Dinner with The Ence

Last night we had two of Andrew's really good friend over for dinner, Parker and Laci (Naylor) Ence.  

We made BBQ pizza- this time Hawaiian. 

It was soooo good. 

We finally remembered to take a picture of it before we cooked the toppings., but not when the pizza was completely cooked.  

Never tried BBQing pizza before?

Here is how we did it,

1st:  Pick up your Pizza Dough.    

I'm saying "pick up" as opposed to "make" pizza dough because we don't get much enjoyment out of slaving over "homemade dough."  We prefer to purchased the pizza dough from Papa Murphy's.  In the past we have also purchased dough from Litza's, but Papa Murphy's rolls out the dough for you and is slightly cheeper ($3 instead of $5).  

2nd:  Decide what kind of Pizza your are going to make.  

This was our fourth type of pizza we've tried on the BBQ, and it worked famously well.  We have also tried Margarita, BBQ chicken and Artichoke.  

3rd:  Grill one side of the pizza for five minutes, or until brown and crispy (see above picture). 

This step is necessary to ensure the dough gets cooked all the way.  Since it is not cooked in an oven where there is convectional heat, it needs a little extra time cooking before your put all the toppings on.  Also, to get amazing grill marks baste one side of the pizza dough and then place that side down on the BBQ to cook. Use medium high heat.   

4th:  Place the toppings on the grilled (cooked) side of the pizza. (See above picture).  

Be sure to not use too much sauce, the BBQ doesn't like that.

5th:  Cook the pizza.

This time baste the grill not the dough to ensure excellent grill marks.

Our pizza cookies for about 10-15 minutes depending on what kind of pizza we are making.   

Use medium high heat.    

Next time we do this i'll try to remember to take a picture of it when it is all cooked.    

Mom's Birthday Dinner

We had Mom over for her Birthday Dinner tonight.  

We made BBQ pizza on the BBQ.  

If you want to see how we did that, the recipe is here.  

Dinner with Davis's

Tonight we had Nicole and Jeff Davis over for Dinner.

I was great to catch up with them and see what's new if their life.  

We made Pizza on the BBQ and it was delicious.  

All things Valentines

This season I have really got into the spirit.  Who know I loved Valentines Day so much?  This is a post about "All Things Valentine" at the Yenchik Residence.

1st. Check out my latest printable "A True love Story Never Ends", I got this cute thing from eighteen25 {here}

 

2nd. My "love tree" from Persnickety Prints Blog {here}.  The addition I made used little close pin clips instead of string to attach the cards on.

I think the love tree goes nicely on my Valentines Table.  Complete with everything I love: a picture of Andrew and I, a red heart table runner from Norway and a picture of London. {sigh}   

... and last but not least.  My Valentines card for Andrew.  I think it is so fun, creative and clever.  I got the idea for it from The Dating Divas {here}

I went to Home Depot and found paint chip samples like "Chili Pepper," Firecracker," "Red Jalapeño" and "Roasted Pepper" and wrote over the top "Your Hot."

(oh come on, just embrace the cheesiness of Valentines for a second) 

As you can see i've been busy crafting away for the season.  Something I'm seeming to do more often now that I have a home to decorate.  Leave it to me to find the cutest, affordable, and easy crafts out there.

Happy Valentines Day!

Yenchik Craft Day

Last saturday the Yenchik family got together for a craft day at Grandma's.  It was amazing we were all there... except for Allyson (special shout-out to Allyson in Minnesota).  We made Christmas advent calendars out of Chinese Take-out boxes, ribbons, buttons, lots of tape and a hot glue gun. 

 

The original idea was to decorate a few random boxes (not all 25 mind you...) and spend time with the family.  

 Morgan. Andrew

But, Andrew being Andrew got very into this whole process and inspired everyone to go "above and beyond." seriously.... 

.

 Aunt Annett.

We pulled out Christmas buttons, and Nancy even brought her rivet maker.   

 Aunt Marty and Gale.

 Brianna.

 Mom Yenchik.

Grandma, Morgan. Andrew 

 Morgan. Andrew

Then, after we were all done decorating, we wanted to to fill our Chinese take-out boxes.  We decided beforehand to bring trinkets to share with everyone!  

 Aunt Marty and Mom Yenchik.

 Aunt Marty.

(... I was so excited to see what we would get to put in our boxes..)

 Robyn.

 (Brianna, Nancy, Mom Yenchik, and Aunt Marty all gather around the table putting our their trinkets)

 Check out the impressive spread...

I wish we had a picture of everyone that was at the event.  I would end my post with it going right 

HERE.

Andrew and I loved having our crafty pants on for the afternoon and having an excuse to made our home festive for the holidays.  

24 days till Christmas.... 

p.s. here it is in our house.

 The boxes waiting to be hung.

k-BAM

Pumpkin Steamer

Lately Andrew and I have been loving steamers and pumpkin flavored things.  Therefore, we decided to put the two together into a Pumpkin Flavored Steamer.   

Unfortunately it didn't taste as good at it looks, but we'll keep tweeking the recipe and then share it when its good.   

The first snow storm for Casita

Alright alright so this isn't the fist snow storm for our Casita, but it is the first snow storm with us in the Casita.

Doesn't it look beautiful?!?!

Andrew was very sweet and woke up early to go shovel the walks and warm up the car for the birthday party we are headed off too. Thanks Dad Yenchik for raising such a gentleman.