Tapas are terrific!

Dear Readers,
I'm sorry I'm such a terrible blogger. I just looked at my most recent post and it was on June 15. That's just despicable. After this post, I'm going to do a really long one mostly of photos and captions of deliciousness that deserved a post but that I have failed to talk about.
Anyway, today was my first day back home in Connecticut. After sitting in traffic for a good majority of the day, needless to say, I was quite cranky and of course, hungry. I originally had plans to hit up Buffalo Wild Wings with three of my dearest friends, but we had to reschedule because they all suck. Well, only one of them, but it's because of him we had to reschedule. Anyway, my dad really wanted to take me to this cool tapas place that my brother now washes dishes at. It's called Cadiz and it's right next to the movie theater in Bethel, a small town right next to mine. I'm always down for tapas, so I didn't protest.
We got there and the waitress told us to order two or three entrees each (as if I didn't already know how tapas worked....ha!) so of course my dad ordered like four entrees and I got two. I also made him order me a glass of wine (Spanish of course, gotta keep with the theme!)

Whaddup shrimp gumbo deliciousness! The dish on the right was made up of cold shrimp and scallops and topped off with a delicious fresh salsa. Oh MAN was it good. I'm a big fan of salsa, and I'll never object when scallops are part of the equation. On the right is an artistic array of chips and hummus. Nothing too fancy, but they sure made it look that way! And the hummus was very good.

This little beauty of a dish is artichoke chicken. The chicken was cooked to absolute perfection and smothered in juicy artichoke sauce. The veggies were very good as well. This, you see, is an example of artichokes used the right way. Not that there's ever a wrong way now that I think about it...anyone ever tried spinach and artichoke dip? Bomb.
Anyway, I ordered the beet salad, because let's be real, who can resist a good beet dish? Beets are nice and sweet and they're also fun to manj on because they have an interesting texture. Plus, they're supposed to be good for you or something like that.

You all KNOW how much I love cheese. See those little balls of goat cheese? They really give the beets an extra kick. Also, gotta love the toasted almonds. I put one on top of a piece of my beet I had just stabbed with my fork and was like, "Look Dad, it's wearing a hat!" He thinks I have problems.
Of course, since the portions are so small at a tapas restaurant, there's always room for dessert (or at least that's what I tell myself). I got really excited when I saw flan on the menu, and my dad got really excited when he saw chocolate mousse on the menu (and let's be real, so did I) so we went crazy and got both.

Flan is delicious AND squishy, making it pretty much the most fun thing to eat ever. I wish I knew how to make it myself! Maybe that's what I'll do while I'm home-go on a baking extravaganza and learn how to make flan. And mousse. I feel like that is both a valuable and relevant skill. Relevant to what, you ask? Life, duh. That's what. And then I'll become tremendously popular and a real hit at cocktail parties. That is all.