Spa Night/Ladies Night

Once again the Corkscrew Girls have another successful meeting! This month it was at the Melting Pot for Ladies Spa Night. An event that they have the last Monday of every month. For $35 you get quite a bit of food and a choice of spa treatments. Two of the most popular are the hand massage/paraffin dip and the head/neck/shoulder chair massage. The later is the one I always go for! Last night she nearly hurt me, but it felt soooooo good.

The ladies Night menu starts you off with a cocktail selection and I chose a Blackberry & Champagne. The others had a mixture of wine and Bloodmarys. Then we met John our awesome waiter! Great personality as well as service. Anyone that can handle the four of us deserves a round of applause!!

We started with one of the best cheese fondues I have ever had. It consisted of baby Brie and Fontinella as well as bacon, scallions and white Truffles. OMG was it rich and flavorful. We ate it up in minutes and actually asked John for more cheese. He surprised us with a "John Special" blend. All we could tell was that there were jalapenos, bacon and tomatoes. Outstanding John!

We later realized that maybe the second cheese was not necessary because by the time we were finished we were miserable. Whit and I had a second cocktail and then the desert came. We had two of, what I consider, the best chocolates on the menu. One had peanut butter and pecans while the other was a dark chocolate with salt and.......I can not remember what. Maybe one of the other girls will write a review and tell me what it was! We had so many yummy tidbits to dip, but my faves were the cheesecake, mini brownie bites and bananas. I don't usually like marshmallows, but they had some rolled in Oreos and I liked them plenty!

All in all another great gathering and we are talking about our next meeting being held at a Mexican place where they have Margaritas the size of your head. Just ask Whitney.

Whitney's Pasta

For a long time Whitney has talked about this great pasta dish that she makes. She always brings it up during our food conversations and those are frequent! So, I decided to stop wasting time and just buy the supplies and make it one Sunday afternoon. Here we go...and by the way it was awesome with a nice Italian Pinot Grigio!!

Saute onion, garlic

Add grape tomatoes halved and add some salt to get them to break down

I then added some organic chicken sausage with tomato & basil

Once the pasta was cooked I added cut up mozzarella cheese, into the warm pasta, and then tossed everything else over top! That easy and SOOOOOOOO good.

Thanks Whitney!!

PALADAR, The Best Mexican EVER

So it seems that we have a new favorite restaurant in the Beachwood area! Last night we went to Paladar Latin Kitchen and Rum Bar after some shopping and had some of the best mexican food ever (and I know how the Corkscrew girls love their guacamole!)!

We found this place on the OpenTable website and decided to give it a try. It is on Chagrin Blvd, not real close to Beachwood mall, but about 5 minutes away. Again it seems like reservations have to be made about a day in advance over the phone or on this website, and it is worth it!

It was really tough to decide what we wanted because their menu is a mile long. You can order different kinds of salsas and guacamoles which come with a chip blend of Plantain, Yucca, Malanga, and Tortilla. That is why the chips look so strange in the picture. They always have a special guacamole, and tonight it was "Lemon Basil Guacamole". It was FANTASTIC! I've never really tasted anything like it, but I saved some to add to the rest of my meal it was so good. We also got an appetizer called the "Mini Braised Short Rib Soft Tacos"- Shredded Beef Short Rib served with Fresh Lime, Queso Blanco Cheese and Citrus-Carrot Slaw alongside Warm Flour Tortillas. WOW. There were 6 tiny tortillas to fill, and this could be the best thing I have ever eaten. EVER. We have already eaten a few when the picture was taken, we couldn't help it!

For his meal Matt got the "Roasted Half Chicken Mole"-Oven Roasted Half Chicken served atop Sweet Plantains, White Rice Pilaf and our Housemande Mole Sauce garnished with a Fresh Herb & Jicama Salad. He loved this, and I could have probably eaten an entire plate of the sweet plantains. I got the "Paladar's Blackened Fish Tacos"- Blackened Tilapia drizzled with Cilantro Adobo Sauce topped with a Pickled Red Onion & Pineapple Slaw and Shredded Cabbage in Warm Soft Corn Tortillas served with a side of Frijoles. These were definitely the best tacos I have ever had. Whatever was in this slaw really made the taco!

This was a GREAT place to go if you are in the mood for Mexican, but they also have burgers , sandwiches, steaks, etc.. It is also not expensive. My tacos were about $13. We had a great time!

-Michelle

Crave

Took my mom to Crave, in Akron, for her birthday. My motives were also to get myself there again as well! I love that place and was again totally pleased with my choices.

We had martini's to toast my mom's birthday. I had blueberry cheesecake made with Godiva white chocolate. OMG!!!! My mom had the spice-tini made with jalapeno stuffed olives. It was really good and reminded me of a bloodymary. They were huge and strong.

We decided to try something from the sandwich menu so we would be able to have desert. So I chose the BLT. Not your average sandwich! Made with lobster, bacon, fried green tomato and avocado. Outstanding! My mom had the catfish po-boy. It was huge.

Let's talk desert. I had the bread pudding that was made up of white chocolate, bourbon and peaches. It was served with chicory ice cream and all covered with caramel sauce. Oh yeah. It was orgasmic. Had to be enjoyed with black coffee. My mom had the warm chocolate and crunchy peanut butter brownie that was served with Tahitian Vanilla ice cream. It was such an insane portion that even the two of us could not finish it.

When the hubby gets home I am going to find a reason to get him there!!

Cocktails

Delicious after work pomegranate champagne cocktails. Yummy.

Ice Cream Insanity!

OMG, if you want to follow Whitney's tacos with an ice cream that will knock your socks off....have I got one for you!!

Magnum. Just discovered them. It is an ice cream on a stick like....well I believe that it IS better than sex. Thick, rich vanilla bean ice cream, dipped in a crispy chocolate coating. Followed by carmel sauce and a Belgian chocolate coating. I had to close my eyes and breath deeply as I ate it.

There are many other flavors such as almond and double chocolate. Yes, they are a bit pricey for a box of three, but well worth it!! I found them at Giant Eagle. If you are as crazy for ice cream, as I am, you should get these ASAP!!

Taco Night!!!

So the other night I decided I needed to pull out the tequila, limes, and margarita mix and get into mexican mode. It was time for taco night! Along with the craving for some fresh salsa, I also love anything and everything mexican with guacamole! So of course I had to make some homemade guac.

First time making guac and it was so so soooo easy! I peeled and mashed 3 ripe avocados added in some chopped onions and tomatoes. Then I mixed in some lime juice and my favorite thing in the whole world when it comes to seasonings (garlic, duh!). The combination of all these flavors was heaven in my mouth. I was in a little mexicoma for the remainder of the evening.

The salsa was easy to make as well.. 5 ripped tomatoes chopped. One white onion. Cilantro. Garlic. Lime Juice. And salt. I usually let it marinade for a day so all the flavors combine and the salt breaks down the tomatoes a bit more. But still amazing and fresh!

-Whitney