Happy 4th of July!

Every year, pretty much on the same date, we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day. We celebrate it with food, fireworks and more and more nowadays, we also give a nod (as we should pretty much every day) to the people who are serving and have served in our Armed Forces.

Some people even get a long weekend! (geez, some people!)

Living out here in Western Colorado, we have myriad of choices of what to do on the weekend. Some head to the mountains and lakes, some head out to the local rivers, some take in a ballgame, some just stay home and have friends and family’s stop by… you get the picture!

But one thing that always seems to be present is food! Yes, food! And people are not satisfied with just dogs and burgers anymore (though they can be spiffed-up quite nicely, thank you!). No, they have seen the Food Network and Cooking Channel, they have seen the recipes in the local papers and say.. ‘I can do that!’, they are bursting out of the culinary-funk-norm that way too many people have stayed in for way too long.

Me, I like to play with recipes on the grill that people go… Wha?

Individual pizza on the BBQ are great, folks can choose what they want and they are really not that hard! You can get the small pre-made pizza doughs at the store or even use tortillas, let your cooking freak flag fly!

Want to check out more Pizza on the Grill recipes? Our ‘Website of the Week is from Oprah (http://www.oprah.com/food/Grilled-Pizza-Recipes-Best-Toppings-for-Grilled-Pizza) and gives you six ideas.. but by no means, feel restrained!!

Our 'Recipe of The Week' is from that same site, A Jalapeno, Garlic and Oregeno Pizza! (I am already thinking.. gee, maybe some cooked off chorizo added on?)

The next ‘flavor’ of our ‘Pop-Up/Flash’ restaurant will be Tacoz… Wednesday, July 9^th at the VFW on 14^th & Ute, from 5 – 7pm. Those who know me, know how much I love Tacos and these are some of my fav’s. The menu will include a ‘Beer-Bar-Coa’ Beef Taco, a Chicken Carne Asada Taco and our take on the taco that helped launch the Food Truck revolution.. A Korean Pork Taco. So stop on by!

You can know also follow us on Pinterest; Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and Decadence Cheesecakes Cooking Thoughts... Check them out and let me know what you think!

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Jalapeño Garlic and Oregano Grilled Pizza

(From Oprah.com)

Makes 4 pizzas

Ingredients

• 8 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 pound pizza dough
• All-purpose flour, for rolling

Toppings:

• 4 jalapeños, thinly sliced crosswise, seeds discarded
• 4 small cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 tsp. dried oregano.

Directions

Preheat grill so that 2/3 of grill is on high heat and 1/3 is on low heat. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece of dough into a 6" circle. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.

Coat a large, rimmed baking sheet with oil. Gently stretch a piece of dough into a 9" round, then place on oiled pan to coat both sides. Repeat with other pieces of dough and set aside on another baking sheet.

Working 2 pieces at a time, lift a dough round and drape it over the hot part of the grill. Repeat with second piece. Grill over high heat until seared, about 10 seconds. Using tongs, rotate dough and continue cooking 10 to 20 seconds more. Turn dough over and move to the cooler area. Apply 1/4 of the toppings to each piece of dough, then slide dough back and forth between hot and cool areas to finish cooking dough, melt cheese, and heat toppings, about 30 seconds more. With a large metal spatula, transfer pizzas to a cutting board, slice, and serve. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings.