April 7, 2008
Happy Monday to everyone!
What a weekend I had. I'm pretty much glad it's over, let me tell you.
Saturday, we were non-stop all day–two soccer games, a Pinewood Derby event, my husband at work and me preparing an appetizer and a drink for an Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner, and then—
Yes, you read that right. An Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner.
Crab, avocado, oysters (oh, the OYSTERS!), shrimp, arugula, quail eggs(!), passionfruit, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, bananas, chilis…the list goes on and on.
We started our first course at about 8 and didn't finish till after midnight.
A couple who are friends of ours had six couples (for a total of twelve) over for dinner on Saturday night. Each couple was responsible for bringing one course for the meal, and one alcoholic beverage/drink. All had to contain food aphrodisiacs.
We agreed at the beginning of the evening that no one was to ask, "Hey, where did Colleen and Music Man go?" if we noticed someone was missing. And our hosts said if we needed to, we could bring A sleeping bag in case we needed to stay over. Only one, though.
LOL.
This group of people gets together every other month for an event like this (not an aphrodisiac dinner) and they call it Cooking With Friends. They all love to cook, and they all cook well, and each time they get together, there's a theme.
We're not a regular part of the group, but for some reason, we were invited to the Aphrodisiac themed dinner. Huh. Wonder why that was.
Anyway, the dish I made was fabulous and super super easy. So I thought I'd share it for anyone who's interested.
CRAB AVOCADO COCKTAIL
Can of unsweetened coconut milk (use only one-third of the can for 8 oz of crab)
1 Tablespoon honey
Juice of one lime
1 serrano chili, chopped fine
2 Tablespoons red onion, sliced thin
salt and pepper
8 oz lump crab meat
Mix the coconut milk with the peppers, onion, honey, lime, salt and pepper and then fold in the crab. Let it marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
Then fold in 1 diced avocado (or less if you like) and let sit for ten minutes. When you're ready to serve, scoop out the crab/avocado mixture with a slotted spoon and put it in a martini glass. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, serve with a small fork.
Yum.
If I remember later, I'll share the recipe for the drink we made. Passionfruit Punch it was called. Lovely. Very strong. But lovely.
So what did ya'll do this weekend? Anyone see Leatherheads? I want to know if I should go see it. I don't really like Reneé Zellweger, but I love the premise of the movie. Let me know. I'm counting on you.
Oh, yeah…and my good news that's been perking? Well, I can't tell you yet, but it has something to do with Victoria and a new location in Europe.
The second installment of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles takes Victoria to Venice and Rome.
My novel, 
April 7th, 2008 at 8:32 am
My weekend was bliss — simply because it was the first weekend in a long time we weren’t on the road for volleyball or going to see a sick relative.
Hmmm…Victoria and a new location…a 6th book maybe?! Now, that would be good news!!
April 7th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Ah, pinewood derbies. That brings back memories. I still have all my old cars from being in scouts.
Your meal sounds absolutely amazing! Makes me quite hungry, actually!!!
April 7th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Wow! What a great theme party. Sounds like a blast, and the grab dip sounds delicious.
I spent an incredibly wonderful low key weekend pretty much holed up at home. I did watch my Tarheels implode on Saturday night. And I finally saw Michael Clayton, which I quite enjoyed, although it was kind of slow moving. But the performances were brilliant! I can’t believe Tom Wilkerson didn’t win something for his role!
Also, Miss Colleen, it must be said, many, many congratulations on making it to the Championship round of the DA-BWAHA tournament! What an amazing accomplishment! The list of books that were in the tournament was incredible and what a feat to make it to the championship round against Nora Roberts of all people! Incredible.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Shoot! CRAB dip. Not GRAB dip, although with the theme of the party…it could have been.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Sounds like Sat. night was a lot of fun! How come you were invited!?!
I imagine there could have been some lively conversation. 
Hope you’ll remember the Passionfruit Punch recipe…I’m always looking for new drink recipes. Friday night went to dinner and then drinking and a bit of dancing. Ran into one of our friends(from church of all places) already having himself one heck of a good time at the bar and ended up keeping him company. He kept telling me the band playing was called The Vampires…NOT…it was acoustic, happy, fluffy stuff, but at least there were a few I could dance too. My hubby was a good sport and danced with me a few times but got harrased everytime we headed back to the bar for not being able to keep up - I’m glad I got him to dance at all - not much fun dancing alone. The bartenders were great…when I got the munchies they let me have all the cherries I wanted - who knew cherries went so well with Tequila! 
As for the cherry stems…well, how’s that for Monday morning babbling! 
About that good news - you ARE the queen of torture(and you love it)!!!
April 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hey MaryKate that’s pretty funny!!!
I also watched Across The Universe. I enjoyed it - I thought the singing was really good, though it felt a bit too long.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’m getting over the flu, so my weekend was low key. I did some research because I am thinking of possibly trying some e-publishing while I continue to write my novel. Maybe get some cred. *shrug* The jury is still out on it.
Got my Dr. Who and Torchwood fix. Didn’t write a darned thing, which is not so good…;)
April 7th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Lisa, I owe you an email about writers groups, I know.
Kristin, I don’t know why we got invited. LOL. Maybe they thought we needed the aphrodisiacs???? LOL. Or maybe they just knew we’d bring our own brand of fun to the party.
MK, Lynn…glad you had relaxing weekends. Can I have one of those?
And thanks for the kudos, MK, on the DA BWAHA. I still can’t believe I was up against Ms. Nora. And I don’t know who won. It was verrrrry close there at the end. We’ll find out tomorrow, I guess.
The news, btw, isnt another Victoria book, sorry Lynn.
But something else. Maybe two pieces of news. In Europe.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I know how incredibly busy you are. No worries. And many kudos on the DA BWAHA. Incredibly awesome.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
This saturday I went with a couple friends of mine on a trip to the lake of Garda (that is somewhere in the italian northeastern region of Veneto, not too far from where I live
): we caught a sunny day and enjoyed the hell out of having lunch on the lakeshore. 
We sunbathed some, walked a lot and gave our crumbs to some birds that hovered right there and loved Pringles crumbs!! 
Many congrats on making it to the championship round Colleen!!
April 7th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Curses! Foiled again!!