I Like to Celebrate Holidays When It's Convenient for Me...

Tuesday was National Margarita Day.  I was sick, and spent much of my week making home made soups (I'll post those later).  So, I decided that we'd celebrate tonight!

There is a fabulous bar in town that makes the most delicious guava margaritas.  Seriously, these things are epic.  I've had margaritas in Mexico, tons when I lived in Texas, and when I was in college, we used to go to Margaritaville on Tuesday nights, and NOTHING compares to these things.  They are trouble - which is why it's better to have National Margarita Day on a Friday.

So, I wish you a Happy National Margarita Day.  I will be celebrating at Riviera Maya, wishing I was drinking their guava margaritas at this Riviera Maya...

Valentine's Day

Today kicks off the many nights that couples choose to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Restaurants offer their free champagne, prix fixe, limited menu options tonight through Monday.  Flower prices more than double - last Monday you could get a dozen red roses for $10, this weekend, they'll be more than double that. 

Last year Gimpy and I went out on Valentine's Day.  It was our first, and I asked if we could go to Mitchell's Fish Market - yum.  We arrived at the packed restaurant, ordered our food which was off of their special menu, and waited.  While we sat there and enjoyed our wine and salad, we were shocked when someone dropped off our dinners and walked away, leaving us a little shocked to find where our lobster tails were supposed to be, there were Alaskan King crab legs - and Gimpy was not feeling it.  After another 10 minutes we finally got someone's attention, were told they were supposed to alert us, and they hadn't.  We ordered new entrees (I wasn't about to eat my dinner and wait another 30 minutes for his to come), had our meals comped, and went home. 

After that event, I decided that this year, I didn't want to go out on Valentine's Day. 

I was talking to my friend Carolyn yesterday and it perfectly summed up how I feel about this...
Me: Do you know if Morton's has a fireplace?
Carolyn: Hmmm.... no clue, why?
Me: We're going for dinner on Tuesday night
Carolyn: For Valentine's Day?
Me: Yup!!
Carolyn: So fun!
Me: I'm excited, I've never been, and the food looks amazing
Carolyn: Ummm.... you two know Valentine's Day is Monday, right?
Me: That's exactly why we're going Tuesday...

I feel like it's just too much pressure to go out on the actual day, and too much money.  I've told Gimpy I don't want flowers on V-day either (that's not to say I would turn them down if he brought some the following week!), so I'm hoping we can just have a nice relaxed night out and not end up like any of these people with crazy Valentine's stories~

Death by Chocolate

Sunday we had, of course, a Superbowl party!  I made potato salad and Death by Chocolate, which is what I am sharing with you today...

For Death by Chocolate, a lot of it depends on what it is that you like, you can really use any type of candy for a filler.  You can also use chocolate cake, or brownies, and you can use cool whip layers or chocolate pudding if you want it to be super chocolatey!

For this Death by Chocolate, I started with a layer of browies and a layer of chocolate syrup.  I layer them into a trifle dish, and top with cool whip.

After the cool whip, I added a layer of chopped heath bar - yum.  Followed by another layer of brownie, syrup, cool whip, heath bar, brownie, syrup, and cool whip!

Add a final layer of syrup and another of chopped heath bar - I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, so this is the perfect dessert balance for me.  I've also done it with chopped peanut butter cups, which is fabulous. 

Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

On Monday night, I was supposed to make big salads for dinner for me and Gimpy.  I decided after Zumba however, that I really wanted chicken parmesan.  So it was time to make some spaghetti sauce, pasta, and chicken parm with gooey slices of mozzerella on top.  I wanted to go all out, not do the overly healthy version I make!

Chicken Parmesan
2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Dried basil and oregano
2 thick slices of mozzerella

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat the egg in a bowl, and put the bread crumbs on a plate with the spices.  Dredge your chicken breasts through the egg, and then cover with the bread crumb mixture.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Switch the oven to broil, and place the cheese on the top of the chicken.  Broil for 4 minutes until golden and crispy.  Serve over spaghetti and your favorite sauce.