virginia + tom, committed relationshipMy Valentines Day was fabulous! Last night at 7:00 the only people left in the office were the three happily married young people – me and two guys….the singletons were long gone!!! When I got home two things were off…..the lights were mostly turned off and tom was vacuuming??I went in; turned the lights on–nothing interesting in sight, so I went about preparing his favorite seduction meal, rib eye steak marinated in red wine, onion powder, thyme, salt ‘n pepper, served with new potatoes with sour cream and chives, and a green salad – he gets this every year. I didn’t expect anything form him as he is very cynical about the whole from this pressure-filled hallmark holiday-thing, but he kept urging me to go into the bedroom. The lights were off and when I turned them on there were a dozen beautiful long stemmed red roses and a gift bag. In it was a teddy bear holding a heart shaped box and in the box was a pair of diamond earrings…
ellen + jeff, married
I had THE most romantic Valentines Day ever–although I have a lot of close seconds. My husband is A+ in the romance category. When Jeff came home from work, he told me to go into the bedroom and wait until he knocked on the door. He came to the bedroom, took my hand an walked me into the living room. There were candles lit everywhere—the room was aglow! Standing in the corner playing the violin was a student from Juliard playing Tchaikovsky. She serenaded the two of us with seven more exceptional musical pieces; giving us a little history about each song– it was so beautiful! And the timing was perfect–when she was done, as she left–the doorman buzzed to let us know the delivery man from Patsy’s Pizzeria was downstairs. Life couldn’t be any better!
randee + kevin, married
Valentines day was really nice! Kevin brought me coffee in bed where we exchanged cards. I came downstairs to find long stem roses in a vase. We went to Bravo Bravo in Mystic for dinner. I had a bellini martini (peach schnapps, champagne, raspberry and an orange twist) and Kevin had a dirty martini. We split a warm goat cheese salad. Their bread is awesome (served with red pepper hummus, olives and olive oil).
I had Salmon with blood orange salsa over jasmine dirty rice. Kevin had pork chops with mashed potatoes.I had Chardonnay, he had Russian River Pinot Noir.They had wine glasses on every table with valentine’s hearts.. I picked ALL MINE! We came home, looked at the moon and acknowledged our blessings. Then Kevin made a fire in the fireplace and we watched “Becoming Jane” with Anne Hathaway about Jane Austen.
chris + peggy, married
Chris and Peggy drank:
Blood Orange + Lime + Vodka cocktails
Manzanilla Sherry
Veuve Cliquot
Those are roasted pine nuts in the middle, too. Cheers!
My Valentine – I surprised my husband with a romantic dinner. Menu: Strawberry, goat cheese salad. Filet of beef au poivre (barefoot contessa) with roasted potatoes. Chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Complete with candles and flowers. I found everything on foodnetwork.com. I don’t normally cook, so my husband was really surprised.
alison + irene, “in escrow”
My girlfriend picked a restaurant several weeks ago and made us a reservation; I read the menu and its EXACTLY the same as other nights, but the prix fixe was twice as much just cause its Valentine’s Day. So we decided to stay in and go out another night. Seemed like a better idea since sometimes I work late and its hard to make dinner plans in advance. So now, Irene (who loves to have an excuse to cook something new) is making us what she calls a “rock & roll clambake” comprised of clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and lobster. We sometimes go to BLT Fish Shack (www.bltfish.com/shack/) on Monday nights for the “rock & roll clambake.” Irene wants to try and recreate it at home. Dessert is a surprise.
As it turns out, the menu was changed from the “rock & roll clambake” to the “Rustic Seafood Stew”, but it was equally delicious.
Christy + Steve, engaged
We went to this little place in our neighborhood called Elote. It’s Mexican. Steve loves Mexican food, and I’ve sort of been obsessed with Mexican food and culture since we got engaged in Tulum (in the Yucatan) in December. The restaurant is usually a casual kind of place, but the staff dressed up for the occasion, and they were playing romantic music in the background – lots of love songs.
The oyster stew was yummy, and I loved the scallop appetizer. And the margaritas there, are kick ass. Overall, it was delicious (and a bargain to boot).
stacey, single
I went to a friends house where 5 of us watched Lost. I brought a 7 layer dip, and my pal Cher made a slow cooking roast.
Jeff + Katie, married, 1 child
Pre-Valentine’s day dinner included Saturday night dining at Peter Luger’s with another couple. Two orders of steak-for-two, medium-well for the girls and medium-rare for the guys. Side orders included tomato and onions, cream of spinach and fries. Desert was a key lime and chocolate cake slice with schlag, which is an incredible German whipped cream. Amazing. It was planned for two weeks, hence the amazing dining time we got for 4:45 🙂
For Valentine’s evening I made a salad which consisted of fresh spinach with crushed walnuts, chopped shallots, fresh breadcrumbs drizzled with a light olive oil and vinegar dressing as the foundation. On top I prepared thin breaded chicken strips topped off by toasted breaded disks of goat cheese and garnered with apple slices. It was really good!
