Dinner was delicious

First we made the pizza dough. Both boys helped measure everything into the KitchenAid and watched, fascinated, while the dough hook worked itself round and round. Ryan checked the dough every ten minutes or so as it rose, just to see if it had gotten bigger. No pictures, as the boys were running around fast enough it all would have been a blur.

Next we made the sauce. Ryan decided that tomatoes from a can were acceptable, if not as good as the ones we could grow (smart boy!). We drained the juice from a can of whole tomatoes, added garlic, basil, salt & pepper and some olive oil, then used the stick blender to break it down a little. The noise was too loud, so Ryan went off to work on very important Lego structures. Came back in time to do a quality check.


Then it was time to grate the cheese. This turned out to be a group activity. Ryan got a step stool, then both boys climbed up and took turns grating away. They tried out all of the grater holes one by one, so the cheese ended up in many different sizes. Warmed my heart to see them working together so well :-)

Then we all mixed the cake batter. Ryan was fascinated with greasing the pan.

Lots of patting and stretching, and the dough was ready for sauce and cheese. Ryan spooned on the sauce, then we all sprinkled cheese on top. In the oven it went. Meanwhile, we put together the salad and Ryan tossed it very carefully with some dressing. Time for dinner! Not sure, but I think Ryan liked it.

After the pizza came out, the cake went in to bake while we ate. Ryan had told me exactly how he wanted it decorated: "I want the blackberries to go around the top in a circle, and some almonds in the middle." Not satisfied with this, he pulled out paper and drew the design he wanted, just to be sure I understood. He decided I should decorate the top, since this was a very important cake. Here it is, decorated under his careful supervision:

We all had a wonderful time, and I plan to do this much more regularly. Now, if we can get something besides pizza on the menu...