It was Mr. Play Gourmet’s birthday weekend, and Uncle Nick and Granny flew in for the occasion. We had a fun project and CRAZY dinner planned to take full advantage of the visit.

First on our list was to shoot a funny digital short staring the birthday boy and Uncle Nick. The video was a mock workout program promo.

We had a lot of fun making it. We were pretty hysterical just coming up with content.

Perhaps we need a little more practice putting our ideas into production, but we had a lot of fun with this project.

As fun as the video was to shoot, as well as the exercising that went along with it, we still had an elaborate dinner to create, which we broke up into teams to tackle.

For the dinner, we made a sandwich called “The Sloppy Jessica”. And for desert, we had a wonderful strawberry cake with strawberry icing.

The cake was made completely from scratch by Mrs. Play Gourmet and the little play gourmet. 

The batter even had pureed strawberries in it.

And for an extra level of difficulty, our Play Gourmets make a multi-layered cake by slicing through the cakes that were made.

Most impressive.

Now for everyone at home wondering what a Sloppy Jessica is, think of a Sloppy Joe, on steroids. A Sloppy Jessica is a combination of pizza, mac and cheese, and chili. Odd, right? In case you aren’t sold yet, allow us to guide you through this flavor packed walkabout.

First, we have to make some chili, and let it be known for this special occasion, we plan to take no short cuts. To make our chili we start by steeping some ancho peppers in hot water.

From there we add the anchos with water, and some chipotles in adobe sauce to a blender, and blend until completely liquified. Simultaneously, we have been browning our meat, to which we add, the liquid pepper mix and some tomatoes. 

Chili complete.

Next we need some Mac and cheese, but again no short cuts, we start out making a rue with some flour, butter, and milk. 

Once that is homogenous, we add cheese.

To that we add some cooked pasta, and for our Jessica’s, we chose ziti.

Mac and cheese complete.

Now for the pizza, In order to make this a real sandwich, we make French bread pizzas. We go with the tried and true method of cheese, sauce, cheese for our pizza, and then bake.

Pizza check.

Thanks to everyone, the most beautiful birthday dinner is laid out and ready to be devoured.

The steps for building the Sloppy Jessica are, mix Mac with chili…

and stuff between two french bread pizzas.

And now for the big payoff!

Might seem crazy, but it was actually super delicious. I think it surprised everyone at the table with just how tasty it was.

And the meal was topped off with the most delicious strawberry cake, so moist, it could barely stand up. 

I must have been pretty good this year.