A Blind Friend Date

Now that I've officially transplanted myself down here in Florida, it's time to make friends...easier said than done. I'm not 10 anymore. I can't find a new bestie by offering up my PB&J to the girl sitting next to me in the lunch cafeteria. So where do you go to make QUALITY friends once school is over and you're out in the real world? The bar? God no. Your job? Perhaps. The grocery store? Tried and failed. Match.com? Ok, now we're just getting desperate (but please believe this idea did go through my head at one point).

You want friendships to happen organically, but sometimes that is just not possible. The situation is further complicated when you're a female looking for same sex friends. Trust me. So, I had my aunt set me up on a blind friend date with her assistant at work.

We attended a cooking class together at Italian eatery Bice that showcased classic Italian sauces. We learned the ins-and-outs of traditional bolognese, alfredo over homemade fettuccini, snapper Livorno style (onions, capers, kalamata olives, etc.), and a salad with a lemon and oil vinaigrette that stole the entire show. A few rounds of top-notch food, a couple glasses of red wine, and some quality female bonding time later, we decided to take it to the next level. She wanted to introduce me to her family. Yea, we move fast.

I was invited to a beachside BBQ the following weekend. Hoping to contribute something simple, spicy, and delicious, I settled on my own interpretation of "Sausage and Peppers". Now I'm not claiming to have reinvented the wheel here, but I have to say that this was unlike any sausage and peppers I've ever had. Move over red and green bell peppers. We got some new faces in town, and they're bringin' the heat.






Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
1.5 lbs pre-cooked sausage links, sliced
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into chunks
1 poblano pepper, cut into strips
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced in rounds
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cp cilantro, chopped
2 tb olive oil
salt to taste

Directions (serves 4)
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Bake sausage, uncovered, for about 20 minutes to get some good color and texture.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. After sausage is done cooking, take sausage slices out of the pan, leaving all of those succulent juices behind. Set sausage aside. Dump the pepper mixture into the same pan as the juices and cook for about 25 minutes.

5. Remove peppers from the oven and combine with sausage. Garnish with cilantro.

**The dish was a hit, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I got the almighty seal of approval from the parents. But girl, if you're reading this and it doesn't work out with us, don't worry. It's not you, it's me.