Happy Anniversary to us!

Celebrating four years of marriage...

That was the best moment of my life.  I had finally married the most wonderfully handsome and loving man in the world in front of our entire HUGE families in my childhood church.  I cannot believe it has been four years since that awesome day.  Who knew that in only four years, we could already become the "Old Married Couple?"  That, we are.  Some people may celebrate their anniversaries with gifts, fancy dinners out or vacations, but we're a little more low key than that.  Matt took the day off from work, and I took a half day.  We spent the afternoon reading, watching the World Cup, playing cards, and sitting on the front porch watching a thunderstorm roll by.  The weather was the exact weather we had four years ago...hot, humid and thunderstorms! 

We knew that we'd make dinner together, and Matt suggested homemade pizzas on the grill...sounded great to me! I found a recipe for basic pizza dough on the food network website. Emeril Lagasse's Basic Pizza Dough recipe was so simple to make that I don't think I'll buy frozen pizza dough ever again.

Before Rising...

During Rising...

After Rising...

I don't know why but the science of rising dough always makes me laugh because I think of Alton Brown's explanation of yeast and how it works. I keep picturing the burping molecules.

As you can see, our pizza dough tossing skills leave a little to be desired.    We decided to make four different types of pizza so we could sample each.  Needless to say, we have plenty of leftovers now.

My first one had olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil.

Matt's first was a buffalo chicken pizza...BBQ sauce, roasted chicken, mozzarella, and garlic.

Matt's second had tomato sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and mozzarella.

My final pizza was plain...just tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.

We decided to try the pizzas on the grill.  I read somewhere that it makes it taste more like brick oven pizza.  It was a nice night out (after the thunderstorm passed) so we went for it.  We used our pizza stone instead of putting them directly on the grill...we weren't that confident in our pizza making skills to not make a mess!

The results were fantastic!  The dough was perfectly cooked.  I think we'll use the grill all the time now when we make pizza! 

How great does that dough look?! 

For dessert, I made some Black Forest Brownies from a mix my mom got us on clearance at Target last week.  My mom is super thoughtful and knows how much Matt loves brownies and cherries.  Finding a mix that combined both, she couldn't resist :)  I have to tell you, they were so fudgey and delicious!  I've become sort of a brownie snob since I started making Martha Stewart's Fudge brownies from her Baking Handbook, but these were great. 

Can you see the juicy sour cherries?  The combination was so unique and scrumptious.  If you find these at target, BUY THEM!

Anyway, it was a fun and relaxing anniversary...just the way we like it.  Matt broke the rules a little bit and bought me some flowers.  When I yelled at him, telling him he wasn't supposed to, he said, "Big Whoop.  I bought you flowers."  I thought it was a big whoop!  They are beautiful.  Thanks, Matt, for a wonderful day and a fun four years.  I love you!