Joey's 30th Birthday

Our weekend in CT with family went off without a hitch. Thanks primarily to Aunt Jodi and The Deb for over-doing themselves (per the norm) and cooking up a storm the days before the party, ordering 30th Birthday banners, flowers for the tables, balloons, the list goes on. We ate lots of Joey's all time favs from chicken parm, to mashed potatoes, ham, spinach noodle (a Hayes family special) and tapioca pudding and coconut cake.

Some pics from the party...

The table, flowers, balloons, banner and all.

Joey, not so surprised

Joey, Cole and Jeff discussing Oktoberfest

Matt, Nicole- proud parents to be, and Pop-Pop

Joey and Kate stirring the mashies

One of the recipes everyone seemed to love was the Stromboli, courtesy of James Cinque, a close friend of Joey's growing up. So thanks James, it was easy, incredibly tasty (so I heard), and a major crowd pleaser! I will be making this at every party from here on out.

THE GOAT'S STROMBOLI

Pizza dough

Sliced pepperoni (prepackaged is fine)

¼-1/2 lb. Combination of soppresata, prosciutto, or capicola- or any other cured Italian meats, don’t need to use all of them either.

Grated mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, garlic powder, crushed red pepper- optional, etc)

Additional items that can be incorporated:

Broccoli rabe/sausage (steam broccoli before putting in the Stromboli)

chicken/roasted garlic

Preheat oven to 375 (if cooking and reheating for a later time), or 400 (if serving immediately).

Lightly flour working surface and roll out dough, roll out all air bubbles, and form into large circle.

Season dough with Italian seasoning

Add pepperoni to cover dough

Cover with mozzarella cheese

Top cheese with additional cured meats and top again with parmesan cheese

Add more seasoning here if you prefer, good time to add crushed red pepper if using

Roll up dough carefully to form the Stromboli

Add a bit more flour to dough and sprinkle it with olive oil parmesan cheese and additional seasoning

On cookie sheet place in the oven and check it around 20-25 minutes to see if its browning. Remove from oven when golden brown

Let cool before cutting, or if saving for a later time, wrap in foil and place in freezer

We added broccoli rabe to this one. I forgot to get the "after" picture, the party was too fun!