Girls Weekend: Then and Now

During a much needed girls weekend (minus one of the girls), I was reminded how different our lives are today than they were in our 20s.

Now, the girls are the same (plus a few children), the laughter is the same (plus some very corny jokes from said children) and the result is the same - pure fun.

Here are a few of the differences...

In our 20s, girls weekend meant sneaking in a purse full of candy and catching the latest chick flick.

In our 30s, girls weekend means sneaking in a purse full of candy and catching the lastest children's movie.

In our 20s, girls weekend meant staying up until 3 a.m. and sleeping late.

In our 30s, girls weekend means going to bed by 11 p.m. so we can get up at 6 a.m. to go do this...

In our 20s, girls weekend was filled with lots of gossip, shopping, board games and alcohol.

In our 30s, girls weekend is filled with lots of gossip, shopping, board games and less alcohol. It also includes some of this...

I wouldn't change a thing about our girls weekends - then or now!

Well, I'd change one thing...they would be more often than once or twice a year!

Iron Chef Challenge: Pizza Dip

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This weekend a couple of my college gal pals and their daughters came over for a fun girls weekend.

We did some scrapbooking, took in a movie (Tangled in 3D, it was a great show), laughed until we hurt, and, of course, had a little something to eat and drink.

I took this opportunity to prepare my entry into Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge: Canned Tomatoes.

Jane, from Going Jane, just happened to have some cookbooks in her car - doesn't everyone travel with cookbooks - and had flagged a recipe for Pizza Dip. We decided it would be the perfect dish to snack during an afternoon of scrapbooking.

Here's the final product...

I started out with my ingredients, including a couple of small cans of Red Gold tomato sauce. I didn't have all the "toppings" so I improvised and left a few out. This dip is like pizza - your choice of toppings.

The recipe called for pizza sauce but I used the tomato sauce and Italian Seasoning and made my own.

Then I cut up some pepperoni.

Then spread the cream cheese into the bottom of my Pampered Chef round baking dish. The recipe said to use a 9-inch pie plate but I use mine in the microwave (a story for another day).

Then I poured the tomato sauce on top of the cream cheese and added the pepperoni. I decided to up the tomato factor by adding some Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano.

I only added the tomatoes to one half of the dish because some people don't like chunky tomatoes and some people do.

Then I covered it in cheese - a mix of mozzarella and parmesan - and put it into the oven.

While it was baking, I cut up part of a loaf of French bread and spread them on my Pampered Chef pizza stone. Do you see a pattern of Pampered Chef use this weekend? I went to a Pampered Chef party on Friday night and got inspired.

I wanted to jazz up the bread a bit so I brushed on some EVOO (olive oil) and sprinkled some Italian Seasoning on top. Then I cranked up the broiler and put them in the oven with the pizza dip.

It was a hit judging by the three batches of bread I had to fix!

If you feel up to joining Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge, go here:

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Pizza Dip

1 (8-oz) package of cream cheese, softened

1 (14-oz) jar pizza sauce OR tomato sauce with your choice of seasoning

1/2 cup green bell pepper

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup pepperoni

1 (2 1/4-oz) can sliced ripe olives

1 (8-oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese (or Italian mix or some Parmesan)

2 green onions, chopped

Spread cream cheese in bottom of a 9-inch pieplate; spread pizza sauce over cream cheese. Sprinkle bell pepper, pepperoni, and olives (or diced tomatoes or mushrooms or well, you get the idea) over sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese (or Parmesan or Italian mix).

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 or 12 minutes or until cheese melts. (I cranked up the broiler for the last couple of minutes.) Serve warm with corn chips or French bread or whatever you want!

Gal Pals + Food + Fun = Girls Weekend!

For the last couple of years, my gal pals over at Going Jane and Bathtub Mama and I have been getting together at least once a year (maybe twice if we can swing it) to shop, scrapbook, talk and generally laugh our butts off at a Girls Weekend (GW).

Last year we TRIED to re-live our college days with a little too much rum, lots of chocolate, and some late-night crank calls to the hubbies (theirs, not my imaginary guy - he never answered). Unfortunately we re-lived the bad, as well as the good. WARNING: Never, ever drink rum from a Listerine bottle. Trust me on this one!

This time the gals are each bringing their daughters so there will probably be a little less re-living of the glory years, but still lots of fun.

Basically, I live smack dab in the middle - a four-hour drive for each - so this year GW is rocking my place.

Right now, I'm channeling the Pointer Sisters..."I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It!!" (Imagine me singing and dancing through the house. OK, maybe you shouldn't.)

I already have some of our weekend planned.

Last GW just happened to fall while New Moon was in theaters. Since the new Twilight movie - Eclipse - won't be out until NEXT weekend, we have to fill our time with other activities.

I do have some movie theater gift certificates that I got a rockin' deal on recently at CVS and Toy Story 3 is in theaters so maybe we'll trade Edward and Jacob for Woody and Buzz.

Or there's always Redbox (I heart Redbox, as they say over at GOODEness Gracious) where we could go with Remember Me and still get our Edward fix!

In non-movie news...I was totally excited to learn that one of Bathtub Mama's and my favorite haunts when she's up from her southern home is having a monster of a sale this weekend! Half Price Books is having a huge clearance sale at the state fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday and we are SOOO there. Everything is under $3. Awesome.

Add in some swimming time and all that left is figuring out how we'll feed ourselves!

I've been drooling over a multitude of recipes in the blogsphere and have decided to attempt at least one or two this weekend.

First, I've stocked up on biscuits so we can gorge ourselves on Going Jane's strawberry freezer jam. I'm also going to attempt a variation of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon toast with English Muffins - an ode to my days out East. I also have a wide variety of cereals that I have gotten for a steal so we are good to go for breakfast.

I'm taking advantage of the homegrown ground beef (hamburger) in the freezer and doing tacos or spaghetti or maybe loaded nachos...dishes the wee ones will enjoy as much as we will.

For dessert, I've been craving these Grasshopper Cupcakes over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff since I joined the Cupcake Carnival earlier this week!

Of course, it wouldn't be a weekend visit to my house without going out at least once (usually more than that). Bathtub Mama and I always hit Ruby Tuesday's for their delish salad bar and I have a coupon so here we come.

I'm sure some Malibu will find its way into our Diet Cokes & Coke Zeros so maybe, just maybe, there will be some dancing as well..."to the windows, to the walls."