Chocolate Cooking Club

Nancy hosted cooking club this month, and the theme was chocolate! We used an episode of David Rocco's Dolce Vita as our inspiration, and followed the menu that he featured on the show. Cioccolato! We made the four recipes from his menu, and added two additional recipes. Summer kicked things off with a chocolate martini. She put her own twist on it to make it even more delicious!



Bailey's Mint Chocolate, Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, and Vodka! With a Junior Mint as garnish. So delicious!!



We also had lots of fantastic wines to enjoy throughout the night. Look at how cute this little predator is!



Valerie brought this super, SUPER delicious and perfectly appropriate wine, The Chocolate Block.



THIS ONE HAS A UNICORN!!!!!



Time to eat! Le Bernardin, ooh la la! Fancy times!



Valerie made chocolate babka! Soooooooo delicious.



Emily made the Shrimp with Chocolate.



Yumi made the Beef Stew with Chocolate.



And Nancy made the Penne with Chocolate and Anchovies.



Now that is one brown plate!! This dinner was definitely weird. I usually like pretty much everything always all the time, so I did enjoy it. The shrimp were plump and juicy and awesome. The bread was hands down fantastic!! The pasta was WEIRD but I liked it. The bread crumbs gave it an awesome crunch. The beef stew was super intense.



It was hard to keep the chocolate off our faces, so we all looked extra beautiful while eating this meal.















We decided to save my salads for last because we figured we'd need something refreshing. ACTION SHOTS!



Sprinkling berries!



Mmmm. The salads were bright and delicious. Topped with chocolate balsamic dressing!



After dinner, we played an intense game of Foodie Fight.



Then things got crazy.



Nancy has the creepiest yet awesomest wiener water gun from the good old days. SEX!



The gun inspired a series of spy team photos.



Go team!!



Charlie's Angels? Or something.

New Bedspread and Sock Stealer

We got a new bedspread! Here is Charlie modeling it.





Emma has always had a bad habit of stealing my socks and dragging them around. Here are a few of her latest hauls.

Valentine's Day Cooking Club

Tonight was the February installment of cooking club, and I hosted it at my house! Since it is the weekend before Valentine's Day, we had a Valentine's Dinner. Hearts everywhere!



Valerie got things started with an aphrodisiac cocktail, a Latin Fling! It had rum, pineapple juice, Chinese five spice syrup, and lime juice.



Summer seduced us with a ménage à trois of bacon. Tempura fried bacon, bacon dipped in chocolate, and bacon wrapped around succulent chicken.



Nancy made two loaves of bread! This amazing heart-shaped pesto masterpiece:



And this fantastic loaf that had an entire cup of red wine, and pine nuts. Both breads were SO great. Bread is seriously my favorite.



Emily made this adorable salad. Pink grapefruit segments, celery hearts, dried cranberries, candied pistachios, and little heart-shaped bites of fresh mozzarella!



It paired perfectly with my roasted vegetable lasagna. A match made in heaven!



Summer loved those mozzarella hearts!



Of course the bread stayed out for the duration of the night. I could not keep my hands off of those loaves!



Yay, time for dessert! Yumi made cheesecake bites. Pistachio, S'mores, Mint with Sprinkles, and Nerds!



Toasting the marshmallows with a flame.



Teamwork!



Fire! They were all delicious but I think that I liked the Nerds ones the best.



Gina stopped by for a quick visit, and shared a couple of cheesecake bites with us. It's always nice to see her!



Highly flammable 151, and a blow torch. DANGER!



Wiener time.



Valerie ended the night with another aphrodisiac cocktail, Flaming Spanish Coffee.



This drink was so dramatic and intense, we had to take a video. Look how INTENSE:



Mmm, frothy and delicious. Homemade whipped cream on top.



Summer taking her first sip:



Summer's mind is blown by the deliciousness.



After we were done stuffing ourselves, we played some cards.



We also did that experiment where you draw a pig and it tells a bunch of stuff about your personality. We didn't have the info about what anything means, though. But it's clear that we're all very different ladies!



Yet another fantastic night of cooking club. It was YUM!

Happy Birthday, Vana!

Vana and Joe had the whole family over tonight for a birthday potluck! They had an ENORMOUS bottle of champagne that we popped.



Moss made deviled eggs and hummus.



After the champagne was gone, we made a round of buttery nipples! So delicious.



And after THOSE, we had mimosas with some champagne that Moss brought! So many delicious drinks!



Time for the main course! Vana and Joe made enchiladas, and Ben and I brought sweet potato black bean burritos.



Mmm.



Plus pasta salad from Kayla, and a big old salad from Dennis.



After dinner, the ladies did some chatting in the kitchen.



And the dudes did some chilling on the sofa.



Nala did some sleeping on the chair.



Then it was time for presents!



For dessert, Cheryl made fudge pies with cream cheese icing. They were totally naughty and awesome.


Happy birthday, Vana!