Day 44 – My daughter had her graduation ceremony for community college yesterday. It was held virtually. She was so proud of herself because she has always struggled in school but she graduated with honors AND Phi Theta Kappa distinction. She would have had cords and she was so looking forward to this. We made it as special as we could by ordering a cake, ordering sushi (her go to for celebrations), and making a sign for our yard. The ways we are celebrating are different but maybe that is good. Things had gotten way over the top in some cases. Carnivals and elaborate parties for little children’s birthdays. Trips for older children who are graduating from middle school or high school. These are all wonderful and nice but sometimes we lose the reason we are celebrating in the celebration.
We had sushi at home and a small cake from the grocery store. We listened to “Pomp and Circumstance” and read off a few names before hers so she could walk across the living room as we cheered for her graduation. It wasn’t exactly what she was hoping for but in the end she had a great day.
I have to admit I don’t care for sushi at all. I love seafood but I think it is a texture issue with the sushi. I have been craving pizza so we used what we had on hand to make a a caramelized onion, spinach and feta pizza. I did not want red sauce for the pizza so we made a white sauce with cream cheese.
Verdict: This looks horrible but it was soooo good! My entire family actually ate it and liked it. The onions cooked in balsamic vinegar and then a balsamic drizzle over the top after cooking the dish made it perfect. We were all hungry so the picture of my dish was taken quickly and I didn’t even notice that the steam had fogged the lens of my phone a bit.
Serve this with a side salad to make a delicious meal!
Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Feta Pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ball of pizza dough, homemade or store bought (can also use frozen bread dough thawed and raised)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach, any tough stems removed
- 1 medium/large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup whole milk or 1/2 and 1/2
- 2 oz. Parmesan cheese, freshly shredded
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Balsamic Drizzle
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet or use a baking stone with corn meal lightly dusted on top. Set aside.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the baby spinach and saute until just wilted. Transfer the spinach to clean layered paper towels. Squeeze any excess liquid from the spinach.
- Add two tablespoons of butter to the skillet set over medium heat. Add the onions. Allow the onions to cook down for 10 minutes, stirring as necessary. Do not allow the onions to brown. Add the 1 teaspoon of honey and stir to coat evenly. Allow the onions to cook for another 10 minutes. When the onions have cooked down, add the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine, set aside.
- Flatten the pizza dough into a large circle with a 1/2″ crust around the edges. Transfer dough carefully to a parchment lined baking sheet. Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, melt two tablespoons butter. Sprinkle the flour and garlic over the butter and allow to cook for 1 minute while stirring. Continue to whisk as you add in the milk. Once the milk is heated through add the Parmesan cheese to the pan. Allow cheese to melt while stirring. Once it is warmed and thickening remove from heat and taste seasoning to your liking with salt and pepper.
- Top the dough with half of the mozzarella cheese, spinach, and caramelized onions, and finish with the remaining mozzarella and feta cheese on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- While pizza is baking wipe out sauce pan and add vinegar and honey to make drizzle. Heat over medium- high heat until hot and then lower heat to medium. Allow to simmer until reduced by half. Drizzle over pizza one it is removed from the oven.
What's for Dinner Moms? 
Congratulations to Your Daughter!!!
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Thank you!
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🙂
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Firstly, congrats to your daughter. What a great achievement. And secondly, yum, that pizza sounds delicious!
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Thank you! The pizza was good too.
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That looks so tasty. Congratulations on your daughter
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Thanks! Not a great picture but it was good!
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Looks so good that I am already planning to do it for dinner tonight as I have everything on hand and it is a miserable, rainy, windy, cold day….the usual here it seems! Kudoos to C. My heart breaks for all the classes of 2020 as each story is unique. We know, however, someday they will be telling the next generation “all about it” with pride in their tenacity. That will mark them as truly “one of a special few”
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Thanks, Pat! This is their defining moment in history to remember I am sure.
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Isn’t pizza an awesome meal? There are so many combinations to try. 🍃🍕
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Yes! So versatile!
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Caramelized Onion, Feta, and Spinach Pizza
My daughter had her graduation ceremony
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Nice! We made ours walk across the living room while we said her name then move her tassel from one side to the other. 😀
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Congratulations to your daughter and to you, Marci!! I know you are very proud of her. Also I love carmelized onions. On pizza that’s delicious 😋
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Thanks, Sylvester! I am so very proud of all she has accomplished! I love caramelized onions too and sneak them as they are cooking. Yum!
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You’re very welcome!! Yum, yum!!
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Congratulations to your daughter, Marci! Wow, what a big achievement for a young woman. I can imagine that the reason for the celebration is much more in the focus instead of outfits and other things. But I understand when some traditional parts are missing. However, she made it, YAY!!
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She came in late last night and said thank you for everything. She was happy and that is all that mattered to me. 😀
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I understand your mother heart so well 💖
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Reblogged this on Iguanodon & Chameleon.
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Thank you so much!
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Never considered spinach on our pizza before. We just had a huge haul of spinach from our veg patch and made spinach soup: https://myhomefarm.co.uk/spinach-from-our-veg-patch-to-make-spinach-soup
But every Saturday is homemade pizza night for us, and tomorrow it’ll be spinach from our veg patch on my pizza – very nice idea.
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Thanks! Hope you like it.
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