Supper Club

I hosted this months supper club at my house.  The theme was tapas since I really wanted to make my romesco sauce (words cannot express how happy this sauce makes me).

Most of the food from Supper Club (missing the dessert, which will be another post, appetizers and gazpacho)

The first plate of tapas food.

As you can see, I tend to go overboard.

I made tortilla espagnol, chickpeas and spinach stew, roasted asparagus with romesco sauce, patatas bravas with aoli (mock aoli version also for the pregnant member), smoked salmon with lemon greek yogurt on thick cut potato chips, tapas style mushrooms, gazpacho with greek yogurt, goat cheese with Balsamic and figs, and olive and goat cheese tarts.  I also served bread and chorizo.  For dessert, I made chocolate caramel tartlettes.

Below is a recipe that was quite a hit:

Goat Cheese with Balsamic and Figs

INGREDIENTS

• • 10 oz goat cheese
  • 4 fresh figs or 1/2 cup dried
  • about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Slice the chèvre log, and place on a small casserole dish. Cut the figs into rounds.

2. Pour the balsamic vinegar and sugar into a pot, and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer until the mixture is reduced and sticks to the back of a spoon. (If you are using dried figs, place them in the vinegar mixture and let them absorb some of the fluid while the mixture cools.)

3. Heat the chèvre cheese slices quickly by using your oven’s broiler function for about 3 minutes, or until the cheese has slightly started to melt. Remove it from the oven and top it with the figs and vinegar mixture. Serve warm with sliced bread or pita chips.

Girls Weekend

I am beyond excited about my trip this weekend to Chicago. Four of my close friends from high school are all meeting on Chicago for the long weekend.  It will be the first time we have all been in the same place since high school it seems.

This trip is going to be fun and interesting because:

a. We have an apartment rented in Wrigleyville, but other than that no planning has happened…Oops!

b.  I say no planning has occurred but we are meeting up with one of our friend’s friends for brunch on Sunday…5 girls who do not know anyone that we are sharing a meal.  The good news is that I can talk to a brick wall and they serve Mimosas.

c. My friend that is flying with me just figured out that we need to leave for the airport at 5 am…Can we say not pretty???

d. We chose our place for lunch friday based on two criteria…serves drinks and not too far from the train since we will still have our luggage with us at that time.

e. I believe that we are going clubbing.  I have not gone clubbing since college.  When my friend tried to help me find something appropriate for the night out, we discovered that I no longer have any such outfits in my closet.  oops!

f. I have downloaded a few songs just for the trip…

I predict that this will be a memorable trip and I am so ready for friday…

So if you have any suggestions, please hit me up…

Random Musings

I figured I would do a Brain Dump.

1. My godson was born last week.  He is perfect.  I mean it when I say he is perfect.  He was born with a head full of hair and a sweet face.  He just melts my heart.  I do not know if I have mentioned this before, but I love other peoples children.  They satisfy my need to play with a baby without having to deal with all the responsibility.

2. To further expound upon my lack of desire to have a child yet…I guess I should count my blessing that I made it through four years of marriage without my MIL mentioning a need for grandchildren.  I say that in past tense because she literally told me to “drink the water.”  Again, I am feeling lucky that we made it this far.

3. I love summer.  I mean I really love long days and lazy meals spent with friends sitting out on the patio.  Nothing makes you feel more carefree than a lazy summer evening.

4. I love my family.  I am lucky to have a large extended family and a close immediate family.  I am glad that my brother moved back to the south earlier this month.  It is nice to know that he is just two and half hours away now.

5. The only good thing that the end of the summer brings is fall saturdays.  We had to put in our order for football tickets today.  I do love me some football.

Fun Day with Little Miss H

Little Miss H came to play last week.  I had so much fun with her playing in the pool, but let me tell you I was glad that I do not have one of my own.  I have not babysat much since college and let me tell you she wore me out!

The dogs enjoyed her visit even if they were not sure what she was doing.  While there is no picture, Judge could not get enough of her and was so sad to see her leave! Granted he hid under furniture while she was playing with the water.

Joining the 21st Century

Oh the things I will do for Internet…What you may ask?
1. Enroll in graduate school to justify this.
2. Spend time chatting with an AT&T rep on instant message to figure out why my wireless is not working right.

In fact, Judge is pouting because I am sitting on the floor and not paying attention to him.

Update: my router is bad so they are shipping me another one.
To be continued…

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

I had to go out of town last week for a work conference. That meant LML had to take care of the dogs.
I get a call that night asking how judge can get out with his fence collar on…I was dumbfounded. My initial reaction was that the fence is broken.
A few minutes later, LML called again saying, “Judge is not escaping through the fence but instead jumping the brick wall.”
I did not want to believe it but lo and behold he jumped one day this weekend with me standing in the carport. It seems he is jealous the taller dogs could see over the wall and he could not.
Yup, the midget dog of our three is the only one jumping a brick wall. I have always said he has a “Napoleon complex,” since he is tends to climb on tables, chairs or anything to give him height. This just goes to prove it once and for all.
The good news is that my dad is going to extended the invisible fence to include the planter. (LML has been frustrated with the dogs and their desire to dig the planter anyways.)
In the meantime, judge is limited in his time in the yard without us.

Lazy weekend

This is hopefully my last day without Internet. I say hopefully because my “service” starts tomorrow, but my modem is en route somewhere in Texas as of yesterday. So I am thinking it won’t get here until Tuesday!
LML and I have not had Internet since we got married. In fact, I do not think he has ever had high speed Internet at his house. If you had told me that I would live without home Internet for four years when I was in college, I would have laughed at you!
This means no more trips to Mickey d’s to use the Internet on the computer. It also means hopefully I will start using my camera more often and post those pics on my blog.

For now, I leave you with a picture that sums up my weekend…