Paella Party!!!

Kari's brother, David, and his wife Mieko came back from Spain a couple of weeks ago with an authentic paella pan--for me! It sat in the trunk of Bill's car, until Saturday when he brought it in the house and I said, "Let's have a paella party tonight!" I went on-line to find The Recipe...but ended up co-mingling several in my attempt to make the Ultimate Paella. And this is what it looked like after much shopping & chopping. And if I may say so, it tasted as good as it looked.
Here's how we put it together.

The beauty of diced onions with chopped garlic. Tomatoes at the top. 

Chicken and pork bathed in a little salt, pepper and oregano. 

Let the cooking begin! 

Kari is usually not allowed to use a knife in my kitchen, due to the "Scary Knife Incident" where she ended up passed out cold on the tile floor after cutting herself a couple of years ago. But this knife was just dull enough that I thought she could handle it. Just this once. 

Check it out--I actually found "Paella Rice"! 

Tom & Lisa sip a little Sangria while awaiting dinner and talking business. Sugar & Mocha provided the pre-dinner entertainment.

Mocha! What are you DOING! 

Dueling cooks, dueling burners. I had so much meat and seafood that it was very apparent from the get-go that this was going to be a 2-pan operation. Note how I have not moved Mocha's water bowl from under me. I don't know why.

The saffron is in the rice, which is bubbling rather nicely. Next, the Manila clams, prawns and rock shrimp came onboard. I used rock shrimp instead of lobster, which is just too much work for an already labor-intensive operation. Next time, I'll try to find some langostino to see how they work!

Adding a pound of bay scallops.

So we did it--voila! A paella is born. I was so happy: it tasted as good as it looked.
The five of us actually consumed that entire pan at dinner, and there was enough leftovers from pan #2 for everyone.

My summer book report

I'm absolutely amazed to be writing this, but: the latest Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" is one of the best books I have ever read. Grandma Jill got it for Jack's birthday, and we've been reading a chapter or two pretty much every night since it came in the mail.

Last night, we were oh-so-close to the end...."Just one more chapter! Just one more!!" and Jack and I finally called in quits at 12:35 a.m.! That either makes me the world's worst mother or the world's best--can't decide. We had about a half a chapter to go...but we (mostly me) were crying so hard, and were exhausted...so we finished it this morning.

It is such a classic "good vs. evil" story with rich characters and descriptions so clear, you can picture their world in your mind's eye with ease. JK Rowling is nothing short of brilliant, being able to weave this story line about Harry & his friends as they grow up, face the darkest evil, and experience incredible triumphs alongside unbearable tragedies. I caught a bit of a "Biography"on Rowling on A&E--she says she has the final chapter of the final book written--and hidden away in a vault somewhere. When she pitched the books to the publishers some years ago, she gave them the whole story arch of all seven books. How do you DO that? Brilliance.

While I have immensely enjoyed the entire saga, this latest offering, number six in the series, kept us on the edge of our seats with every chapter. It is so much more than a "kid's book." It's a classic, pure and simple.

Peter Pan: A Fractured Fairy Tale

Once again, the St. Luke's Players put on another spectacular performance--this time, "Peter Pan." While often very politically incorrect, it was VERY entertaining...because Jack won the role of "Nana" the dog, Nick played Peter...and Claire was an incredibly tough little Lost Boy.

"No thanks, I'm cool!!!"

Claire was most definitely the toughest Lost Boy on the island. 

Nick...ah, I mean Peter...sang and danced... like he'd been pixie dusted or something. His performance was rather enchanting! 

Whatchya gonna do.....? 

Can a caption REALLY do justice here? 

Father Darling has Nana try out little Michael's medicine to make sure it's safe. However.... Nana starts to hallucinate!  

I'm the Lizard King--koo koo ka choo! 

Kack! Gag! Uh oh..... 

Nana succumbs to the "medicine"... 

My mouth is cleaner than yours, Lady! 

Nana learns that the "grandma" ...isn't. 

Good Dog! Good job!