Caesar Pizza

We had such a fabulous time yesterday evening at our Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics Party. Good food, friends, pageantry, laughter, tears - Olympic rings made of doughnuts. It was a magical evening!

Okay, I'm lying. That is what I wish the evening had been, if I had enough mental energy to plan an Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics Party. There were no friends. The food was good, but it was re-heated Moroccan stew, not party fare. Simon, despite my great hopes, had no interest in the ceremonies whatsoever. I found myself - a reading teacher - saying to my child, "Put down your book and pay attention to the television!" The baby was crying, the air conditioning was not keeping up with the ridiculous heat. It was not epic.

In some distant, misty memory I used to throw parties. One year for the season premier of Lost, I threw a fabulous party complete with tiny bottles of Oceanic Airlines liquor, buckets of Mr. Cluck's chicken, and fish biscuit shaped cookies for dessert (if you didn't watch Lost, that may not sound cool, but if you did watch Lost, you get how awesome that was). After reading a Civil War novel, I had my book club over for an authentic Civil War meal, complete with johnny cakes and the best beans you have ever tasted. I threw a tea party once that was so fabulously decked in flowers and dripping with tiny sandwiches that it rivaled high tea at the best hotels.

My party days are not completely over, I guess, since I am currently planning one. It is a Batman themed party for my three year old at which a naturalist will be showing the kids a variety of creepy, crawly insects (bat food - get it?).  Not exactly in the same vein as my former bashes, but I will try to make it equally epic. The times, they are a changin'.

Here is a throw back to a New Year's Eve party of yore - one of my favorite Pillsbury recipes. This is what you would get if your favorite Caesar salad hooked up with a light, flaky pizza bianca to produce the perfect appetizer baby. Salty bacon, creamy dressing, flaky crust, crisp veggies. Oh, yeah, bring on the party.

Caesar Pizza

2 cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup Caesar dressing

1 1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

3/4 cup coarsly chopped broccoli

1/2 cup finely chopped cooked chicken

 1/2 cup shredded carrot

2 tbsp chopped cooked bacon

3 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Open both cans of rolls; unroll dough onto a rectangular sheet pan. Press the dough firmly to the sides  and bottom of the pan for form the crust (be sure to pinch along the perforations to seal them. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes. Cool completely. 

2. Mix the cream cheese and 1/2 of the dressing in a small bowl; spread over the cooled crust. Sprinkle with  lettuce, broccoli, chicken, carrot, bacon and parmesan. Drizzle with remaining dressing. 

May be refrigerated up to 2 hours before serving.