Valentines Dinner Recap...

Hope everyone had a sweet, fun and sentimental Valentines Day! I had to share a recap of mine since I certainly had a more unconventional one, as my boyfriend and I live on separate islands and were unable to be together for the holiday. I am a total sucker for corny holidays, (def got that from my mom haha) so when she decided she didn’t want to go out to dinner with my dad, we figured we’d do one at home. And oh how amazing an idea it was! Rather than try and beat the crowds for reservations at overly priced restaurants, we had a family friend over, decorated the table and had the most incredible steak and lobster dinner…no complaints! It was so great to have a high quality, homemade meal that was simple to make, completely indulgent and special, and be able to enjoy from the comforts of a (transformed) home.

Mom asked me to do the tablescape since she had gotten a few Sees candies (the peppermints and red hot hearts are sooo good!), roses and found heart shaped confetti we probably had since I was in highschool laying around the house. And since I am obsessed with apothecary jars (collecting them anytime I stumble upon them at Ross) I filled them with sweets and used them to adorn the table.

Our simple and sweet tablescape…as I am a gold fiend I always have to dial back my natural desire to use metallic vessels in lieu of glass, but loved those Pier 1 votives we found awhile back, although we still need to find the appropriate sized candles for them.

We have Costco to thank for this (or rather my) highlight of the meal…delicious lobster tails! Ordering lobster at a restaurant is usually such a point of guilt because they’re so dang expensive, but who knew you could buy 2 big lobster tails from Costco at less than $30 ($10-$15 a piece)?! And thanks to the magic of youtube, my dad managed to perfectly grill them and top them with a mouthwatering garlic butter. I’m salivating just remembering it…and got to eat 2-minus the guilt, how amazing is that??

Our unbelievable dinner: grilled steak & lobster, wild rice & iceberg wedge salad with sugared pecans, bacon bits & blue cheese dressing. Definitely not a diet friendly meal for the faint at heart but oh so delicious it is going down in our family history as one of the best meals we’ve ever cooked together…hands down!

Ironically, the store bought chocolate covered strawberries & berry macarons weren’t the highlight of dessert, as our dear family friend who joined us made a yummy berry crisp that was light and tart and perfectly matched with the macadamia nut ice cream we had in the freezer…the only part of dessert that I finished! This was certainly a 5 star home-cooked meal in my book, and made me realize how nice it truly is to be able to create a sentimental atmosphere at home and be able to cook a fantastic (and cheaper!) meal for Valentines Day than it costs to go out to a fancy meal especially on such a manic holiday. How did you spend your Valentines Day?

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