When my best friend moved to Southern California, I objected. Raised on the East Coast, I was led to believe Los Angeles was all Botox and earthquakes. Then I went to visit. Now, my twice-annual trip to her sun-filled paradise has evolved to include my husband and daughter, and our activities are less day drinking and more sand castle contests; less nights of debauchery on the Sunset Strip and more nights of snuggles on the couch with Dora and her explorer friends.

One thing that remains un-changed is our obsession with food. We love to talk about it, shop for it, cook it and (mostly) eat it. While not terribly competitive in any other area of our lives, we have been known to whip up “just a little something” to impress each other. Breakfast ideas are our current obsession. That’s why on my last visit I was giddy with excitement about my new favorite recipe: A show-stopping artisan flatbread pizza.

In college we would often eat leftover pizza for breakfast, but as we mature so must our breakfast pizza tastes. And, with the help of Flatout Flatbread, a fresh and delicious homemade flatbreadpizza is sure to dazzle even the most difficult to impress.

Early on the last morning of our visit, I scrambled up some eggs and diced some veggies while my six-year-old daughter crumbled up the cheese and cooled sausage. As I heard my friend start to stir, my daughter assembled the breakfast flatbread and I popped it in the oven. Emerging from the bedroom, the first words out of my best friend’s mouth: “What is that delicious smell?” The next words came a few minutes later, through a mouthful of food, “Can we make more?” Followed by, “Why would you wait until the last day you’re here to make this?” And then: “You know, this would also work great for appetizers for a party”.

Together we made a couple more flatbread pizzas and invited the rest of the family to join us for a thank-you-for-having-us breakfast feast. Obviously, everyone loved it. And, more importantly, I would head back home the triumphant winner of the unofficial culinary competition of Fall 2015. But then, I knew all along I would be.