valentine's day: revisited

This blog has been mostly DIY/house stuff, but it's also kind of like my online scrapbook.  It's a way for me to record memories that Ehren and I are making.  I like that I can go back and relive house projects and special occasions and holidays and thoughts and day to day things that I might otherwise forget.  I've written about date nights at home here and here and just looking at the pictures takes me back - even though it's been only a few months ago.  I'm looking forward to looking back on these blog posts years from now so I can remember how we tried to make every moment special.

So now that I've gone all sappy on you, let's get even worse and talk Valentine's Day.  Before Ehren became my Valentine, my dad was.  One of my favorite memories growing up (that seemed normal to me at the time) was a little dinner that my dad would make on V-Day.  And by little I mean a TEN POUND HEART-SHAPED MEATLOAF.  Sounds disgusting and like something off Man v. Food, doesn't it?  Well, it wasn't.  It was delicious and provided many leftovers, as you can imagine.  He would also set up a scavenger hunt with multiple clues and riddles around the house that we would have to decipher before we got to our special V-Day present.  If only I had pictures to share!

V-Day isn't a big deal per se but we like to make it special.  Ehren and I have now made a tradition where we spend Valentine's Day at home.  We've been doing it for the past four years and I love it.  We make it a little more fancy by spending a little more money on the food and adding dessert and maybe some candles.

Here's the menu:

Ehren usually ends up being my sous-chef and is excellent at grating cheese.

I asked him to grate 1 cup of the white cheddar cheese for the creamy dreamy mashed potatoes which translated to 2 1/2 cups in his mind.  Heck, it's Valentine's Day, you have to at least double the amount of cheese.

The creamy-dreamy mashed potatoes recipe is from this cookbook that I got as a bridal shower gift.  Everything I've made from this has been delicious.  

Making balsamic syrup is probably the easiest thing ever.  Boil balsamic vinegar and sugar until it's thick.  That's it.

Mmm, fillet mignon.  Fun physical therapy related fact:  the fillet mignon is the iliopsoas major muscle in the cow.  We humans have this muscle and it's a very deep hip flexor muscle.  Woo, anatomy!

Sear them in some butter for about 3 minutes per side so they are medium rare.

Another "easiest thing ever" is oven roasted asparagus.  Snap the ends off the asparagus, drizzle with EVOO, salt and pepper and cook at 400 degrees until you can easily stick a fork in them (approximately 15 minutes)

Pouring wine is easy, too.  Especially with a fancy decanter.  And when your husband does it for you.

After the fillets are done, crumble goat cheese on top and broil until the cheese melts.  Then drizzle the balsamic syrup over the top.

A post isn't complete until Cozy makes an appearance.  Here he is begging under the table.  His new thing is resting a paw somewhere on us (foot, arm, shoulder, leg) to politely ask for a bite.

While we were eating dinner, I looked around and there were EIGHT toys surrounding the dining room table.  I think someone was trying to get our attention.

At first I thought the dinner would be a big, messy, pain in the ass, but it wasn't.  It was almost easier than some of the weeknight meals I make.  There were fewer dishes, very little chopping (only the potatoes) and I didn't even throw a spatula!  The hardest part was getting everything to finish at the same time.  Good thing I'm good at organizing and planning.  We finished the food fest with some Cold Stone ice cream that I picked up earlier. 

 I wonder what life will be like next Valentine's Day?  Will we stay classy and make more fillets or fish or will we go old school and start the heart-shaped meatloaf tradition?  All I know is that it will be better than the last as we will have another year of lovin' each other under our belts.  Cheers to that.