2011 Bucket List: paeLLa party!

Making Paella made it to the Number Three slot on my 2011 bucket list.  Why Paella?  A couple years ago, Crosby, Brett and I ate some entirely mediocre paella in the Mission.  I remember looking at the dish, with its sad rice and little rubbery prawns, and thinking, "I could totally make this.  Better."  Then, somewhere along the line, someone gave me saffron and since I only know one thing to make with saffron, every time I saw that wee bottle I would think Oh Right. Paella.

Who could participate in the culinary adventure with me?  Wander into the world of yellow rice and weird spice Spanish sausages coupling with prawns?  Megan and Jonee of course.  The Kruez's (Kruezes, Kruezsss?) are perfect co-conspirators.  And so, a couple weeks ago, we gathered in my kitchen, let the wine flow, and had a paeLLa party!

And it was pretty dang good. 

Oddly enough, I don't think I really like saffron, but cooking something completely new was fun and challenging and I was really really glad to have Megan's expertise to fall back on.  She fielded comments like "oh, you take the casing OFF the sausage?!?!?" and "mussels have beards???" with complete ease.  Kudos to Jonee for debearding those pesky mussels. 

Since it was my birthday (kinda) Megan and Jonee also brought me the most amazing homemade Carrot Cake with Maple frosting:  

I might have eaten it for breakfast the next three days.

Let Me Count The Ways

Eighth wonder of the world, my grandmother turned 95 on November 3, 2007. In celebration of both her birthday and her continuous recovery, my family gathered in the "Sunshine Room" of the rehab facility she is temporarily staying in. This event was the first time ALL FIVE of the great grandkids were in the same room, along with five of the seven grandkids (including spouses) and both her sons and their wives. Mayhem. Squealing, laughing, wrestling, running, shh we are in a rest home, mayhem. And grandma loved every minute of it.The fam. No one ever realized I am the giant of the family. Or it could be camera angle. Either, really.

Shaely has inherited the impish quality; look at those eyes.

Oh Grandma,

I hope I inherited your genes.

death by chocolate

Every year, some week towards the end of September, our office accountant Diann celebrates her birthday by having the company buy her this decadent, gold bedecked cake that gives everyone in the office a jittering buzz around 130 and then a nap time crash around 3. Our office has grown so much in the past year that we had to forgo the 8 inch cake and purchase a sheet cake.....which equated to about 15 pounds of chocolate. Notorious.
Here is the infamous Diann posing with her birthday cake in our conference room. The party was BYOF (Bring Your Own Fork) since those utensils tend to be rare in the kitchen and fist fights occur. Across the back: Jen, myself, Shindo, Chris, and LeslieM, all attempting to hide behind cutlery. Overheard post cake? "I need a to cut this richness with a glass of half and half."

I might die.