Paella, Sangria, and a Mystery Salad

The plumbers are here as I write this, fixing our sink so we can finally use the kitchen again.  Hope I didn't forget how to cook.  Or how to do dishes.  My husband will argue that I never knew how to begin with, and that is a mean thing to say so maybe I'll let him do them for now on.  That'll show him.  And also, that would be SO different than how things were before.

Anyway, I promised a post about my Mom's paella.  Growing up, there was a period of time where my Mom decided we needed more variety in our diets, and she implemented "recipe of the week" concept.  I don't know what kinds of cookbooks she was looking at, or what on earth her inspiration was, but the recipe of the week concept was a resounding flop and did NOT resonate well with the fam.  No one got excited about "recipe of the week" day, and quite literally the word "recipe" struck fear in our hearts and we begged our friends to invite us over for dinner or even feigned illness a time or two.  It didn't last long, thank goodness.  Now, I should give my Mom more credit that the recipe of the week story indicates.  She is actually a very good cook (recipe of the week IS the exception) and has quite a few specialties that we ask for every time we go home for dinner.  Paella is one of them.

My husband and I were home visiting with my parents this past weekend and paella and sangria were on the menu.  Score!  I told my Mom that she better make it a good batch because I'd arrive with my camera and would be posting about it on my blog.  I am pretty sure she thought I was kidding, but I wasn't.  Blogging is SERIOUS business, people!  Too bad she doesn't have a recipe written down and I was far too busy enjoying sangria and joking around with everyone to pay any attention to what was happening as this meal came together.  I seriously have no idea how you make paella, and when I asked my Mom for the recipe, she was like, "ohhh, you just sautee some chicken and scallops and sausage and throw them together with some spices and some rice". 

So, um...if you want a recipe for paella, I suggest you google it.