Wine and Cheese Party

On Friday evening we hung out in the kitchen, listening to jazz and dancing, while I baked and Christopher made dinner.  I made some spiced nuts, and 65 double chocolate merlot cookies, while Christopher whipped up spaghetti and meatballs.

The next morning we cleaned the house, and got prepped for the evening.

We were having a wine and cheese evening with a close group of friends we get together with quite often.  Almost everyone in the group has had babies within the last two years, so grown-up evenings have become less common, and we thought it would be fun to get everyone together for a classy little evening, sans children.  We sent out invites back in December.

We had fun choosing many different cheeses (I think 17) and accompaniments, and then plating/arranging everything.

There was food in the living room, dining area, and the kitchen.

I forgot to get pictures of the hot dips in the kitchen - oops!  The dining table was full of goodies though ...

We had a fun evening catching up with pals, and snacking for hours.  As usual, we had way too much food ... but it's always better to have too much rather than not enough.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

Cheese

What's that?  A cheese I've never had before??? 

Guess I have no choice - I'm going to have to buy it.

That's how my brain works in the grocery store. 

Oka is boring.  Very boring.  The smell is strong, but the taste is similar to the most mild mozzarella available.  The texture is like a slightly creamier mozzarella.  I don't think we'll buy this again.

This green thunder cheese is full of flavour and really good.  

It is quite crumbly, green in colour, and packs a lot of punch with the old cheddar taste combined with a lot of herbs.  We like it. 

What is your favourite cheese?  

Mmmm, Cheese.

We had a GREAT time at the cheese party last night, and we were out far too late!

Before we went to the party, we had a light dinner of roasted veggies and salmon:

The salmon was so fresh, and perfectly cooked. Nom nom nom.

At the party I had a couple glasses of this:

The spread was absolutely wonderful, with many kinds of cheese, and some delicious tapas.

I had about 2 grapes from this lovely fruit platter:

One little bite size piece of this potato dish:

Probably about 10 of these tortilla chips dipped in this tasty taco dip:

2 pieces of calamari dipped in a homemade aioli:

And then I nibbled at all of this cheese (and about 5 Cheesies) throughout the night:

I had about 4 crackers and maybe 5 squares of bread:

Later on in the night I had 2 mimosas made with POM Wonderful and Henkell Trocken:

After a wonderful night with friends we came home and crashed until this morning when we were awoken by a phone call asking if we wanted to go for brunch (with my family).
Ummmmm yeah!

I had the "Wake - Up" breakfast:

I ate about 1/2 of it, and drank my weight in coffee.

I had a wonderful afternoon shopping!!!!! The hubby and I bought new drinking glasses from Costco, a leather chair for our computer desk also from Costco, a bunch of new cushions from Winners, some guest towels for our basement bathroom, and a giant piece of art for our living room. Ooooh, spending money just gives me a rush! Hehe. I need to do it more often.

I refueled with a Lara Bar this afternoon:

Now they hubby and I are playing with our nephew, then we are going to do some grocery shopping and head to hubby's parent's for dinner.

How has your Sunday been? What have you done today?

My B-Day Dinner #1

Thanks for all the birthday wishes lovelies!

Today has been a great day so far. I had a good day at work ...
This morning I snacked on a pear and a piece of old cheddar cheese.

Lunch was Taco Del Mar:

A Baja Bowl (rice, beans, pico, ground beef, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and extra cilantro).

My hubby took me out for my b-day dinner tonight. We went to a new restaurant in town called "The Fainting Goat."

I got the CRAZIEST Caesar ever! It was called "Smokey BBQ" and it was bacon and jalapeño infused vodka, with Clamato juice, and garnished with cheddar and beef jerky!!!!!!

As strange as it sounds, it was actually really good!

The hubby and I shared 2 appetizers. The first was a Mezze platter with Nan bread and whole wheat pita, and 3 dips (baba ghanoush, cheese goreme, and m'hammara):

I ate about 1/3 of this.

We also got the "Samosas" that were made with wild mushrooms, squash and shredded beats, and dipped in honey chili sauce and mint chutney.

I had one.

My entree was a duck breast with orange infused beets, Byzantine rice pilaf, and fried leek:

It was really good - besides the thick layer of fat that was on the duck breast (I cut it off).

The hubby and I passed on dessert and went to Blockbuster to rent "17 Again" - LOL.

I am a lucky girl ... this is just the first of 3 b-day dinners!! Tomorrow my dad is taking me to Red Lobster, and on Saturday I am going out with friends to "The Crushed Grape."

Off to snuggle up on the couch ... see you in the morning!

Turkey Dinner #2

I had full intentions of taking pictures of turkey dinner #2 at my Dad's place ...
I left the house and drove 1/4 of the way there, when I realized I forgot my camera card at home. The hubby turned around and drove home so we could grab it.

We went to my Dad's and enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner ... and after I inhaled it, I realized - oops ... I forgot to take a pic. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this evening.

I ate:

- 3 Slices of white meat
- about 1/2 cup of potatoes
- 1/4 cup turnips
- 1/4 cup broccoli
- 1/4 cup stuffing
- 3 T corn
- An obscene amount of gravy :-)

I passed on dessert again, but ended up being a little hungry later on this evening. While watching America's Next Top Model I ate this:



(1 piece of old cheddar cheese, 5 Mary's crackers with a bit of light herb and garlic cream cheese, and an unsweetened apple sauce).

Also, I just want to let everyone know that Jocelyn from the blog JocelynEatsFresh is having a wonderful giveaway! Checkout her blog for the details!

I have no idea why, because I didn't work that hard today - but I am wiped. I can barely see straight. So with that ... g'nite peeps.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well - today we had the first snow fall of the season in my little city. I walked out of the lab this evening to see a fine layer of snow covering the ground, trees, and cars. It was a beautiful sight, however it frightens me just a bit - is winter here already?

It is hard to believe we are almost halfway through October! I have less than 3 months until my whole world is going to change - I will be done school, and not registering for more classes for the first time in 9 years. I am so excited about the prospect of free time. I cannot wait to cook more, bake more and entertain more, and just enjoy life more in general.

I love university - I really do ... but I am done. I need a break. For the first time since I was 17 years old (I am turning 27 next week) I am NOT craving a new semester of classes. I used to love this time of year because it meant registration date was coming soon, and I could pick my classes for the next semester. Well right now I am thankful that I don't have to pick classes. I am finally just done. And I am totally okay with that.

Just some thoughts for this cool October evening :-)

Now on to eats ...

Breakfast today was a Green Monster - obviously! I decided to switch up the pic for your sake.



And a Glo-Bar for carbs/ protein:



This held me over until lunch.
For lunch I had 1 turkey sausage and some mashed sweet potato with some margarine:



I also had a fruit cup:



And a piece of cheese:



After work today I headed straight for the lab to run some more participants through my experiment. I was there until about 7:00, so I bought a small pasta salad to hold me over until dinner. I had about 1/2 cup and then tossed it because it was gross (sorry no pic).

Dinner was something quick and easy since I got home pretty late. I made a can of mushroom soup that I split with the hubby, and some tuna salad that I ate on a few organic rice crackers:

I am going to study for a bit and then head to bed early!
G'nite peeps!