Valentines Dinner

Dear Alisha,

I am having a group of people ....around 8 couples over for a Valentine party..do you have any great..or fabulous (preferred) ideas for food and fun. We will be serving dinner due to the fact that it will be from 5-8 pm.

Sincerely,
Romantically Inclined


Dear Romantic,

Oh I love that you're already thinking about Valentines Day! I've been thinking of it all through the dreary month of January. Not wanting to rush it and wear out it's welcome, I've made myself wait till now to really dive in.

Okay, let's talk about your dinner. I've been dreaming of a dinner party, adults only, the Saturday before Valentines! Is that what you're doing? Or a more family oriented dinner on the actual day of? Either way, here's what you need: hearts, a sickening amount, and anything red and pink. It can't be avoided. And why should it be?

Almost any meal can be made to look romantic and sweet when presented properly. [Exceptions: ribs and corn, burritos, corn dogs, sausages, sour kraut..;] Almost. A few ideas I like:

Start with a salad with beet shaped hearts. It doesn't matter if you like beets or not, that's not the point. Just imagine your guests delight when they find little red hearts in their salad. Martha says to boil the beets yourself and cut them with a pairing knife, but really all you need to do is buy a can of sliced beets and cut them out with a cheap little cookie cutter. Much faster. Beets taste good in a basic salad too.



For the main course, I would pick one of two different directions. Hunk of meat or Italian food. Let's start with the first and make it sound more elegant:

Grilled Steak with reduction sauce (if you like to grill, it's hard to go wrong)
or
Roasted pork loin with reduction sauce
Brown buttered asparagus
Potatoes (mashed, baked, or scalloped, it doesn't matter: everyone likes potatoes)

Fresh bread on the side

As you can see, I don't want you to over work yourself, we're keeping things simple. But please, please, dress up your steak by giving your guests the option of a sauce. Here are a few to choose from:

Steak Sauce Recipe
Bearnaise Sauce (you can use any type of vinegar)
Reduction Sauce, always good

Otherwise, Italian food always seems romantic. Even just really good spaghetti and meatballs, especially with two sharing a plate Lady-and-the-Tramp-style, can seem romantic.
Martha, as in the photo pictured above, has several ideas with recipes listed on her sample Valentines menu found here: Martha's dinner menu ideas. (Just remember to make 4 times as much.)

What your guests are going to really remember is the dessert.

All of the following images from marthastewartliving.com. Look, the site has great photos.

You're going to end with good hot chocolate, as seen above. If cutting hearts out of marshmallows seems like too much work, sigh, they now make marshmallows already heart shaped and pink.

This looks wonderful..
Coeurs a la Creme, recipe from Martha Stewart.

But I wouldn't turn down a little of this..

Heart-Shaped Strawberry Parfaits, again, recipe from Martha Stewart.

or this:


Chocolate and Raspberry Heart Napoleons, recipe from Martha Stewart. What I really want you to notice is the raspberry garnish. So simple yet look how it dresses up ice cream sandwiches.

But what I really crave around Valentines is chocolate.

I love Chocolate Pots de Creme, but the photo wasn't anything special. You would need to dress them up with the raspberry garnish pictured above.

Even if you're not much of a baker, anyone can make a Triple chocolate cheesecake. Bonus if it's in a heart shaped pan:

(Ignore the white star stuff.) Garnish, again, with raspberries. They're red.

Now about the table. This is what decides whether you pull this whole night off or not. It needs to read Valentines. Even if you have all white linens and plates, it's easy to mix in a little pink and red.

A few options, to-do list style:

-rose petals scattered down the table (it only takes the petals from a couple of roses, much cheaper than a giant rose bouquet, )
-a giant rose bouquet, (How obvious, you say. It still looks nice. Keep it low.)
-a rose or other pink/red flower tucked into the napkin ring of the linen napkin for each guest. If you don't have napkin rings, use a tie of ribbon or make ones out of paper.
-lots of candles, preferably tall tapered, and light them!
-use, what else, Valentines as place card holders. I know. How adorable.
-little boxes of (heart shaped) chocolates as place card holders
-mix in whatever pink or red linens you can find. A little color, or a lot, will really stand out.
-consider purchasing Valentines salad plates like these:


gosh I love these plates from Potterybarnkids! I'll be looking for them on February 15th, if you know what I mean.

..or no need to wait for a sale at Target. They sell all these individually in store, I'd like to draw your attention simply to the smaller salad plate, not the tacky white tumbler. The plates are only $2.40 a piece and would mix easily with white china.

Wait just a second.. (rumage, rumage,) here's a start to what I mean:


Ignore the contrived day time setting and the misplaced heart-bullseye in the background. Maybe this isn't the best photo to sell you on the scheme, but you see how pink and red really jazz it up? And how special Jana feels with her vintage Valentine?

Good luck! Tell us how it goes.

Is anyone else nearly this excited?