Dearly Loved

 
 
This article is going to fall under the “family and fun” portion of all that I do here at Dearly Loved…so much fun, in fact, that I just had to share it with you!

My oldest recently graduated from 8th grade, and in my usual understated fashion, I threw a small get together. (Translated, overboard is stamped on my DNA!)

When we were talking over the food for his party, I gave Riley a few options. Now, this guy could survive solely on McDonald’s nuggets (notice I omitted the word chicken) and fries. But he also loves a good pizza; even more so now that he’s outgrown his dairy allergy. Since I wasn’t about to have catering a la the Golden Arches, a build-your-own pizza bar it was!

My first obstacle was figuring out the dough. I ended up buying a case of pizza dough from the snack bar at Sam’s Club, which was enough for eighty individual crusts. Plenty of dough without spending a lot of, well…dough.

Next, I needed to come up with ideas for toppings. I took to the internet and looked over menus at some of my family’s favorite pizza parlors. For an idea of what my shopping list looked like, click here.

On the day of the party, I pre-cooked each of the crusts to help speed up the baking time for the loaded pies. I stacked the crusts on red and white checkered parchment paper, which you can find here. Be sure your parchment is non-waxed, and you can bake your pizzas right on the paper during your party.

I set up an 8 x 10 frame with instructions on how to build-your-own pizza, which you can find here. Make sure there is a Sharpie nearby, so guests can sign their completed pies before baking.

 
Along with topping staples, such as pepperoni and plenty of grated mozzarella, I made up five custom pies, for anyone needing a little inspiration. I organized the pizza toppings around the suggested ingredients, and used 5 x7 acrylic frames to display my specialty pizza signs.

They’re available to use in the following links:

 

 
 
NACHO LIBRE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
HULA PIE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
LOADED BAKED POTATO
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
WESTERN BACON CHEESEBURGER
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
WHITE KNIGHT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Since your crusts have already been lightly cooked before guests arrived, cooking time for each of the personalized pies should be cut in half.

And there you have all the steps you’ll need to create this fun party at home. Enjoy!