Have you ever had a weekend that’s just so utterly perfect and soul quenching? A weekend filled with so much love, you can hardly stand it? Well that was my weekend. Hours lounging on the couch with my Carrot. A beautiful, Pinterest-worthy bridal shower for a woman who deserves nothing short of perfection. A 20-hour whirlwind day of hiking and games and cooking and laughing and intense female bonding. And then the whole spectacular weekend closed with my first ever experience watching The Greatest British Bake Off.  How had I never heard of this?! PBS, you never, ever disappoint. To all the women in my life, you never disappoint either. I adore you.

The women on my mom’s side of my family are always complaining about not having enough time to talk. Not enough time to catch up. We are completely obsessed with each other and the 8 or 9 times a year we see each other for holidays and birthdays is just never enough. We all grab meals together between the holidays but it still, somehow, does not seem to suffice. So we finally, after saying we would for years, planned a Zauner women’s day. And by some strange stroke of fate, everyone could make it (except the one beautiful Jennifer who’s off away at college in Utah).

By the end of Saturday, I had literally almost lost my voice from all the family time.  It was 4 AM. I was laying on a couch across the room from my aunt, chatting about everything under the sun, long after we should have went to bed.  It was a lovely lovely day. A lovely weekend. The exact kind of weekend I live for.  So many laughs. A couple thoughtful relationship building tears. Great talks. Long talks. So much good food. Great drinks. Beautiful, inspiring thoughtful conversations about family and friends and life.

And, perhaps best of all, a build your own flatbread bar for dinner!!!!!!!!

Zauner Women’s Day Menu 
Noshing: Pita chips & pine nut hummus, veggies & dip and tortilla chips with salsa & guacamole
Dinner: Build your own flatbread bar (see below!)
Sipping: Lots o’ wine & the best homemade margaritas I’ve ever tasted, with or without saltHappy its almost-a-new-work-week. I hope your weekend was equally filled with love!! 🙂

-Leek

BUILD YOUR OWN FLATBREAD BAR

Takes 1½-3 hours depending on your level of focus and duration of eating
Makes 12-18 small pizzas

This dough

These toppings:
Alfredo Sauce
Pizza Sauce
BBQ
Ricotta
Pepperoni
Pork Sausage
Diced Chicken
Diced Bacon
Apple Slices
Caramelized Onions
Charred Sweet Corn
Baby Bella Mushrooms, chopped
Spinach
Bell Peppers, diced
Anaheim Peppers, diced
Pickled Hot Peppers
Cheese Blend
Oregano
Basil
Red Pepper Flakes

We made a triple batch of the flatbread dough according to directions.  Let it rise for an hour while you prepare all your toppings. Cut the dough into 12-18 pieces, roll it out and then grill the dough on an oiled skillet or griddle pan.

We covered the cooked dough with all kinds of fun toppings and then just let it all cook together and get melty for 5 minutes in a 500 degree oven.

Our very great suggestions.

The Lauren: Ricotta, Pork Sausage, Bacon, Spinach, Caramelized Onion, Charred Corn, Parmesan & Red Pepper Flakes
The Ashley: Alfredo Sauce, Caramelized Onion, Anaheim Peppers, Pickled Peppers, Oregano, Crushed Red Pepper & Cheese Blend
The Liz: Ricotta, Caramelized Onion, Apple, Mushroom, Oregano & Basil