Is anyone cooking a Valentine's Day dinner?

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Welcome to DC Sara, I hope you'll visit often.

We had a lovely afternoon of simply hangin' around the house and then I decided that we'd have a nice Seafood Pasta night.
So we headed over to our local Sprouts for some fresh Shrimp for Moi.
I defrosted a container of New Zealand Green Lip Mussels for DH's Pasta Bowl.



DH's Mussels



My Shrimp Scampi sans any pasta for me, I'd rather dunk half a loaf of bread in the sauce and call it good, better yet EXCELLANT!!!
(I followed the NYTimes recipe and simmered the wine with the Shrimp Shells as suggested by others, OH MY GAWD!)



A large bowl of crusty TJ's Ciabatta in the center of the table,
a glass or three of Champagne for the cook and everyone's STUFFED!

If there's room later this evening, there's still Brownies Ala Mode or Valentine's Day Lindor Dark Chocolates

*Cook's Note: those are Wild Caught Shrimp from the Sea of Cortez... I'd say 10-12 count easily, they're huge! I could only eat 4 of them before calling uncle!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ALL!!!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

… continued, dang it, somehow this posted before I was done …



I took the rest of the Shrimp, a dozen of them, peeled, deveined and did a quick steam. I put them on a tray and popped them into the deep freeze for later

I was going to buy only 6 Shrimps, which weighed in at .65lbs. --- fishmonger asks, are you sure you don't want a full pound? They're only $8.99/lb"

Okay! DEAL!!!

 

[taxlady]

I made smashed potatoes. DH fried some sunny side up eggs and toasted some whole grain bread. It was yummy.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Welcome to DC, Sara! I hope you visit us regular-like.

Joey, love those [emoji3590] pepperoni!

I did a full spread. First, fancy salads. Then Himself's favorite: breaded and baked pork chops. My favorite: asparagus. Mashed potatoes with the last of genuine Lawson's French onion chip dip mixed in. Dessert was cheesecake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. And now a bit of an alcohol rubdown (from the inside) for the cook.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

We've learned that it's best not to go out on Valentine's Day...

...or Easter, or Mother's Day, or any other "official" holiday. When we did go out, we'd celebrate a week before or a week after. I had originally planned for us to go out this past Tuesday. Then I started to do the math: appy, two drinks or a bottle of wine, two entrees, maybe a dessert. I don't spend that much for a week's worth of food! So...cheapy me cooked. One of these days I'll think of myself instead of my wallet - you know, the one that has moths fly out when it's opened.

 

[Just Cooking]

Ross, check this out. It sounds terrific to me.
https://www.afamilyfeast.com/sour-cream-pudding-cake/

This may well be a winner.. Thank you..

Ross

 

[bbqcoder]

My Shrimp Scampi sans any pasta for me, I'd rather dunk half a loaf of bread in the sauce and call it good, better yet EXCELLANT!!!
(I followed the NYTimes recipe and simmered the wine with the Shrimp Shells as suggested by others, OH MY GAWD!)

That sounds great. Will have to try it out. I like the idea of skipping the pasta and just using some bread.

Recently, I’ve made Shrimp Etoufee a couple of times that came out good. I believe it’s a NYT recipe as well.

 

[cjmmytunes]

Sounds like everyone had wonderful meals for V-day!


Mom had a hair appointment and I had a yukky-type check up (women know the exact one I'm talking about) so we had small salads in between the two, and got Chinese after my appointment was done.

 

[GotGarlic]

We've learned that it's best not to go out on Valentine's Day. Every place is packed, servers are rushed, food is often just so-so. So we stay in.

I'm thinking I'll make breaded baked fish spread with a mixture of mayo, homemade Dijon-style grainy mustard, preserved lemon and some Penzeys blend, rice pilaf with parsley from the garden, and green beans.

Tasty

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

That sounds great. Will have to try it out. I like the idea of skipping the pasta and just using some bread.

Recently, I’ve made Shrimp Etoufee a couple of times that came out good. I believe it’s a NYT recipe as well.

I do that a lot, I call it "picking my battles".
Do you want pasta or bread, but not both!
Wine or dessert? Wine please

Speaking of wine, I tried a new-for-me Sparkling Wine last night,
Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvee

Very nice!
I'll look for that again, for sure

 

[Kayelle]

This may well be a winner.. Thank you..

Ross

You're welcome Ross. Since I don't care for dark raisins, I'm thinking other dried fruit would work well, like cranberries, apple, or apricots.

 

[GotGarlic]

You're welcome Ross. Since I don't care for dark raisins, I'm thinking other dried fruit would work well, like cranberries, apple, or apricots.

I love using dried cherries in baked goods

 

[Just Cooking]

You're welcome Ross. Since I don't care for dark raisins, I'm thinking other dried fruit would work well, like cranberries, apple, or apricots.

Jeannie doesn't care for them either.. I, usually, switch them out too..

Ross