Valentine's Date

We are huge homebodies at heart, and sometimes this works to our advantage. When we were dating, Mike could easily convince me to have special dinners at home. When we got engaged, we splurged on a lobster and cooked it at home. Our first few Valentine's days? At home, of course.

These days, that works to our advantage, because our warm fuzzy memories are of cozy dinners at home, just the two of us, and that's what we want more than anything.

So, this year, as always, we added another cozy memory to the bank.

We started with an appetizer that hasn't shown up for quite a while. Little toasts, topped with thin slices of cucumber and cold smoked salmon. These are fantastic. Initially, the idea came from a Barefoot Contessa episode on the Food Network. So good.

My mom and I lucked up on some marked down Meyer lemons last week. I had big plans to do something fancy with them, but they ended up becoming sparkling Meyer lemonade. I told myself that I was just appreciating the flavor. Let's face it. Lazy is as lazy does. But, this lazy tasted really good, and we did appreciate the unique flavor.

And, a classic. Grilled tenderloin, with roasted sweet potatoes (topped with garlic infused kosher salt). It's classic for a reason. So good.

A funny story about my amaretto. I love, love, love some amaretto. And I wanted it to pour over my strawberries this year (which were awesome, by the way). So, I stopped by the liquor store to buy a mini bottle (which is what fit into the budget this week). We live close to a university, so the kid in front of me presented his ID and the cashier scrutinized it for. ever. Then, when it was my turn, he didn't even ask. I walked away all defeated. Do I really look that old? Am I losing my coolness? And, then, I realized. Dude, I was buying a mini bottle. No underage kid would be interested in that. I had given away my age completely. And I reassured myself that I still had it.

Of course.

The strawberries were fabulous, in all their out of season glory. Yum.

And a night with my Valentine? Better than anything else. I love that man with everything I've got. Thanks for making me better at being me, honey. You're the best.