Friend and fellow-food blogger, The Internet Cooking Princess, recently hosted a Tapas Night. It was a wonderful evening with flowing sangria, scrumptious paella and a few other small dishes from myself and the fabulous Wendy.

Here are a few tapas highlights captured by my new husband:

The lovely hostess grilling some stinky cheese. What was it called again Meredith?

Sangria served in Spanish pitchers:

Delicious, bacon-wrapped dates courtesy of Wendy:

A ceviche of sea bass and halibut with avocado, tomatoes, cilantro and avocado. Recipe found here. I thought it resembled a chunky dip, so I served it with some bread for dipping.

And the star of the show … the paella that the hostess prepared in an incredible round tagine. This particular paella is the Food52 winning recipe for Moorish Paella.

Then the Internet Cooking Fiance broke out a little Vinsanto dessert wine they brought home from Italy. We all drank it like kool-aid (because we’re classy.)

And my new favorite salad, ripped off entirely from my new favorite tapas restaurant Si Tapas. Oranges, carrots, red onion and mint. Drizzle with olive oil and coarse salt, and you have a refreshing citrus salad with a nice crunch from the carrots. An unexpected combination that is surprisingly good.

Thank you to food-loving friends who brought a little Spain to Dallas for one night. Cheers!

Potatoes and Cheese. Almost nothing beats this combination. Layer with cream and sauteed onions, and we have magic.

These individual potato gratins are the creation of the delicious Stacey Snacks. A favorite food blog of mine for inventive, yet speedy meals.

She might have solved my dilemma of making big potato casseroles and wanting to eat the entire thing in one sitting. These individual ramekins look pretty on the plate and let each person enjoy their very own, personal gratin!

Saute slices of onion in olive oil with salt, pepper and some dried herbs (thyme, oregano or parsley, etc.) for 4 minutes or until onion is softened.

Slice potatoes (skin on) with mandolin or sharp knife as thinly as you can.

Butter individual ramekins, and layer potatoes, onions and shredded cheese in as many layers as will fit.

Top with a layer of cheese. Add another sprinkle of salt and moisten with a drizzle of cream or milk.

Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and cover with foil.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve immediately.

I used to be a high school Spanish teacher, and I still consider it my favorite job (or would that be the Arby's drive-through-girl?)

I am a sucker for Spanish grammer, Latin music and the amazing process of learning a new language. I liked to point out to the students that some words are simply more fun to say in Spanish. "Las Pantuflas" (Pan-tooo-flas) means slippers. It's just fun to say. I also have a soft spot for "Los Hongos" (Own-goes) which means "mushrooms." They taste good. They are fun to say. BRING ON LOS HONGOS!!!!

I saw this incredible recipe for mushrooms slathered in butter on Gourmet.com. Then one of my favorite food blogs SmittenKitchen featured the same recipe. I knew it was fate. These mushrooms were calling out to me.

And they are good! The mushrooms didn't disappoint, but sopping up the garlicky-butter-goodness with crunchy bread is really the highlight of this dish.

Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, and 1/8 tsp each of salt and pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley.