Mussels in lager

I've been meaning to make this for such a long time. So after a long week of work I figured I would finally treat myself. I've only attempted mussels once before and they were so-so. This recipe was from an awesome magazine I picked up at the Calgary airport called "Gourmet Quick!" I love all the recipes in that thing and the stains and wrinkled pages can attest to that. This is super quick and simple and is such a crowd pleaser! I served it along with some buttered and toasted hot dog buns because I know I did pay for a baguette at the grocery store but it didn't make it home with me for some reason so hot dog buns had to suffice, I called them a redneck baguette. Ha! Oh, and for those like me who didn't know what lager was.....It's just regular beer like Budweiser or Kokanee. I went to the liquor store to find this "special" beer and was later told that I didn't really have too so whatever you have on hand will probably work fine.  And I have to confess I forgot to add the mustard and cream for some reason but it was still delicious without it so if you don't have those things on hand don't fret.

 What you need
About 2 pounds of mussels
1/4 cup butter
A small onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of canned, diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp thyme
some salt and pepper
2 cups of lager (don't measure foam)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

First scrub the beards off your mussels and rinse them under cold water. No one wants to eat a mussel beard.
In a large pot melt butter on medium or so (don't let it burn) when foam subsides add onion, celery, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until veggies are soft (4 minutes)
Add beer and bring just to a boil. Turn to low, add mussels and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally for 4-6 minutes, transferring mussels to a bowl when opened (discard any that don't open after 6 minutes). Remove pot from heat. Stir together mustard and cream and add to broth along with parsley and whisk until combined. Serve sauce over mussels and serve with some kind of crusty bread to soak up all the delicious broth!

P.S. You can save any leftover broth to make a nice seafood soup or something like that later.