It's not dinner until the smoke alarm goes off

That seemed to be our motto growing up.
A motto that we said on a frequent basis.
If the alarm went off, we knew dinner was coming soon.
No offense, mom.

She'd set it off and then we'd find her waving away the smoke with a cookie sheet.

Ah, the memories of childhood.

I'd be lying if I said that hasn't happened to me once or twice. Or more.
I think I set if off twice on Christmas day whilst trying to roast a pork loin. That was a very disappointing roast. Not because of the obnoxious beeping from the smoke alarm but because it just wasn't a successful dinner. I'm really hard on myself when dinner doesn't go as planned. Especially on a big occasion that required planning, lots of prep work and a pricey hunk of meat.

This was over two months ago and I'm still disappointed when I think about it. Pfffft.
Stupid pork roast.

Yesterday afternoon/evening we entertained two of Caroline's neighborhood friends while their mom had to attend a meeting.
To make things fun, I prepared some pizza dough to let them make their own pizzas.
It was fun, for sure. And so totally messy. Thanks to Caroline, my pig pen child, who took to drawing flour pictures on the kitchen counter. And then clapping her flour covered hands together and dusting the counters and floors even more.

"Oops, sorry mom."

She wasn't sorry.

I gave them each a mound of dough to work with. Caroline, ever impatient and ready to eat, made quick work of hers and shaped it into an oval. Sarah and Rachel took a little more time. And when I say "little" I mean FOREVER. They were relishing the opportunity to get hands on with their dinner. All the while Caroline was ready to eat her dinner. She's a no muss no fuss kind of girl. Much like her mother.
Rachel practically mutilated her dough and added so much extra flour that I was afraid it would be as hard as a rock when it cooked. I warned her, but she didn't seem to care.

After the dough had time to rise, they smeared on the sauce and topped them with cheese...and turkey pepperoni for Rachel.
Rachel was a little liberal with the sauce, spreading it to the very edge and beyond.
The excess sauce on the cookie sheet is what set the smoke alarm off.

They were outside riding their bikes and missed the beeping madness. I'm sure they would have gotten a kick out of it.
I wasn't as amused. Especially since the weather was warm and I had the windows open. The last thing I need is for my neighbors to hear me yelling and telling the smoke alarm to shut up.
That's not neighborly behavior.

It's bad enough that they probably hear me talking to the radio.