Supper Club: March 21, 2011

Pork Soft Tacos with Goat Cheese and Mushroom Stuffed Quinoa Patties
Entree: Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa. As everyone knows, fruit goes so well with pork and this was no exception. The pork was moist and flavorful, I’m thinking it would probably go well with rice, if we had leftovers. The spiciness of the pork was really mellowed by the pineapple salsa. I would definitely go with this dish again, especially when the weather gets warmer. I did use flour tortillas instead and they were just great.

Side Dish: Quinoa Patties with Goat Cheese and Mushrooms. This is why I love Supper Club, you get the chance to try out new things that you would have never thought of before. This was an interesting way to serve quinoa. The post said that the cheese was supposed to melt but it didn’t really do that, I would think that having crumbled goat cheese would be better for such a dish.

Dessert: Homemade Samoa Bars. If you are a fan of samoa Girl Scout cookies, then this dessert definitely tastes like it. We did notice that there seemed to be too much shortbread for our tastes so we would modify it next time to make the cookie thinner.

Costa Rica

Photo Shoot in the Water
How does one get the opportunity to go to Costa Rica without her husband? Why, you wait for your friend to turn 30 and invite you to spend a week on a gorgeous beach, listening to the ocean and soaking up the sun. That’s how and it was amazing.

Now, I’m sure you know many people who have traveled to Costa Rica and loved it. But I’m sure they went the whole “eco-adventure” route and all about backpacking through it. Um, no, that was not me and I was going to put my foot down if she had even suggested it. I was very content with this:
View of Waves
Doesn’t that look so much better?

Now, don’t think that that’s what we did all week (only most of it). We had to explore a little bit of the country. We did get off our butts and did some excursions. The first excursion was a river cruise in Palo Verde National Park. I would suggest this excursion if you are all about seeing some crocodiles and monkeys. This cruise will not disappoint.
Monkey Business
Crocodile
Heron In Flight
This excursion even took you to this 100 year old hacienda overlooking the valley and served us lunch. It was such a beautiful setting.
Don't We Look Sporty?

Our second excursion was a snorkel cruise. We went out on a catamaran and they sailed us to Honeymoon Bay where we had a chance to snorkel and play in the water.
Ready to Snorkel
I’ve snorkeled at quite a few beaches and it never fails to entertain me. Just being able to see all the colorful fish and plant life underneath the blue surface of the ocean. And plus the gear is always so sexy.
That Is One Sexy Look
After a simple lunch of sandwiches and fruit, the cruise took us across the bay and we got to enjoy a sunset up close and personal.
The Captain

Our hotel was actually in this little square and we strolled up there one evening to enjoy some live music and entertainment.
Band At Art Festival
Flamenco Dancer
Belly Dancer

But really, I would have to say, the sunsets were absolutely stunning. We couldn’t get enough of them.
Sunset
Sunset
Sunset

There were a couple of hiccups in our vacation plans that we did not expect. The first was the hotel. We did have a little misunderstanding in the beginning regarding our room situation (as in we asked for double beds and got a king) but they eventually rectified the situation after I pulled my “don’t mess with me” attitude. We ended up with a studio room. Not too bad. The second was that we had wanted to check out the rainforests and volcanoes of Costa Rica but it would have taken a minimum of four hours to get there. We were not going to do that. So, that was a little bit disappointing. But, now we learned and if we go back, we’ll stay more in the middle of the country in order to see the forests.

What a wonderful vacation with such wonderful company. Katie, if you decide to go on a vacation somewhere else, sign me up.

If you want to torture yourself, here are the rest of our pictures.