So anyway, this really doesn't have anything to do with anything whatsoever, I'm just explaining why I drove up to Huntington today. Or at least part of the reason why. The other reason why was to visit my best friend, Shelby.
Shelby and I have known each other for around ten years, but we really didn't become friends until about eight years ago when we worked together as cashiers at Tower Foodfair, a family-owned grocery store in Barboursville. We were rather mischievous together when we worked there, and had an exceptionally fun time being partners in crime. It was then that we became close and the rest is history, as they say. She's been there for me without any judgments and nothing but a shoulder to cry on and kind words of advice through thick and thin. You know how they say people have soul mates? I don't think there's really just one kind of soul mate. Yes, I believe my husband is my soul mate and I love him very much in a passionate, romantic kind of way. But Shelby is just a different kind of soul mate to me, and the type of bond we have is like no other bond I've ever experienced and I know that I won't ever find that kind of friendship with anyone else. I'm very, very blessed to have someone like her in my life.
So I met up with Shelby at our old stomping ground, Tower Foodfair, and we went in search of some good food for her to cook me. Every time I come up for a visit, she likes to cook for me with all her fancy little Pampered Chef gadgets. And she's one hell of a great cook, too. We like a lot of the same foods, so tonight we agreed on a veggie pizza. How in the world can you ever go wrong with pizza? We went super, super simple, by just using a refrigerated pizza crust (they're already dairy-free), a can of ready-made pizza sauce, and green and red peppers and Shelby baked it on her stone pizza pan from Pampered Chef. Like I said, super simple. And that kind of pure simplicity is delicious. Obviously, you can get all kinds of different vegetables and really make a complex pizza. Zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, you name it, you can put it on a veggie pizza. We didn't even bother using vegan cheese (a family-owned grocery store in a small town wouldn't have that, of course, but I was surprised that they had a good selection of Morningstar Farms products).
Pampered Chef's Pizza Stone
A really good-sounding idea I had was to roll out the pizza dough and use a glass to cut out a bunch of small round pieces and make mini-pizzas. I was thinking that sounds like a really good appetizer. If you're having a dinner party or something, you could always put different toppings out in pretty glass bowls and let your guests pick out what vegetables they want and customize them.
Alright, so this veggie pizza doesn't look anything like the one Shelby made tonight, but it does look pretty yummy, that's for sure.
Another really yummy thing Shelby made me was a wonderful grown-up beverage. It had one part Jeremiah Weed sweet tea vodka, one part Sprite, and a splash of lemon juice. It was so refreshing and it definitely didn't have any kind of liquor-y aftertaste. It just tasted like fresh-brewed sweet tea with a splash of lemon and some fizziness to it. Yum!!!
So all in all, it was a perfect day because I got to enjoy some really delicious food and a terrific drink, and the company of a truly great friend. What's better than that?
This one's an oldie (but a goodie).
