Sweet Escape

Cupcakes are my kryptonite...

I am powerless against them...but only the really good gourment fancy-cupcake-store kind. I can walk right on by the grocery store variety...but if it is a cupcake from a bakery, I am weak. I have no strength to say no. I'm like an addict.

I'd forgotten that there is another substance in this world that I also have no ability to say "no" to:

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

I love love love chocolate mousse...

so much so that I have actual memories tied to chocolate mousse...

Like the first time I ever ate it. My dad had taken me, my mom, my sister S, my sister N, and my brother B up to Washington DC to see the sights. We flew up and arrived late in the evening but early enough for dessert. My father ordered 2 of everything on the menu.

When it arrived, I was intrigued by the stuff called "mouse" (I thought it was mouse, like the rodent...my father corrected me to "moose"). It came in a bowl set inside another bowl surrounded by ice. We had a wonderful hotel suite...with a big window with a view of the city and monuments. I am fuzzy as to whether it was the Capitol or White House we could see, but I remember looking upon it. Daddy and I pulled up chairs in front of the window and ate our mousse and looked at the beautiful lights of our amazing capitol city. The mousee was rich, chocolatey, velvety, and the best tasting thing I had ever had. I licked the bowl...

My mom got to be a pretty amazing chocolate mousse chef. She made a wicked mousse in the blender. It was all good until the night she was yelling at us for something and started the blender---without the lid on it. I don't remember how long it took to get it all off of the cabinets, but I remember my sister (I will not name which one) licking a cabinet when my mom announced she did not have enough ingredients to make another batch.

My favorite place to get chocolate mousse, now that I have lost my precious mommy, is Gaidos in Galveston. If I go there, I must get it...and I eat it all. It is truly one of the most glorious desserts in this world. And, like Crave cupcakes, I am powerless against it.

So Saturday night Hubby decides he wants to go eat at Gaidos. He is from Galveston and he really enjoys having dinner at Gaidos. For years we would drive to Galveston for the evening to take his mother to dinner at Gaidos. We would pack the kids in the car, and very often my mom too, and head to Galveston, pick up his mom, eat at Gaidos, take her back, and head home...and we always had the kids change into pajamas before we left the restaurant parking lot because they would pass out in the back on the way home. And yes, we always had chocolate mousse for dessert...

We lost his mother 2 months before we lost mine, but we always think of her when we go to Gaidos...

Hurricane Ike was hard on the island....Galveston is recovering but hasn't fully recovered and Gaidos has had to change because of it...but they still make the best chocolate mousse!

My aunt was down in Galveston, visiting her precious friend I call CAT (Cute And Tiny---you know, because she IS cute and tiny)and her friend Wonder Woman was also down for a visit.

I need to explain Wonder Woman. She EARNED that name. She IS Wonder Woman.

She had ovarian cancer. BAD ovarian cancer.

She kicked overian cancer's ASS (sorry for the curse word, but it is needed)...

She kicked ovarian cancer's ASS to the curb!

Wonder Woman, who has long been one of my favorite of my aunt's friends, continues to be the gorgeous, sexy, fabulous woman she was before the cancer...just even more so because...she kicked ovarian cancer's ASS...

So Wonder Woman is there---and I am so excited to see her because it has been years---and she has her sister and her gorgeous niece's with her (wish TCBITW had been with me...his eyes would have spun at the beauty of these girls) and CAT's brother and friends are there...well, you know it was a party...

So I had to bring wine...

And I had to drink the wine...

And CAT and Wonder Woman made some amazing shrimp kabobs...which we sampled...but hubby still wanted Gaidos so we saved room...for the chocolate mousse...

I had a great time with my aunt...she's the best person in the world so she has great friends...because she is the best person in the world...

A fun time was had by all and then we had to tear ourselves away to go to Gaidos...

But I wish I had stayed at CAT's house...because then I would have escaped the mousse episode...

Off to Gaidos we go...and they have soft shell crab...another weakness...

3 of them appear on my plate...pan-fried...perfect...sweet and yummy...I ate 2...and all of my veggies...

and then I had the mousse...it was heaven....

kryptonite...

but worth it....so worth it...

but as sweet as that mousse was, the REAL sweetness of the evening was spending time with my precious aunt (who is the best person in the world...in case I haven't told you that) and CAT, and CAT's brother and friends and the beautiful girls, and Wonder Woman...who kicked ovarian cancer in the ass...5 years and counting...and her sister of course...

because kryptonite can make your powerless...but love can make you conquer anything...even cancer...

So here's to my aunt...who is the best person in the world...

and CAT---who always opens her home and her heart to me...

and Wonder Woman---because I love her and she is HERE...after kicking ovarian cancer you-know-where!

and Gaidos...for giving me the best chocolate mousse...that was worth every calorie...and I worked it off the next day...all the while being happy that I am blessed...

Inspiration Music: "Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani