DIY: SUMMERTIME GRILLED PIZZA

When we were in San Diego, Jeff & I tried a Margarita Pizza. We enjoyed the Margarita pizza so much, we decided to try to recreate it at home - but on the grill. After seeing a tip from a restauranteur on a local morning show who said to "grill the dough first"... we tried our first grilled pizza this past weekend and it was dee-lish!

Dough (We used Pillsbury Pizza Dough this time, but we'd like to try some others)

Fresh basil
Mozzarella cheese
Roma tomatoes

Mushrooms (not margarita, but we had & we like)

Fave pasta sauce - simmer to thicken

Jeff seasoned dough before it went on the grill - Garlic powder + flavored olive oil (EVOO). I pulled up a YouTube video on my laptop for Jeff to learn how to toss. We learned it's one hand open and one hand closed. (Here is the link to watch the video). He also rolled out dough a bit on a flour counter.

Before pacing dough on grill - CLEAN IT. After brushing off some charred pieced, wrap the brush with a cloth + olive oil. Jeff pre-heated the grill, but then turned off the two center burners. (The grill was already practically preheated when he got to it: Temp read 200+, just from the AZ sun!! The market umbrella helped give some shade while grilling.

Decorate your pizza! Have fun with toppings. We kept ours light & fresh with the roma tomatoes, mushrooms and basil. Again, only two outside burners were on of the 4 - they were on low. The pizza spatula from Goodwill (for only $2!) and pizza pan we had came in handy. (The pan was a great way to carry the pizza from the grill upstairs to the kitchen.) Cut into quarters and served with a little bit of balsamic drizzled on it.

 

Here's another grilled pizza I spotted in my thread on Facebook - from Details Magazine - grilled pizza - gotta try this one too! And my friend Lisa spotted a Grilled Lasagna to try too at Food Network.

 

Better Homes and Gardens | Weber

 Have you ever grilled a pizza? or lasagna?

LOVE this time of year - Time to get your grill on! Speaking of which, if you're in Chicago this weekend, Better Homes & Gardens + Weber are having a Chill & Grill Festival in Waveland Park ~ Lakeview. See details at BHG.com 

Thanks for stopping by! 

LINKING POST TO:

Home Stories A2Z - Tuesday Tips & Tutorials 

2011 ANNIVERSARY STAYCATION

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I took a break from project working and spent some time with the hubs for our anniversary. To save on the expense of going away (like we usually do for our anniversary) we did a staycation. Although we were home, we did get out to two nearby areas, which made it feel like we were away. Rather than do an expensive dinner in a crowded resturant Friday night, we did a delicious late lunch at a cool hotel resturant in Ft. Lauderdale called Steak954. We both did light fish dishes: I had an amazing Mahi-Mahi fish sandwich, which wasn't at all what I was expecting - from presentation to taste! It was cut into thirds, and served with freshly made potato chips, seasoned with sea salt. Jeff had two fish tacos, and we shared a well chilled Caesar salad with an amazing dressing and fresh parm shavings. We toasted our anniversary date with refreshing margaritas served in stemless glasses - they too were dee-lish - and so was the view...



Steak954 is located right on the beach at the sleek & modern W Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. After our meal, we took a little tour of the hotel...

I think Lady Gaga would really like these chairs!

Jellyfish wall featured at the inside dining area...

Lounge upstairs, just next to the lobby area.

That overhang suspended over the bar was made of all chain links...

In the Lobby...

Outside lounge area featured cool blue stripes...

a modern take on the ocean view, just around the corner.

Then we took a stroll down the Ft. Lauderdale Strip. We stopped at a place for more margaritas that were served in these HUGE glasses... so huge, we probably could have shared one...

Woops!



For our walk back up to the car, we walked along the shore. I don't know if it was the salty sea air or the Caribbean blues of the ocean, but before heading home, we pulled into an OLD movie theatre to see Pirates of the Caribbean. We're both Pirates fans, but not too much a fan of this version - we missed the rest of the cast.

Jeff doing his thing at the table...

 For the "rapture" on Saturday evening, we spent it at the Hollywood Hardrock Hotel & Casino where Jeff got to hit the tables (to try and win us our millions ya know) and we laughed ourselves silly from the comedy performance of Lewis Black.  When they dimmed the lights, the announcer said (in a deep voice) "Welcome to the Rapture!!"

Not wanting to go home right after the show, we walked around the Hardrock shops, pubs and clubs, sat at an outside bar, had a drink and did some people watching. Oh the sites we saw - including many girls wearing thi-high mini's or winter boots (and we're going into Summer??), while others seemed to scream "Yup. I'm a tourist!"

 Sunday we just did some grilling & chillaxing - Jeff read the paper, & napped, while I was clipping & organizing coupons - but to NO EXTREME! lol We also watched some on-demand shows, like Extreme Couponing, Dresscue Me, What Not To Wear and American Pickers... but that's a whole other post...

So even though we didn't pack-up and go to any destination, we made the best of what was around us and each other ;-)