The New Bookclub: Theme Spain

For months the bookclub has been meeting, but many of us have been "bad girls" and not been able to keep up with the hectic reading schedule of one book every two months.  We decided we had to keep getting together and wanted to do something where everyone can contribute.  Erika suggested we have a themed eating and drinking meeting replace reading a book.  So, last week, we kicked off the new bookclub with a Spanish theme.  

As you can see we had a wonderful selection of Spanish red wines to choose from as well as some delicious sangria that Andrea made in honor of our theme.  These paired perfectly with the delicious cheese and olives that Lauren brought.  Lauren marinaded a mix of green and black olives in oil, garlic, herbs, and red pepper flakes.  These got our tastebuds ready for our first course, gazpacho.  I used a variation of this recipe, which included tomatoes, grilled red pepper, red onion, garlic, and marjoram.  It was just the right amount of spiciness--luckily for me the onion and garlic had a bit of a bite.  

As we sat around Erika's beautiful dining table and enjoyed each other's company we were served chicken Marbella and Spanish rice family style.  If you have not eaten or prepared chicken Marbella, you should.  The chicken is marinaded for hours with sugar, wine, prunes, olives, herbs, and garlic.  All the sweet, tart, and salty flavors come together while baking to create the Marbella flavors, yum!  Chelsea made her jazzy Spanish rice with tomatoes and peas, a perfect accompaniment.  In my book, the new take on the bookclub was a success!