Tom and I celebrated Valentines Day on Friday. Tom was in charge this year (we alternate who plans Valentines and our Anniversary each year). He had made a menu with seven different items I could choose from, and then we went and bought all the ingredients. (Which was a thrill in and of itself because we never shop at “normal” grocery stores, so when we do its like visiting an amusement park!- I’ll have to post on that later.) For appetizer we had crostini made up of slices of Spanish manchego cheese and yellow delicious apple. A salad of golden raisins, feta, toasted almonds with a paprika poppy seed vinaigrette over butter lettuce. Paninis of grilled veggies and artichoke aioli; and for dessert, flourless chocolate cake and strawberries. It was a decadent and delicious meal and we made it all right at home. It’s a tradition of ours to make a fancy meal ourselves for Valentines day. I prefer it that way because then I don’t get that: here we are with the rest of the world trying to be romantic while this restaurant is trying to provide a romantic setting. . . blah blah blah. I prefer to create the romance myself! (wink.)

Here’s a few picts of our meal: (I know, I know it’s the foodie in me).

Tom’s paninis were amazing. He julienned a zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, and red onion and broiled them. He then toasted the bread over the gas stove. Combined with my artichoke aioli, the flavors were incredible, and the look- like confetti.

This is a “morning after” pict. (Okay maybe afternoon after, because we both had some for breakfast.) Needless to say, we really enjoyed this flourless chocolate cake.
All in all it was a wonderful Valentines day. Full of remembered memories, laughs and plenty of love.

And now to each of you, may we express our love. Happy Valentines day!