i met someone

new years eve was a lazy, rainy day here in chicago but i still found it to be exciting. mainly because i met someone. his name is dirk. he's tall, dark, handsome... and he has mussels. lots and lots of mussels.

and oysters and red snapper and tilapia and alaskan king crab..

as you can probably guess, i did not meet my future husband on new years eve. i did, however, fall in love with dirk's fish and gourmet shop.

my plans for new years eve included a night in with good food, good drinks and amazing friends. we planned on having bruschetta, prosciutto wrapped mozzarella, mussels and gnocchi. i was in charge of the mussels. having never bought mussels before, i felt a bit lost. you would think that if i were planning on making mussels i would firstly know how to get mussels. this was not the case. luckily chowhound helped me out and i found dirk's shop. i've lived in chicago for 5 1/2 years and i am just now finding out about dirk's?!! i'm sorry it's taken me this long to be enlightened but i'm ready to make up for lost time.

even on a rainy friday the line at dirk's was to the door. dirk and his wife terry were working. i love when owners are ringing up customers and available to chat. after i paid for my three pounds of mussels, i went back home, soaked them in water and reviewed the recipe i was going to use. i followed the mussels "peppetedda" recipe in julia della croce's latest cookbook, because we all know i can't get enough of her cookbook.

i forgot the parsley at my apartment but the mussels were still pretty good. and you can't go wrong with bruschetta, prosciutto, mozzarella, gnocchi and, of course, champagne. what a way to end 2010.

and now, the gratuitous first picture of 2011!