It is Ayyam-i-Ha, the period of celebration and gift-giving in the Baha'i community. Houses are decorated, festive foods prepared, and families get together to celebrate.
We were invited to several Ayyam-i-Ha parties and also attended Jim and Kay's wedding reception, held in their home a week after their wedding.
Their home was just packed with art and people, with barely enough room to turn around. We were told to bring toppings, and they would make pizza for everyone! Jim first described his pizza to me about a year ago, saying the trick to the crust involves using 15% rye flour to the high-gluten white. That makes for a crispy crust.
He enhances the crust's texture with a layer of coarsely-ground cornmeal pressed into the bottom of the dough; uses a baking stone; and prepares his dough the night before to maximize conditioning. 
Jim has spent the last eight months remodeling his kitchen. It is a functional workspace, with little niches under the counter for storing food as it is being prepared. Marble counter-tops replaced tile, so that when he rolls out dough it doesn't pick up indentation marks from grouting. On Sunday Jim brought his freshly baked pizza to a Persian family's Ayyam-i-Ha celebration. I brought a beet-red onion salad, with walnuts and Mandarin oranges.
Our host's Persian rice was served with meatballs in a sweet/sour pomegranate sauce. 
Our weekend closed with festivities at the Olsen's Pink Elephant Party, always enjoyable and entertaining. They served baked ham with all the trimmings. 
( Raul must know something about my nutritional inclinations, and isn't talking!)Gifts were exchanged following dinner. This is always a hoot because they are generally a mixture of ghastly, goofy, or cheap!
George and I have a set of matching violinists!
