A very adult pizza party

Last night I was treated to a lovely little weeknight dinner party. It was a thank you dinner for helping friends move. And thank me they did! I love having dinner parties. And I think the best kind of dinner parties are super casual. Everyone is much more relaxed and stress free. But that doesn't mean the food can't still be gourmet. Last nights meal was definitely relaxed gourmet. For a starter (to be enjoyed in the kitchen while prepping dinner) we snacked on a couple of delicious cheeses. (I could have eaten just the cheese for dinner and been thrilled!). The three of us happily sat in the kitchen, chatting away while he made beautiful flat bread pizzas and she made a lovely salad and peach crisp. Dinner was gorgeous! Hearty, rustic and simple. To me these are the BEST kinds of meals. And I must give credit to the chefs, those pizzas had some fantastically fancy toppings: roasted egg plant and peppers, carmalized onions, pancetta, artichoke hearts, and goat cheese... oh the goat cheese... Whoever first thought to put goat cheese on pizza is a genius! Everything we ate was incredible.

My only job for the dinner was to bring the wine. Now I definitely LOVE wine. But I'm by NO means an expert. I have a vague understanding/knowledge of what wines to pair with what foods. Since I knew we'd be having fancy pizza for dinner, I decided on red. My cousin had introduced me to the wonderful world of California Zinfandels earlier in this year. Sadly, the LCBO I went to did not have the one I usually buy. It's called Fetzer. And at $14.95 its a great wine (at least in my humble opinion). So I instead opted for one called De Loach. It too was only $14.95, and was also really good. I would definitely recommend either one.

But the BEST part of the whole evening, was getting to spend time with my lovely charming friends while enjoying this great meal together. At one point I had a headache from laughing so much (I promise, it wasn't from all the wine!) And being the fantastic hosts that they are, they even sent me home with leftovers, which I am now eating! Cold pizza with goat cheese - Mmmmm! Could life get any better......