Country Klub

A couple of months ago, with our good friends Traci and Aaron, we decided to spice up our dinner get togethers, and hold a themed dinner around dishes from Spain. It was awesome!

Aaron and Traci made Romesco sauce, which my husband loves (this is an understatement, believe me). We made steak that had a yummy sauce made of orange juice, onions and blue cheese.

Little did we all know that this dinner would spark a culinary journey. After some wine, the four of us decided this needed to be a regular event, and our very own Country Klub was founded. This one however, does not come with membership fees or fancy pants; instead, the only requirement is that you come with a love for food and an a appetite of course!

We created a list of countries/places; put the list in excel and created a randomized sort. This way, it was completely at random as to which place would be next on the list. And so, the journey begins (already began actually).

Here's the list:

Spain

Corsica (Italy)

Polynesia

Japan

Greece

Bangladesh

South African

China

Chile

Mexico

Hawaii

Mongolia

Lebanon

Ethiopia

Australia

Sri Lanka

Switzerland

New Zealand

India

Russia

Serbia

United Kingdom

Germany

....and who knows what will be next on the list.

Next blog post....a recap of Spain, Corsica, and Polynesia.

Change

If there's anything I've learned in the past 6 months, it is this...Change is inevitable. Change is good. Change is hard. It is scary, and it is sometimes a necessity. But with change, comes new adventures.

In the last two months, I decided to limit my blogging to focus on a little soul searching. And among all the things I needed to weigh, I needed first to decide whether I would let the fear of change paralyze me from taking action, or if I would put my big girl shoes on and walk straight into embracing change.

Well, I put the big girl shoes on, not without struggle, or a lot of support, and went forth. And guess what...change was going to happen whether I wanted to welcome it or not, but it is much better when you do, because you can have some say in that change.

You might ask what's all the fuss about. Well, I decided to change jobs. I know people do this everyday. But I had spent almost one-third of my life with this company and the people (often spending more time with them, than my own family). So, the people factor made it really hard. But the personal and professional part really needed the change.

So as I said before, with change, comes new adventures. I set the chain of events in motion for my own change, and found out, this chica is ready! So, here's to new adventures. New job starts next week!

And thank you Vladi, Dad, Mom, for dealing with me and for supporting me. Love you guys.

Happy Friday

Been busy lately...I will reflect on this later, but for now, I'm happy it's friday.

And, I thought a perfect way to kick it off, would be to share a some images that make me smile.

Sweet Face (or should I same Game Face On...mission cupcake)

Really workin' it now...

Moocher

Mission accomplished!

A little sugar high...poor Papa Smurf

Happy Friday!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Don't you want to just sink your teeth in?

This absolutely delicious vanilla bean cupcake is brought to you by cupcakeproject.com and is noted as the ultimate vanilla cupcake.

I will agree about the cake part. It was out of this world! For the icing, I went with the recommended vanilla bean buttercream frosting. It's good, but I'm not sold. With a cupcake that tastes that unbelievable, I was expecting something else. I have a feeling, if I made my strawberry frosting from earlier this year, strawberry or vanilla flavored, it would have been heaven.

One last photo just for fun!

And with that, I hope 2011 was just as sweet for you, as it was for me.

Happy New Year!

The Dish: Thai Red Curry Mussels

I know I took a little hiatus from blogging, but there have been other priorities lately...family and myself. This time of year, I always find to be a good time to recharge my batteries. So, that's just what I've been doing with a little retail and cooking therapy.

And, if you're looking for something to spice up your everyday go-to-meals, then check out this recipe for Thai Red Curry Mussels on the Food Network.

My only deviations from the recipe were the following:

• Crushing a lemongrass stalk seemed a little agressive (maybe if you've had a bad day, this would be an option). Instead, I sliced the stalk lengthwise into 4 strips and then chopped the stalk. I placed the chopped lemongrass in cheesecloth, tied it up and threw it in with the liquid. (See the big white looking ball in the photo below.)
• I added about 2 garlic cloves crushed (literaly smashed with the back of a sturdy knife, and skins removed) to the liquid.
• I actually mixed and whisked all the liquid in a separate bowl before placing in the pot to heat. The coconut milk is really thick, so I recommend this part, especially if using an enameled pot to cook your mussels.

Ingredients prepped.

Mussels, debearded and washed.

I purchased from Whole Foods, and for the most part, they were ready to go, but a few still needed debearding, which is literally tearing out this fiberous little tuft from the side of the mussel. After this, I let the little guys sit in cold water for about 30 minutes to flush out any remaining sand. After 30 minutes, lift the mussels out of the water. Don't poor into a strainer, because all the sand will just end up back on the mussels. Also, be sure to ditch any mussels that are cracked or wide open, or don't close when tapping/pushing on them. And if they don't smell like the beach, the word is they're not fresh.

Check out Allrecipes.com for a step-by-step "how to" on cleaning and prepping mussels.

For a short demo on debearding, check out this video:

And the best part....enjoy. Oh, one more thing, I highly recommend eating this with a baguette to soak up the yummy juices!

Happy cooking and yummy eating.

The Dish: Scallops Provencal

So, tonight's dish was so good that we forgot to take a photo before we scarfed it all up.

So what could have been so finger lickin' good? Scallops Provencal, by none other than one of my favorites...Barefoot Contessa. And yes, this recipe has butter, so be prepared, or go for a run. Because you just can't make this right without butter.

Click below for the full recipe...get a nice baguette to soak up all the yummy goodness!

Scallops Provencal on the Food Network

Even Juno loves scallops ;-)

I might be in love...

I have just experienced Modcloth.com, and I might be in love.

If not for this t-shirt alone. Excited to read the blog too.