A Cure for What Chills You....

Last week opened with a dusting of snow! Two inches to be exact. It was beautiful while it was falling, so soft and white. Sadly, that happened after dark and by morning rain was falling and the roads were a slushy mess!  I had to drive into Vancouver and then walk 10 minutes into work. It really took me 20 minutes since I was trying to avoid the puddles. Thankfully, it was all melted by the time I was ready to go home. Note to self, wear covered shoes in the snow....not new ballet flats with no socks. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever learn to dress appropriately! I love our dark, forest-like yard when there is snow on the ground.....

After 5 days of dull, gray, and snowy weather I was ready for the Cuban dinner party JSM and I hosted on Saturday. We have a bunch of foodies (I mean real ones!) for friends so everyone brought something and it was a fantastic dinner. We provided the guava and cheese crackers, Cuban roast pork with guava barbecue sauce and the famous (not Cuban) 1905 salad from the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, FL, which were all delicious! But we also had the most amazing tostones (friend plantain cakes), black beans and rice, rum and coconut grilled pineapple, and wait for it.......Cuba Gooding, Jr's favorite burritos! For desert, we had bananas baked in brown sugar with vanilla ice cream and cinnamon. Of course there were mojitos, but to top it off (and in preparation for our trip to the Middle East) CH brought us some heavenly dates from Carrefour at the Dubai Mall! It was great - festive music (Buena Vista Social Club), fabulous food, fantastic friends, and a fire to keep us warm on this cold January night!

Mejor tostones!

JSM was so proud of his grilled Cuban pork - it was excelente!

CH's Black Beans and Rice

1904 Salad

Awesome shirt, BF!

Grilled pineapples with rum and coconut

Such a handsome couple...these soon-to-be newlyweds!

Next month, the theme is Chicago food.....that should be interesting!

On a separate, but somewhat related note, JSM's business cards arrived for our upcoming jaunt to the Middle East. So looking forward to this warm and sunny vacation!

I hope it says what it's supposed to say :)