Valentine's Day Recap

Last night’s workout was intense! It was a mix of swimming drills for a total of 1000 meters. So tough.

And now my Valentine’s Day recap. It started with a frantic run to a couple of grocery stores. The plan for the evening was for me to cook a dinner we’ve never made before and Jay was going to do the same for dessert. We cook a lot so coming up with something different was difficult; eventually I decided that roasting a leg of lamb would be perfect. I was focused all week (and for weeks prior) on my exam so I thought I could run to the store Friday morning and gather the things I needed. Apparently lamb is difficult to find. Two stores later, a very nice butcher was able to locate a new shipment for me. Whew!

I was in a hurry because my mom and I had lunch plans with my sister. After our delicious lunch, my mom and I ran a few more errands (including another trip to another grocery store for more things I needed…) and even managed to get ourselves locked out of the car at a hardware store. It was really funny and thankfully the weather was so nice. I cooked my dinner at my parents’ house because our current kitchen is very small and the stove tends to cook in a polka-dotted fashion. A few hours later dinner was ready! And I was nervous.

I got home to find a bouquet of flowers waiting for me. The best part about receiving flowers? Letting Chaca sniff them. She loves it! She’ll sniff each and every flower, go back and sniff her favorites while wagging her tail and for those that she doesn’t like she backs away real slowly. It’s hilarious and sometimes means we spend springtime walks sniffing each rose along the way; she is such a good reminder to slow down in life and “stop and smell the roses”. Love her.

Chaca In Action

 Jay had set up candles on a few pieces of lumber across our outdoor fireplace. Maybe it’s the construction side of me, but I am a sucker for salvaged wood, lumber, etc. in décor. We started with a baked brie dish – brie dipped in almonds and topped with a little raspberry preserve. Yum.

 

Cheesy Treat

The roasted lamb and potatoes were a success! I shouldn’t be so surprised that it was great, I did loosely follow a recipe from The Chew and they know what they’re doing!

Jay’s dessert was amazing! Cranberry-lemon macaroons, mascarpone whoopie pies and chocolate covered strawberries.

 

Drooling...

Jay was a little frustrated that the macaroons had fallen a bit, but I think his product of a very difficult baked good was incredible. How cute is it that he had already planned the strawberries way before reading my post? Apparently, that was one of his favorite memories too.

Love, love, love.

This was one of the best Valentine’s Days ever. I got to spend time with family, cook a special meal and enjoy time with my guy. With using what we already had, coupon clipping and reusing similar ingredients, this was a cost effective way to celebrate what can be an expensive day. And you know what? It was so much more meaningful to me than any reservation.