Wood-fired pizza oven enhances their entertaining
Because Patrick and Synara Brown love to entertain, when they went house hunting one of their must-haves was a house that had or could have a kitchen that would be great for entertaining.
They found that in the Washington Highlands home they purchased in 2010.
But with their new home came an unexpected extra: a large, built-in wood-burning pizza oven with all the gadgets needed to make pizzas.
Despite the fact that the two had been entertaining for years, they were clueless as how to use their new oven. But over time they figured it out, and today they use it regularly when they entertain.
“The first few pizzas we made were disasters. They were all burnt and we had to scrape them out of the oven,” she said.
“We started out trying to make frozen pizzas in it,” added Patrick. Then I did some searching online and got some tips. It took a while to figure it out.”
These days, Patrick says their pizzas taste as good as those made at some of the area’s best pizza restaurants. And their children (Dylan, 15, Daniel, 14, Cecilia, 11), along with neighbors, friends and relatives all agree.
“When we entertain we often make different varieties of pizzas, depending on who is coming over,” said Synara. “We’ll make six to eight pizzas for maybe 15 people and we’ll also serve appetizers like buffalo chicken wontons, Cobb salad and garlic bread.”
But pizzas aren’t the only items on their menus when they entertain, at least every other week, for anywhere from 6 to 40 people.
The couple said some gatherings focus on drinks and appetizers, there are meals at which Puerto Rican foods are prepared in honor of Synara’s heritage, there are large family gatherings for holidays such as Thanksgiving for which Synara cooks for four days straight, and then there are occasional events that include shepherd’s pies in honor of Patrick’s Irish heritage.
“The shepherd’s pies are great, but my family loves it when Synara makes the Puerto Rican dishes,” he said.
“And I do take pride in being the only Latino in (his side of) the family,” she added. “I’m the token — I’m the spice.”
No matter what they make, it’s always a joint effort.
“Patrick is the drink master; I do all the cooking,” she said.
The couple work for Wildtree Foods, an organic food company focused on menu planning and getting healthy dinners to the table. Synara is a senior executive director and has been with the company for 10 years. Pat joined Wildtree 18 months ago and works as a senior sales analyst.
Synara said she was an occupational therapist before joining Wildtree but that she wanted a job with more flexibility when their children were young.
In addition to the parties they host for family and friends, the couple also hosts cooking parties in their home for their work. Synara estimated that altogether they have five parties a month for 8 to 20 people.
On a blustery January day the couple fired up their pizza oven and talked about how much they now enjoy using it for entertaining.
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