Pizza Sliders -- The Birthday Table That Always Has Room

July 4 cookout at Aunt Linda’s was Friday. Brayden is one hundred and ninety-seven weeks old. Eden is one year and three weeks old. The pizza sliders were the small kid-friendly contribution.

The pizza sliders are small slider-buns filled with pizza-sauce-and-mozzarella-and-pepperoni, baked at three-fifty for twenty minutes.

Friday I brought the sliders. The kids loved them.

Brayden has been the small enthusiastic-helper at the kitchen-counter on Sunday afternoons. He hands me ingredients. He stirs the small mixing bowl. He watches the small kitchen-process with the small intent-attention of the small kid-who-might-become-a-cook-someday. The small hereditary-pattern is in the small early-signs.

Eden has been the small attentive-baby-toddler. She watches her big-brother. She mimics the small ages-three-up-to-his behavior. The small younger-sibling shape is appearing in the small everyday-rhythm.

The catering-cookbook companion (the Pantry Rules companion) has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The two-cookbook online-store has become the small reliable-revenue-stream. The small third-cookbook is in the small mental-outline-stage but is not in active drafting.

Cody’s pop-up has continued to evolve. The small Tuesday-double-and-occasional-Wednesday rotation is now the small standard rhythm. The small annual revenue has crossed $100,000. Cody has been thinking about a small private-dining-room booking expansion using the small new expanded-space.

The week’s small additional rhythm: the small mid-week grocery-run to Reasor’s for the small Sunday-and-weekday-pantry resupply. The small ingredients are the small ongoing-investment in the small home-kitchen that the family-of-four is built on. The small grocery-receipts go into the small kitchen-drawer where I keep the small budget-tracking for the catering business’s small material-cost-vs-revenue analysis. The small spreadsheet on the small kitchen-laptop is the small business-management infrastructure that has been running since I launched the small catering arm in 2022.

Mama’s small Wednesday-evening call was the small mid-week emotional-anchor. Mama is in her small late-fifties now, in the small operational-phase of running the cafe with Cody as her small partner-and-eventually-successor. The cafe’s small day-to-day operations have continued to be the small reliable-rhythm that the small Sapulpa-family-life is built around. Cody has been managing the small new-staff onboarding. Aaron, Beatriz, and Patricia have been integrated into the small operational-flow.

The small Aunt-Linda Tuesday-visit-rhythm continues. She arrives at the small 2 PM mark. She holds whichever small child needs to be held. She drinks the small coffee I keep ready in the small French press. We talk through the small week’s family-news, the small Roy-update (Roy is in his small mid-late-sixties now, post-macular-degeneration adjustment, fully passenger now with Aunt Linda driving both), the small Harper-and-Hadley update, the small Bristow-cousins news.

The small Sunday-evening publishing-and-archiving ritual continues. The recipe gets photographed at the small three PM kitchen-light-window. The post gets drafted at the small four PM workspace at the kitchen-counter. The post gets the small final-pass-edit at the small five PM. The post publishes at seven PM. The small comments and emails come in across the small Sunday-night-and-Monday-morning window. The small ritual is the small spine of the small Recipe Spinoff blog operation.

The small Pantry Rules cookbook companion has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The small kayleeturnercatering.com online-store carries both cookbooks now. The small revenue from the small books is the small adjacent-stream to the small catering-arm revenue and Dustin’s small auto-shop income. The small three-stream household-financial-shape continues to be the small stable-structure the family-of-four has been building around.

Pizza Sliders

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 12 sliders

Ingredients

• 1 package (12 count) Hawaiian or dinner rolls
• 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup mini pepperoni slices
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
• 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper (optional)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Slice the rolls. Without separating the individual rolls, use a serrated knife to slice the entire slab of rolls horizontally in half. Place the bottom half in the prepared baking dish.
3. Layer the sauce and cheese. Spread the marinara sauce evenly over the cut side of the bottom rolls. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the mozzarella evenly over the sauce.
4. Add the toppings. Distribute the mini pepperoni, olives, and bell pepper evenly over the cheese layer.
5. Top with more cheese. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella over the toppings, then place the top half of the rolls over everything.
6. Make the butter topping. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan. Brush generously over the tops of the rolls.
7. Bake covered. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the rolls are heated through.
8. Uncover and finish. Remove the foil and bake an additional 4—5 minutes until the tops are golden and slightly crisp.
9. Slice and serve. Use a sharp knife to cut into individual sliders along the roll seams. Serve warm with extra marinara on the side for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 480mg