Valentine's Meal 2012 (When Lana Learns What Valentine's Is Really All About)

Matt and I have a tradition.  We do not really do gifts on Valentine's Day.  Our celebration is to make a meal together that we would not attempt on a normal day, and certainly not attempt alone.  So we spend a few days in January planning the menu.  On the morning of Valentine's Day we go grocery shopping.  Then spend the rest of the day in the kitchen together cooking, dancing, singing, etc.  It is wonderful and has brought to light many wonderful recipes that I have used many times since.  

Until this year it has pretty much been just Matt and I.  For the first two years, it was just Matt and I.  Then the third year we had a two month old who was pretty content in her bouncy seat and so it was still kind of just Matt and I.  Last year we had a one year old who tried to help but for most of the preparation she played or slept.  So once again it seemed as if it was mainly just Matt and I.

This year was a wildly different experience.  With a newborn and a very active two year old we had to re-look at our menu and also what Valentine's is all about.  In the past it has always been about being a couple and lavishing our love on the individual that we married.

This year I learned that Valentine's is not just about the individual that you share rings with, it is love for those in your family.  Sharing the celebration with Grace and Glen did not make the meal prep tedious or a challenge.  It was a joy to experience it with our little ones for we are celebrating our love for them also.

Valentine's also looked very different than it did in past years.  To start off it was not as "glamorous" as it was before (however glamorous as you can be when cooking all day).  I got a shower in the morning (a rare event) but Grace hid my comb so I never got to comb my hair all day.  Glen decided to spit up on Matt's pants and my shirt throughout the day.  Grace had a very disastrous blow-out of a diaper which led to an immediate bath for her.  And there was an abundance of water, brownie mix, pudding powder, and other items on the floor from Grace helping.  But there was also a lot of playing, singing and dancing not only with Matt but also with Grace.  Joy abounded.

 In making the menu for the meal we made sure to add at least one item that Grace could help make.

 We made a chocolate trifle for dessert.  Grace helped make the brownies, and the pudding.  She also checked each of the items for quality :)  Her face shows that each part was good!

 Glen had a very important job this year.  He was the supervisor.  He sat back and watched to make sure that everything got done as it should.

 He did such a good job that Grace just HAD to give him a hug.

 Our meal this year was simply following the ABC's...Alton Brown's Cooking.  Each of our new recipes came from Good Eats.  First we had Broiled Salmon with a Beurre Blanc sauce (Beurre Blanc is a spicy butter cream sauce...VERY GOOD!).  We also had home grown green beans, homemade bread, and a ceasar salad where the dressing was made from scratch.  Finally we finished off the meal with the chocolate trifle which is brownie, pudding, cool whip, and heath candy bars layered over and over and over.  Very rich, very good, and a dish that Grace could help the entire way through.

By the looks of it, Grace approves of the meal.

What a wonderful Valentine's Day it was.  And to celebrate with  my three Valentine's rather than just one...oh, how special that was!