(scroll directly to the bottom for the recipe)

I’ll be the first to say it, guys, sometimes in my marriage I miss a few details.

I don’t know my husband’s pant size, or what type of wallet he carries (but don’t they say it’s what’s inside that counts?!). I didn’t know he played flute in school or believe him the first time he told me he was high school prom king.

Some of these factoids came out during my bridal shower two years ago, when I was challenged to play fiancé trivia to see how well I knew my guy. Well, let’s just say I truly was in jeopardy when I wasn’t able to vouch for the six years we’d spent together, standing, embarrassed, in front of a crowd of my mom’s friends (and his mother).

No matter, I thought, that was just a game meant for fun — until this week, when I went shopping for my husband’s birthday present, and I was once again put to shame by the sales rep at Brooks Brothers for missing a few key details.

Hunting for the perfect gift

It all started when I had planned to get him a nice wallet, knowing that his current one was getting worn. He had also mentioned he needed new pants for work.

However, because I so clearly get an ‘A+’ for preparedness, I went to the store without having checked our closet for his actual size. When the sales rep asked if he could help me, I had to say, “I wanted to get my husband pants, but I forgot to take note of his pant size this morning,” He chastised me with, “You don’t know your own husband’s pant size?!” but he immediately realized how embarrassed I was and followed up with, “Well, it’s not a big deal. You have a million things going on, right? I mean, I’m guessing you have kids?” Nope. I didn’t even have kids to blame for this one either.

Sheepishly, I rushed out of the store and headed to Tumi instead, where I found a pretty slick wallet that I thought he would like, and I felt proud of myself for such a great find.

When I brought it home, I cleared off the kitchen counter and placed the gift bag in the middle, to be displayed prominently so he would see it as soon as he came home from work…

I’m not going to lie, guys. I was a bit disappointed at his less-than-enthusiastic reaction when he unraveled the present and politely said, “Oh, cool, thanks…” and was sweet enough to wait awhile before following up with, “Hey, um, do you think we could exchange it for a trifold wallet instead?”

Apparently, somewhere in a conversation over the last couple weeks, a reference to a trifold wallet was made, and I missed it. Instead, I had promptly purchased a bifold wallet expecting to be congratulated for a job well done.

After many more heavy *hints* that evening, it was clear that what he truly desired was a Nintendo Switch. My husband hardly ever plays video games, so I figured if he was mentioning it, it was something he really wanted.

“Alright, I’ll return this and get you the Xbox Switch,” I said, and before he could whip his head back around and look at me, stunned at my error, I quickly corrected, “NINTENDO, Nintendo Switch!! I got it! I’ll take care of it.”

So fine, maybe I’m not so great in the gift-giving or details department, but I did make up for it.

I got him the Nintendo Switch, which was clearly the right gift since he has been enjoying that continuously for the past two days. I don’t mind, because he deserves it. He works really hard, and he is an amazing husband. I also made him his favorite kind of pizza, the Thai pizza, in the style of California Pizza Kitchen. The version I made at home was without oyster sauce or chicken, but since he inhaled it, I’m guessing that he thought it tasted great, too. We shared leftovers with friends the following day, and they loved it as well.

You could make the pizza crust from scratch very easily, but honestly, since I’m not much into baking, I’ve always used Baboli readymade crusts to keep the process convenient.

I made a few changes to a recipe by Christin Mahrlig of Spicy Southern Kitchen. 

So if you, like me, have found that you may have missed a few things in your relationship recently, just follow this recipe and I promise the oversights will be forgotten.

Vegetarian Thai Pizza (CPK Style) 

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tsp sriracha sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar ( I did not have this on hand so I used 1 tsp distilled vinegar and 1 tsp white cooking wine)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons water

Pizza

• 1 12-inch readymade pizza crust
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/3 cup shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, cut lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Method

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Prepare the sauce by combining the sauce ingredients in a saucepan over the stovetop (low heat)  for about 1 minute, stirring with a spoon to ensure ingredients combine evenly. (Or, combine the ingredients, mix, and microwave it for 30-45 seconds, and that itself will combine all of the ingredients nicely).
3. Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet or pizza stone.
4. Spread the peanut sauce evenly over the pizza crust. Layer with the cheese.
5. Evenly top the cheese with the all of the other toppings except for the cilantro.
6. Place the baking sheet or stone with the pizza into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.
7. Once the crust is golden, remove the pizza from the oven and top it with fresh cilantro. Slice and serve!