Friday, February 25, 2011

le jour d'amour

Remember when it was Valentine's Day almost two weeks ago? Well, it was actually probably the most successful V-Day thus far. We planned a night in. I made a fancy dinner, Sam made dessert, and we Netflixed Breakfast at Tiffany's (which neither of us had seen). A completely delightful, low-key, and romantic evening.
As for dinner, it was nearly everything I hoped for. I went to Whole Foods to find the nicest food I could, and I still wasn't settled on a main dish. I headed over to the fish counter and the fishmonger (I really wanted to say that-- don't know that I've ever had a reason to type it) immediately sold me on the wild Alaskan salmon. And let me tell you, it was the best decision I've made all year. I never buy salmon, and this did not disappoint. It was pricey, but nowhere near ordering it in a restaurant.
Here is an incomplete cast of characters:
The menu:
french onion soup
green salad with herbed buttermilk dressing and homemade croutons
roasted and mashed cauliflower
grilled salmon with lemons
grapefruit italian soda
and s'mores for dessert

And the ugly photo of the food all laid out.
The french onion was soup was a complete and total bust. Like, seriously, so disgusting. I have no idea what happened to it, but it tasted like oily, salty water. We each took a bite and threw the rest out. Fortunately, the rest of the food was so deliciously marvelous, it completely made up for the french onion fail.
I was so happy to make my Sandlot reference when Sam suggested s'mores for dessert via text. "Do you like s'mores?" said Sam. "S'more what?" I replied. Ha. So it wasn't the perfect set-up. I still loved it. And I rarely (if ever) think of s'mores as a treat I would like to make myself, so it was a lovely and simple and surprising. (Though, this is actually the second time in the last year I've eaten s'mores. Before that, I think it dates back to about 2001 at girls' camp.)It should be mentioned, that I also made homemade peanut butter cups, but they went unpictured. But they are every bit as mind-blowing as you could ever hope or dream.
The lesson we learned was we much prefer the low-key holiday to the hyped up craze. I also learned I want to eat salmon every day. (oh wait. I knew that already.)

2 comments:

  1. I like that plate for smores. I also like salmon.
    What french onion soup recipe did you use?

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  2. I agree with low key Valentines. J and I haven't gone out for V day in years because it is complete chaos and not romantic at all. And your food looks and sounds amazing! I'm so impressed!

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