I am not very adventurous with my pizza. I tend to like to stick to the basics–tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni, onions. I just love “regular” pizza so much that I don’t often mess with it.
But, every once in a while, a pizza concept comes along that makes me veer off course for a bit. When I suck it up and try something new, I’ve rarely been disappointed. When I saw this shaved asparagus pizza, I bookmarked it for later consideration. And when we were in need of an easy meal for dinner last weekend, this fit the bill.
I really like asparagus, but I am picky when it comes to cheeses. Luckily, this pizza uses good ol’ mozzarella as a base, and flavor is added with little dollops of a spreadable garlic and herb cheese, which I can handle just fine. Combine those two cheeses with asparagus and you’ve got yourself the full ingredient list. It’s THAT easy, assuming you have some pizza dough lying around. :)
This is a perfect summer pizza. Add this one to the list of things to make on an evening when it’s cool enough to turn on the oven!
Shaved Asparagus Pizza
(Source: Annie’s Eats)
Ingredients:
– 1 recipe your favorite pizza dough
– olive oil, for brushing
– 8 oz. asparagus spears
– 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
– 3 oz. spreadable garlic herb cheese (we used Boursin)
– kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the surface of the dough with olive oil.
2. Cut the tough woody stems off the ends of the asparagus spears. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the spears into ribbons. (It will seem like a lot of asparagus, but use more ribbons than you think you need because it will cook down in the oven.)
3. Place the sliced mozzarella over the pizza dough in an even layer. Pile the asparagus shavings over the top of the mozzarella. Dot the surface of the pizza with the garlic herb cheese. Season with kosher salt and pepper.
4. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Dear Nora,
By leaps and bounds. That is how much you have changed this month. I look back at the last few weeks and I can’t believe how many new things you have picked up in that time. You’ve now been outside the womb as long as you were in. It’s pretty amazing to think about!
You babble a lot these days, and you’ve just recently started with the consonant sounds. You started with ba-ba-ba, and now you have moved to da-da. That’s a thrill for Daddy, even though you don’t seem to be using that sound to refer to him in any way. And I’ll admit that I’ve been working overtime trying to teach you ma-ma. (I can’t help myself.) You’ve also made some wa-wa sounds. I can’t wait to see how much more your language develops in the coming weeks.
You are so smart. You continue to figure out how your toys work, and you manipulate them purposefully. We plop you down with a few toys and you go to town with them. I remember the days when I was so anxious and excited to see you learn how to play, and well, you know how now.
Up until a few weeks back, you would rarely bear weight on your legs and feet. If we tried to stand you up in our laps, a table, or the floor, your knees would buckle and you’d make it clear that all you really wanted to do was sit down. It never concerned me until you hit eight months old, and then I started to worry a bit. Sure enough, though—right when I began to worry, you decided that you were ready to do it. Now, you’ll hang on to your crib ledge or the couch and stand there all by yourself (with us closely spotting you, of course). I think this is a skill that you’ll continue to perfect this month.
Although you don’t seem anywhere near walking, you do seem to be pretty close to crawling. You are getting around quite well these days, although I couldn’t pinpoint any one method of doing so. You scooch, you roll, you try to crawl and end up moving backwards. You have suddenly become an expert and rotating yourself 360 degrees—both in a sitting position and lying down (on belly or back).
You reach for things you want–like REALLY reach. You stretch as far as you possible can. You grab magnets off of the refrigerator when I carry you past it. You reach toward the floor when you want to be put down.
Another new skill? Feeding yourself. You’re eating small pieces of food now, not just purees. Right around eight months, you suddenly started loving puffs. Prior to that, you always made faces when we tried them with you, and spit them out a lot of times. Now, you gobble them up like it is your job. You love grabbing handfuls with your tiny hands and shoving them into your wide-open mouth.
You’re also eating small chunks of soft fruit—bananas, for instance. We tried watermelon with you over Memorial Day weekend, but so far you seemed to not care for the consistency. We will try again. You’re also feeding yourself cheddar cheese shreds and love those. Last week, I gave you tiny pieces of a pumpkin muffin and you loved that, too. We’ve also introduced you to yogurt, which you eat with no problem. I’m glad you like it, because I don’t and have always wished that I did. We will continue to try new foods with you in the coming weeks—even though you STILL don’t have any teeth!
Nine months down with the breastfeeding; three months ‘til goal! I have no problems continuing to nurse you, but I am admittedly SO READY to get rid of the pump. I am looking forward to the day when I can pack that thing away. Well, at least that’s how I feel now. We’ll see what happens when the end is really here. I can’t believe how close we’re getting.
A cool milestone this month: Baby’s First Passport. We took you to apply for it about four weeks ago, and it came in the mail the other day. I gotta say: There is nothing cuter than seeing your full name and picture on a U.S. Passport. Before your 10-month birthday, you will make your first trip out of the country—I’ll be sure to tell you about that later!
Today, we installed your first “big girl” car seat in my car. It’s getting really hard for me to lug you around in the infant seat, so we decided to make the switch. It was sad for me to pull your infant seat base out of my car, though. I remember installing it when I was pregnant, and it seems like it couldn’t possibly have been nine or ten months ago. You’re growing so quickly! We’ll be purchasing another convertible car seat for Daddy’s car very soon, and ditching the infant seat altogether. So sad!
We haven’t had your nine-month well-baby doctor’s visit yet, so I’m not sure what your stats are—but I’m guessing you’re probably a little under 16 pounds? We’ll find out in about a week or so. I’m really curious to see how long you are.
You pretty much never let me rock you to sleep anymore. You don’t even really snuggle on my shoulder or anything anymore, either. That’s probably the thing I miss most, to be honest. But I know how lucky we are that you go into your crib wide awake and go to sleep on your own. I do hope that the “no snuggle” thing is just a phase, though. I always loved how you would rest your head on my shoulder while we rocked for a few minutes before bed.
You are such a happy baby. You’re content to sit and watch the world around you. You smile with your tongue sticking out between your gums; it is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
We bought a house a couple of weeks ago! We’re moving in August. We can’t wait to give you the bigger bedroom, more play space, and backyard that we’ve been wanting for you. It’s all for you, my little angel. We hope that it will be the house that you will grow up in.
Every day is a joy. When I look at you, I am still often struck by the feeling, “I can’t believe she is ours.” You’re amazing, and I thank God every day for the precious gift that is your life.
All my love,
Mommy
(You know, the one who keeps saying “MA-MA. MA-MA” to you. Throw me a bone, here!)
If things had gone according to plan, I would be in New York City tonight. IF they had gone according to plan.
They didn’t.
I was supposed to fly out at 6:00 a.m. this morning for a conference all day, then half day Saturday and be back home before dinner. Short trip, but a part of me was still dreading it for one reason: I didn’t want to be away from my girl! I’ve never been away from Nora overnight before, and I’m not sure I’m ready!
Last night, I was preparing to go to bed before my super early alarm, and I decided to print out my boarding pass so I could bypass the ticket counter in the morning. Well, thank goodness I checked, because when I got to the page and entered my confirmation number, I was informed that my flight was cancelled. Interesting.
I called Jet Blue right away to see what the deal was, and I soon found out that my flight was cancelled due to… weather. 8+ hours in advance. Weird. And try as they might have, they could not get me rebooked on any flight before 5:00 p.m. tonight. Considering Day 1 of the conference would be over by then, that news effectively made the trip pointless for me. I cancelled the reservation, got a refund, and went to bed.
This morning, instead of getting up at 3:30 a.m., I got up at normal time. I got to see my girl. And I turned on the Today Show to find… absolutely beautiful weather in NYC. And upon checking, every other 6:00 a.m. flight (different airlines) to JFK took off on time. And my flight was the only one that Jet Blue had cancelled.
Bastards! If this had been a vacation, I would’ve blown a gasket. Yet I found myself calm about the situation, because, well, there were too many “pros” to staying home.
Am I disappointed about missing the conference? Sure. Would it have been nice to make a quick trip to NYC? Yes.
But I got to drop off and pick up Nora from daycare today. I got to play with her and feed her and read to her. I got to put her to bed. I get to spend the entirety of my weekend at home with my little family. So, in the end, who can be mad about that?
The “first night away from baby” milestone will have to be saved for another time.
I’m so relieved.
The past two days, we’ve been negotiating the terms of our contract with the sellers of our new house, based on the inspection report.
This morning, we got their counter-offer to our initial requests. And, well, our heads nearly exploded.
I might’ve freaked out on our realtor and I might’ve dropped off Nora at daycare in tears. (Tears were mine. Not hers.) If this process doesn’t end up taking 10 years off my life, I will be shocked.
I could tell you all of the details, but it would take forever and most of you would probably find it to be extremely boring, so I’ll just say that there are no MAJOR flaws with the house. No dealbreakers, anyway. Still, we were tempted more than a few times today to tell the sellers where to shove their offer and walk.
First, there are a dozen or so little nitpicky, “nuisance” items that are for us to take care of on our own over the years we’ll live there. (And believe me, we are going to be living there FOREVER, because OHMYGOD we are never, EVER doing this again. Feel free to remind me of that if we ever get a wild hair and start discussing moving. Just say NO.)
There were also a few bigger things, things that were deemed officially “defective” by our inspector. So, we picked our top three priority things and sent them over to the seller, requesting that they address them. One of the things was addressed right away. Another thing was discussed, and determined to be OK (although we essentially had to concede without REALLY knowing for sure that it’s OK). And with the third thing, well, the sellers decided to be assholes.
After long, drawn-out drama during which we argued with our realtor and sought several “sight unseen” estimates from electrician friends and acquaintances, we went back to the sellers and we ultimately got our way–at least on this one thing.
THANK GOODNESS.
There is not a single part of this process that has been “easy.” It is unbelievable. I might be crazy, but I think that we have MAYBE paid our dues by now. I am praying to the real estate gods that they will send us a FREAKING BUYER for our place now. Amen.
These days, Nora is figuring out how stuff works.
Every morning (and sometimes in the evening), she turns the music/lights toy on in her crib. She often uses her feet. She knows exactly where the button is and what it does. She kicks it repeatedly, turning it on and off. On and off.
The wheels in her head are turning constantly. Her brain is a sponge. It’s really an amazing thing to witness.
Last week, I was playing with her on the floor. We were playing with her ball popper, which we brought out and started to play with a few weeks ago. She used to just grab the balls off the track, hold them, play with them, stick them in her mouth. But last week, I saw her put the ball back in the track. It was the first time I had seen her do it, but it seemed purposeful. So we continued playing, and then… she did it again. And again. Now, she does it like it’s no big thing. She still grabs the balls out of the track to play with them, but when she’s done, she puts them back. She knows how it works.
After observing for a minute or so, we went back to making dinner, ate it, and got Nora ready for bed. As I was rocking/nursing Nora in her room, Michael was cleaning up the toys in the living room. I suddenly heard him bust out laughing, and I called out, “What?” He soon brought me a photo to show me.
The dessert wouldn’t roll down the track, so… she put it down the vertical chute (where the balls normally pop out). It fit perfectly.
My child is a genius.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
