Falling Back into Blogging: Thanksgiving Recipes, Rants & Raves

It's been almost a year since I have carved out time to blog. Why? Raising two children is exponentially more time consuming than one, especially in the early years. Work has kept me very busy. Like "what is this elusive do-nothing government employee I keep hearing about?" busy. I come across wonderful recipes, tips, restaurants and ideas, yet time to send them back out has eluded me. Also, many of the cool internet finds go on my Facebook "Smelling and Tasting Life" page. It also occurred to me that our home office/guest bedroom now hosts a child by night, so my evening inspirations were leading me straight to the kitchen. Or I fell asleep when possible!

So, what's new? My wheat allergy continues. That has changed how our family eats. My recipes that used wheat flour are now with premade store-bought mixes, usually from Aldi. Or, sometimes I can use oats, corn flakes or a small amount of corn starch. The other day I used kosher gelatin to thicken my gravy. I mention this because I will often make and take roundabout recipe decisions and food choices that people who can and want to eat wheat would not do. These don't usually translate by weight or measurement to wheat flour or bread crumbs, so make adjustments on your own or use the ideas or recipes and look for tested recipes using wheat flour as guides. This also means that almost any sweet or baked good I consume is coming from home, not the mean wheat-filled streets.

And if all that isn't enough, a disclaimer: I have fully adopted a "cook like a grandma; don't look like a grandma" philosophy. That means I don't measure anything unless it's for some huge, major event or a couple times during the holidays. So, treat my recipes as guideposts and inspirations and consult sources that tend to test well like America's Test Kitchen/Cooks' Illustrated/Cooks' Country, Gourmet (found at epicurious.com), bettycrocker.com (often not my first choice, but they do test recipes).

Still here? Great! So much is going on in our kitchen.

Before I launch into cooking, I need to say this one more time: Aldi is your friend. Anyone out here on the grind knows wages are flat. Adjusted for inflation, they are down. Down, I say! Why do I mention this? Saving money feels best when one doesn't feel it. Aside from my pride being bruised when I realized I was losing cash money by not giving Aldi a chance, I am pain-free. Here is a smattering of my favorite Aldi things:

Pesto-Red AKA sun-dried tomato, and Green AKA basil pesto. These sell for $1.29-$1.69 and are now my base for tomato pasta sauce. I use 1/3 of each pesto along with a large can of crushed tomatoes, a small can of diced tomatoes, and a small can of...

Secret Agent Ingredient: canned carrots
I put canned carrots in smoothies, soups, marinara sauce and stews. They are a great thickener and sneak in veggies when my kids (or I) am picky and peckish. The carrots are 65 cents at Aldi all day every day and also get puréed into carrot ginger soup and even baked goods.

*Fried apples are a seasonal gift from the heavens. Use them. Most importantly stock up! Make a Dutch Baby!!

A pint of heavy cream is $1.69. Just wrap your head around that. It's cheaper than butter. WOW.

Related recipe that sets you back like $1 per person when shopping at Aldi:
"French" Tomato Soup
NOM! We had an inspiration at work. Why should French onion soup have all the fun? What if we started making tomato soup like French onion soup, with the equivalent of an open grilled cheese sandwich on top?? Why haven't we done this before?!?!?! Make some homemade tomato soup (Stewed tomatoes, large 26-ounce can, small handful of washed fresh basil (or a spoonful each of red pesto and green pesto), 1/2 of a 15-ounce can of carrots, a dash of butter or olive oil (if not using pesto). Add 1/2 cup cream and a cup of chicken or vegetable stock. Purée with an immersion blender or in a traditional blender. Top with croutons or potato bread. Then top with sharp Cheddar cheese and broil in the oven until melted and bubbly.
me favorite recipes, musings, and food combinations:

Dutch Baby with *Fried Apples
What is a Dutch Baby? As far as I can tell, it's a lazy-ass crêpe. Instead of painstakingly using this recipe to make wonderful semi-transparent crêpes, dump this mixture over some bubbling hot fried apples from a can, courtesy of Aldi, that you have transferred to your skillet. If your conscience doesn't allow for this "one and done" approach, make sure everyone sees and hears you chopping an apple or two, which will also give everyone more apples and cut down on the overall sugar per serving. Turn down the heat to low and cover about 3-4 minutes, checking until the mixture no longer jiggles. Sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar if you did not use the sweet fried apples.

Another Dutch Baby option is to fry some ham or turkey ham, add a generous teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the sizzling ham and dump the batter over that. Turn down the heat to low and cover about 3-4 minutes, checking until the mixture no longer jiggles. Top with Swiss cheese and some cracked black pepper and serve with a salad.

Native American Fry Bread as inspiration
So, it can be rather depressing to be wheat free when you want bread dripping with oil or butter. Funny, when I could eat bread, I didn't often want this. One night I made Aldi's gluten-free pizza dough mix crossed with equal amounts of Aldi's baking mix (about 3 cups total), plus one egg and just under a cup of milk. I fried it in a sauté pan with a healthy dose of coconut oil, flipping it to brown both sides. It was some kind of good!!

To try: Feta-Stuffed Hush Puppies from Cava Mezze
I had (although I wasn't supposed to) some Feta hush puppies at Cava Mezze over a month ago. They were savory, crunchy and had a sweet orange marmalade butter served alongside. I will try this with gluten-free cornbread mix at Aldi and see how it turns out.
(Inspired by Emeril's Cheddar Hush Puppies)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup bleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 ounces crumbled Feta cheese (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup minced yellow onions
1 1/2 teaspoons minced jalapeños
1 1/2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

DIRECTIONS
-Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
-Add the cheese, onions, jalapeños, and hot sauce and mix well.
-Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 1/2 cup water. Mix well. If using gluten-free flours, rest batter 10-20 minutes.
-Pour enough oil to come halfway up the sides of a large heavy pot or electric deep fryer and heat over high heat to 360°F. In batches, without crowding, drop tablespoons of the batter into the hot oil.
-Deep-fry on all sides until the hush puppies rise to the surface and are golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
-Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.
--For the butter, mix equal parts orange marmalade and soft butter. Swoon!

Backyard Barbecue Beans From Cook's Country | June/July 2016
My kids and I eat this often on Saturdays after lessons, hopefully before our nap. I use turkey hot dogs instead of bratwurst and usually add--you guessed it--a can of carrots.

SERVES 12 TO 16
Be sure to use a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan or a roasting pan; the volume of the beans is too great for a 13 by 9-inch ceramic baking dish, and it will overflow. We found that Bush’s Original Recipe Baked Beans are the most consistent product

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 pounds bratwurst, casings removed (we use 4 to 6 turkey hot dogs, sliced)
2 onions, chopped
2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans
2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained
1 (10-ounce) can Ro-tel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

INSTRUCTIONS
-Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk barbecue sauce, ketchup, water, mustard, vinegar, liquid smoke, granulated garlic, and cayenne together in large bowl; set aside.
-Cook bratwurst in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces with spoon, until fat begins to render, about 5 minutes.
-Transfer bratwurst mixture/hot dogs to bowl with sauce. Stir in baked beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans, and tomatoes. Transfer bean mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking pan and place pan on rimmed baking sheet.
-Arrange bacon pieces in single layer over top of beans. Bake until beans are bubbling and bacon is rendered, about 1½ hours. Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve.

TO MAKE AHEAD: At end of step 3, beans can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Proceed with recipe from step 4, increasing baking time to 1¾ hours.


 Brownie Fudge Don't Know What This Good Thing Is
Half box (used Aldi gluten-free) brownie mix--1/2 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk--Dash cream--2 handfuls of chopped nuts of your choice--6 ounces (1/2 bag) semisweet chocolate chips. Mix in a glass 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round pie pan. Bake 350 for 30 minutes. OMG!! So good.

Thanksgiving Click on "Thanksgiving" to see all prior Smelling and Tasting blog recipes that reference Thanksgiving!

Creamy No-Boil Mac 'n' Cheese
This recipe works PERFECTLY with gluten-free pasta. It solves the mushy "this is not really pasta but shaped glue" problem. Plus, it's lazy and tastes great. I plan to coach my oldest to make her mac 'n' cheese this way so she can have another recipe under her belt. This one is great for kids since they won't need to touch a hot stove or hot water to make this.

Teff Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Haven't tried this gluten-free carrot cake yet, but it's on my list to make!! Many mistakes can be masked by delicious frosting, so willing to try.

Sweet Potato Goodness
This sweet potato goodness is so delicious. Add an egg white or a heaping teaspoon ground flaxseed or corn starch instead of flour. I make this in the food processor. Lazy step 1: Bake sweet potatoes for 30 minutes when something else is cooking. Lazy step 2: I blend the peeled sweet potato, spices, salt, candied ginger and cream along with 1/4 cup oats. I then put a little streusel topping on the bottom, add the sweet potato mixture, then add the rest of the oat-coconut topping. Delish!! Even better, it's easy to "veganize" and hard to mess up.

What to do with leftover Turkey? Turkey Nachos
Combine chopped turkey, cranberry sauce, bbq sauce and slow cook on low heat in a pan on the stove for 15 minutes. On a ceramic or glass plate or metal pan, layer tortilla chips, brie or Cheddar cheese, white beans, sour cream. Bake 7 minutes at 375°F. Top with mango or pineapple salsa. You could also make open-face sandwiches with the turkey mixture, cheese and leftover rolls or cornbread.

Courtship Lasagne-the way to a love's heart...

Lasagne recipe

I made this often during engagement and the early throes of marriage, along with plump meatballs, West-African chicken stews, homemade salad dressings, inspired punches and brownies with more added ingredients than the original boxed contents. 

This can also be adapted for other baked pasta dishes. Mix cooked pasta with cheese mixture and layer in a similar way. 

Makes 6-8 very large servings

1/2 kilo or 1 pound ground beef and pinch baking soda or sodium bicarbonate. Do not use baking powder. 

2 pinches salt, 1/4 teaspoon 

1 tablespoon or 30 ml olive oil, if using lean meat

Thyme, oregano, allspice, black pepper for meat seasoning

3 jars or cans of pasta tomato sauce, 28 ounces or 796 ml each or use cans of crushed tomatoes. Save at least 1/2 can or jar for topping. 

2 cloves minced garlic

Leaves from 8 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped. Save a little parsley for topping. 

2 eggs

2 ricotta cheese containers, totaling about 32 ounces or 950 ml or use 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese

1 bag shredded Parmesan cheese, 200g

2 bags shredded whole milk (if available) mozzarella cheese, 400g. Save 1 packet for layering and for topping. 

Fresh pasta sheets, enough for 3 layers, or one dry box lasagne noodles at least 1 pound, 454g. Cook noodles until firm, cool, and set aside in a little cold water. 

Directions:

Cook ground meat in a large skillet with oil, if needed, herbs and spices, salt, and a pinch of baking soda to speed up meat browning. Cook until no longer pink and some meat and the pan get crusty brown. Add tomato sauce and set aside. 

Next, mix most of parsley, all garlic, both eggs and all cheeses except for 1 packet of mozzarella in a large mixing bowl until well combined. 

Set up a station of noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture. 

Layer 1: 1/2 meat sauce

Layer 2: pasta

Layer 3: 1/2 cheese mixture 

Layer 4: a small sprinkle mozzarella cheese

Layer 5: pasta

Layer 6: 1/3 meat sauce

Layer 7: 1/2 cheese mixture 

Layer 8: a small sprinkle mozzarella cheese

Layer 9: pasta

Next, spread any remaining meat sauce plus tomato sauce on top of pasta. Top with parsley and the rest of mozzarella cheese. 

Bake, covered loosely with oiled aluminum foil at 350 degrees for one hour. If your oven runs hot, check after 45 minutes. When done, it should be bubbly and no longer watery. Turn off oven and remove foil. Leave in oven up to fifteen minutes. Then take out of oven and cover loosely with foil again for at least 20 minutes to allow lasagne to cool and set before serving. 

All for Fall: Autumnal Deliciousness

Fall in love with some new autumnal equinox recipes

Here is Ina Garten's Curried Butternut Squash-Apple Soup recipe, which tastes really good with my bacon fat enhancements
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used bacon fat)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples) or about 1 1/2 cups unsweetened chunky applesauce

2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice

Directions
Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, apples*, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apple*s are very soft. Puree the mixture coarsely in the bowl of a food processor. (*I used chunky unsweetened applesauce. You're welcome.)

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

My twist!
I added what I call "bacon-fat caramel"-2 teaspoons bacon grease, 1/4 cup maple syrup (or 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water) and a pinch of salt (I used smoked salt). I cooked on high heat for about 4 minutes until big, thick bubbles appeared and the mixture just started turning a darker brown. It smoked just a little because bacon grease does that. I then drizzled the caramel on top of some pumpkin seeds sprinkled atop the soup. It made a pretty good soup pretty amazing! To veganize the recipe, substitute butter and/or bacon fat for coconut oil.

This caramel treatment is also fantastic on roasted Brussels sprouts!

Another Barefoot Contessa Recipe--pasta made with fall flavors. It has Fontina, mushrooms, sage, Gorgonzola, and radicchio. I would serve with arugula and hazelnuts or walnuts I made a similar recipe last night and had to use brown rice pasta for glutinous reasons, which tasted only mildly depressing. Make sure if you cook gluten-free pasta, you stop cooking about one minute before it's fully cooked. It continues to absorb a lot of water after cooking stops. Once I forgot to drain right away and I had a pot full of porridge. Or you could use cooked spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, which is what I usually end up doing.

Cranberry-Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients
14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 cup rinsed and finely chopped fresh cranberries

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate or white chips, optional
Dash salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed using an electric mixer until you achieve medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. In a separate bowl, combine cranberries and corn starch. Add into coconut mixture. Add chocolate chips, if desired.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper or silicone liners using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons to shape coconut mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Here are some tips for flavoring pumpkin seeds. I like the shelled raw pumpkin seeds, which are an olive green. You can find them at Trader Joe's and at many health food supermarkets. Here are some delicious pepita aka pumpkin seed concoctions, like versatile pumpkin seed pesto. Pesto works on proteins, as a salad dressing block--just add some orange juice--or mixed into grains and cooked vegetables.

Americana flavors make Mac'n'cheese zing

There can be too much of a good thing. I can't repeat dishes and leftovers too often, or I get bored. Or somehow they get moved to the back of the fridge. So when I didn't face eating Mac'n'cheese with sheer delight, something was amiss. I thought of the other things I had handy to pique my taste buds. Below is the delectable result, gone in a day!

Mac'n'cheese with tomato jam and "onion ring" bread crumbs

For fastest results, start Mac'n'cheese and tomatoes simultaneously.

Tomato Jam

Almost 1/4 cup brown sugar-not packed down-or use 2 tablespoons

6 whole allspice berries or 1/2 teaspoon powder

1 each large or eight cherry green and/or yellow tomatoes, cut in 1-inch pieces or smashed in pan

10 ounces stewed tomatoes-small can, or half of a large can, with juices

3 tablespoons dried onion or 1/2 cup fresh onion cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon red-wine or apple-cider vinegar

Dash lemon pepper, optional

Creamy Mac'n'cheese 

1 pound-a box farfalle pasta
Salt for pasta water (save 1/2 cup pasta water)

6 ounces cream cheese
Dash cinnamon, black pepper and nutmeg
1/2 cup Grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigianno Reggiano or Parmesan cheese. Grate before measuring.

I start my pasta in cold, salted water using a wide, deep pan, more like a skillet than a pasta pot. Meanwhile, I start to cook all the ingredients for the tomato jam in a small saucepan on high heat until it boils, then I turn it down to the lower heat settings to bubble gently for about 25 minutes (or longer on very low heat for firmer texture and fuller flavor), until it gets a little shiny, looking like jam and not tomato sauce. Be sure to stir every five minutes to avoid burning.

When the pasta is about two minutes from being done (it's not chewy but is firm when you bite it), I drain out the water except for a half cup. Then, I put it back on the stove over low heat and add the cream cheese and spices. After about 5 minutes over high heat and a lot of stirring, I have a sauce that's creamy but a little thin, like baked potato soup or just-melted ice cream. I turn of the heat and add the cheese, stirring until it's mixed into the sauce. It should thicken well while remaining creamy.

You can serve those next to each other. To layer and serve as a meal, I spread the pasta out in a class or ceramic rectangular serving dish then spoon the tomato jam on top. I also have crushed then toasted French-fried onions and buttered bread pieces and/or some grated hard cheese for 5-8 minutes, and sprinkled that on top, aka onion ring bread crumbs.

P.S. The tomato jam is also great with meatloaf and burgers!

Make "restaurant" food at home!

We usually cook dinner at home or bring food to eat at home. Going out for dinner is usually a treat or a necessary convenience. First, going out has to be worth it to me. I think of the quality, the investment towards more ingredients and the leftovers: is the meal I'm going to have better than all the perks of cooking at home? Second, am I going to be agitated with the service, cleanliness or the wait? I am usually auditing an establishment with my eyes, and I usually know exactly how long the food has taken. Don't get me wrong, I love a birthday celebration, a kitchen on its A-game, an inventive menu and a good deal like everyone else. Also, if I am sick, have a craving or am getting home late, I tend to eat out more.But convenience? Come on! Home is the most convenient to me.

One weeknight I was weighing my options. I really wanted Italian pasta, but the thought of going out and waiting and maybe not liking the dish gave me pause. Besides, I wanted ravioli and ragu sauce. I went to the Italian market of a local pasta store and bought almost 1 pound fresh ravioli, about 1.5 pounds fresh fettuccine and a package of ladyfingers. Then, I went to the nearest grocery store and picked up a baguette, milk, some cremini aka baby bella mushrooms, organic basil, canned tomatoes, an organic lemon, a red and green bell pepper and spring onions.

As soon as I arrived home, the tomatoes (26 oz), pepperoni, red and green peppers, onion, some pitted olives and olive oil went in the food processor. One pot had water boiling fettuccine; once that finished I saved the drained hot pasta water and cooked the ravioli. Another saucepan had the simmering sauce I made in the food processor. I added some parsley, basil and more snips of pepperoni with kitchen scissors. Meanwhile, I drizzled bread with olive oil and put it in the toaster oven. In the final saucepan, I sliced mushrooms and sauteed them in butter. To that I added some spring onion and a lemon, thinly sliced to get the lemon oil flavor, then added the cooked ravioli and 1/3 cup pasta water. While it simmered, I finished the ravioli with about 1/4 cup Romano cheese and snips of basil.

It was intense work, but we were able to sit down to eat in 40 minutes with two large bowls of delicious gourmet pasta, semi-homemade, and some bread. After our daughter went to bed, I made a "tiramisu" milkshake--a coffee-flavored milkshake that we dipped with ladyfingers.We kept the unused ingredients and made other meals. More importantly, We had at least 4 meals of leftovers. We spent about $40, but I took the ravioli to work for lunch, then we ate the remaining intensely flavored red sauce with tortellini and used it for French bread pizza. I made ricotta (eventually) with the milk, layered ladyfingers and made real tiramisu. What's the lesson in all of this? I think the $40 I spent on the ingredients and the effort to make the food in this case paid off more than paying the same amount (with tax and tip) at a restaurant.

Restaurants have their place and their value--inventive ideas, convenience, the chance to allow you to talk and catch up leisurely. I do challenge people to consider what place home has--budget-friendly, quality-controlled, stocking ingredients, learning and sharing at your own pace. Food for thought!

Food for thought: Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Can you feel the love in the air? Along with the love, I also sense some doubt, mild bouts of panic and an eagerness to please. Because, get this: Valentine's Day is not all about love. There is an element of showing you care, wanting to "take things to another level", and creating a perfect cocoon of romance. All those things take planning, and they often involve food. So here are some ideas for nice and naughty things for Valentine's Day, especially for those wanting to seal the deal...

Preview for a newish sweetie:
Before Valentine's Day, make a super dinner. This will take some pressure off you and will show off your skills but make them seem like an everyday feat. Italian food might be nice. People often suggest avoiding garlic and strong spices/seasonings for a super-romantic time, but this time, you can make some solid comfort food. I'd avoid soup, as boiling liquid and constant stirring often make it look like the work is too hard.

Pasta with Bolognese sauce Tip: try fettucine to catch more of the sauce, if you want the "Fox and the Hound" effect of slooping up pasta and staring into each other's eyes
Pappardelle with Vegetable Bolognese vegan before you top with grated parmesan

Salad? Try this versatile recipe-- Seasonal Country Salad with Spiced Walnuts. The walnuts can be prepared ahead of time. There are various options based on what's in season

Wine? Serve your Bolognese sauce with Beringer Sangiovese

For dessert, make a tiramisu sundae: half a slice of plain cheesecake (no fruit) with coffee ice cream. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top. If you want to take it up a notch, try the following: buy a whole plain cheesecake, but not too big. Trader Joe's has some nice small ones. Allow a pint of premium coffee ice cream to get a little soft. Use a spatula or large knife to spread ice cream over cheesecake. Sprinkle with cocoa powder--Nesquik will do in a pinch. Freeze for 3 hours, or until firm.


Valentine's Day

The rules for a romantic meal usually are:

• eat light (you can nibble on grapes throughout the night) to keep you spry
• if you opt for rich food, serve in smaller portions
• keep garlic & onions to a minimum
• keep it simple, so you can avoid stress
• make some things you can keep at room temperature
• make some things you can eat with your hands
• impress with little touches like a roaring fire, candles, flowers, good music

Most tasks can be prepped beforehand, so relax!!!

Make a salad of cucumber ribbons and a light vinaigrette. It's something you can make ahead of time.
I like the looks of this cucumber salad with jalapenos and minced peanuts. Only make this salad if you know your sweetie likes it hot and doesn't have a nut allergy! Also, use seedless cucumbers to save time and make ribbons (use a peeler and peel along the length of the cucumber).

A raita, a cucumber salad with yogurt (with sliced/ribboned instead of grated cucumbers), could work as well.

For a simple Italian salad, combine 1 pint grape tomatoes, 1 handful kalamata olives with brine/oil and 1 8-oz container baby mozzarella balls--usually in water--, drained into a medium-sized glass bowl. It can all fit in a small mixing bowl. Use 4 fresh basil leaves and tear them into bits over the other ingredients. Add some black pepper, salt and olive oil to taste & look like you exerted some effort. Great food you can eat with your hands, if you really want.

Main Course
A petit filet mignon hits the spot for me. Salmon, tuna, or chicken also work. If you like finger food, try shrimp. Just remember, you may not want to linger in the kitchen, and small, quick-cooking items may need your attention.

Vegan or vegetarian? Try a rich lasagna, as it fills a plate but won't fill you up too much. Plus, you can leave it in the oven a while.

Vegetable
I love green beans amandine, baby carrots, and mixed lettuce salads. Grilled zucchini, too. I avoid mushy medleys and pungent smells, liked cooked cabbage.

Dessert
Why not go with fancy chocolates, a nice, warm dessert, or fresh fruit and liqueur?I love Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur. Try it straight in beautiful little goblets, on the rocks, over ice cream, or try soaking cantaloupe in some and chilling while preparing the meal. Or put it in coffee or hot chocolate. Other substitutes include Godiva liqueur, Chambord--great wi, and Kahlua (but not with cantaloupe!). I love Chambord, Frangelico and half-and-half or milk over ice. It's a version of a drink called nuts & berries. So good!

Other menu sources:

Gourmet's Valentine's Day Dinner for Two

Bon Appetit's "Cook it Together" menu for Valentine's Day


After all that effort, make sure you smell good!
Next week, I head to Sephora and sniff out the best perfumes to give, get and wear.