500 degrees, it's like having a heater on. Also, only 2 pizzas could go in the oven at a time. People had to eat in shifts! Ha! In the end, it worked out. I made sure to have plenty of appetizers out so that people could munch while they waited for their turn.

Some simple caprese minis for the guests to munch on.

All the toppings out. We gave the option of barbeque sauce, pizza sauce or garlic oil (recipe from the Bratchers). Toppings: pineapples, basil, ham, prosciutto, mozzarella (slices and shredded), tomatoes, jalapenos, olives, onions, mushroom, chicken, pepperoni, and arugula. The salad got no lovin'. It was untouched at the end of the night.


John was amazing enough to stand in the hot kitchen and roll out the dough into perfectly flat pizza pies - my very own Papa John! It made for some super crispy and delicious crusts. We now have a life-time supply in our freezer.

I used this recipe here. No joke, it is called the Best Pizza Dough Ever. I don't know if it was the BEST EVER, but it makes for a great crispy crust. I've never made pizza before so I had no clue that the dough would quadruple in size because of the yeast!


This is how you cram 12 people in an itty bitty house. :)

I made creme brulee for dinner. But, it wasn't enough so we headed straight out for some Hawaiian Shave Ice at Teri Hawaii in Gardena. I didn't get too many pictures of the night... it's hard being a host and a photographer!

At the end of the night, Abe the Babe surprised us with another video. Like any other Abe video, I laughed and I cried. Here it is below.