A Perfect Valentine's

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and my day could not have been better. It started out with a tough workout, with Adam, at IronTribe. I also took off half a day from work so I could get a head start on getting dinner prepared. It was SO much fun playing in the kitchen all afternoon. I wish I could do it full time. It has been such a nice surprise to enjoy and love cooking as much as I have found I do. Here is a peak into our Valentine's Day evening....

Adam is not a huge sweet/dessert fan. That doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy sweets, he just won't eat a lot of it....like me. Besides cooking him dinner, I wanted to get him a little something else. Adam does, however, LOVE fruit. So I made him a fruit basket filled with his fav's, and I searched all over the internet for the perfect, personal touch. Fruit stickers! They said : I'm going banana's over you, Orange you glad you're my valentine, I love you berry berry much, We make the perfect pear, You're so sweet, and You're the apple of my eye. I thought these were adorable! I also got him a card that said You > (cupcake). Because he is :)

I tried to make our dinner a little fancier for Valentine's Day. We cook a lot and because of that, I wanted last night to somehow be different than our typical night in. I thought that creating a menu would do the trick, so that is what I did! I came up with four courses to prepare for him.



 The first course was an assortment of cheddar cheese on (homemade!) Herb Crackers.






The second course was Chicken Salad Crostini. This is basically toasted "bread" topped with chicken salad. Again, all homemade!  





For the third course, which was the entree, I cooked Duck!! My dad had gone bird hunting a few weekends ago and brought us back duck, quail, and chucker. Adam and I thought that duck would be good for our special Valentine's day dinner. It turned out great, although I think I cooked it about 3 minutes too long. I served it with sauteed apples and roasted broccoli.



The last course was dessert, and it was amazing!!!!!!! Chocolate & Raspberry Pot de Creme is a treat that I will someday make again. Although it is technically Paleo, it should still be considered as a treat and therefore I can't make it ALL the time! Because I would eat it constantly. I saw this on The Food Lover's page (link on the right) and knew I had to give it a try. Adam really loved this as well and was excited when I told him that there were 2 more ramekins in the fridge :) And that says a lot considering he doesn't eat too many treats!

He also surprised me with some beautiful roses and an awesome apron. It was so appropriate since I am cooking so much now, and I tend to make a mess when I do :) We had a wonderful Valentine's day together and I hope you had a good one, too!