Love and Pizza in Wisconsin

I love my college friends and it's crazy to think that I have known a lot of these people since I was 18, that's almost ten years! We've shared a lot of experiences together, learned and celebrated together and we've done a lot of growing up.

Recently, a major part of our growing up has been marriage. Sometimes I can't believe I'm married and a lot of the time I look around at our friends and can't believe how many of them are married, or pretty darn close, as well.A few weeks ago the group of us got an email titled "A Top-Secret Proposition," inviting us to join Red and Swan for Pizza Night at A to Z Produce and Bakery in Stockholm, Wisconsin. Swan knew that she and Red were headed to Pizza Night to mark the one year anniversary of their last visit to the farm. What Swan didn't know was that Red was packing heat in the form of an engagement ring and had invited all of us to come for a rusprise and celebration.

It was one of the most wonderful nights I've had all summer. Calhoun and I picked up Cedar who just recently moved to Minnesota, packed up her and her green goddess pasta salad and drove out to Stockholm, WI. We rolled up into beautfiul rolling fields and precariously parked the hatchback on the side of a dirt road and walked to the farm.

I had previously heard and read about the pizza farm and knew that guests were asked to bring their own setup, including blankets, dishes and beverages. What I did not expect was to see that people had packed in complete dinner settings, complete with table, chairs, tableclothes and centerpeices! It was fabulous. The lawn was packed with people and wine and pizza! We looked around and finally laid eyes on the newly-engaged and got to celebrate on the spot!

We added our contributions to the table, poured wine and toured around the pizza farm. The location, atmosphere and community was beautiful. Pizza Night is gets its energy from the farm's beautiful wood fired pizza oven, and on a July night the wait can be longer than an hour and a half. I think it was well worth the wait.

Red had been in contact with the owners and shortly after we arrived wonderful pizzas came out of the brick oven, topped with homemade sausage and bacon, peppers, cheese, olives and a variety of other fresh and wonderful ingredients. I'm not sure what was better, the pizza or the friends and celebration. Either way, both lasted into the night and Cedar's pasta salad was delicious (I'm so happy she's in town so I can eat all the food she writes about on her blog).

Although this amazing night occurred in Wisconsin, we did transplant all of our Minnesota friend there for a great evening so I thought it was fitting for the blog!

It was a beautiful Tuesday night, complete with love and pizza in Wisconsin.