Just in time for Valentine’s Day, here is a sweet DIY project to create a paper heart wreath. A heart-shaped punch from a craft supply store is critical for this one!
paper heart wreath via Better Homes & Gardens
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Have you picked out a card for your sweetie? Kate Spade has a gaggle (I love that word.) of stylish, fun e-cards you can choose from. Aren’t they fabulous?!
Pies are all the rage this year — especially individual or hand pies. Don’t you just love this hand pie box created by Twig and Twistle? The design is fresh and perfect for the shape of a hand pie — it’s also just in time for Valentine’s Day when you can give a sweet pie to your sweetie pie!
via Twig & Thistle
Perfect for Valentine's Day
Wouldn’t you love a batch of these for Valentine’s Day? Any salted caramel is to die for, but with a chocolate heart painted on top, these caramels from Sweet Revolution (available at Dean & Deluca) look particularly incredible!
Sweet Revolution Love Caramels available from Dean & Deluca
My husband and I are not big fans of Valentine’s Day. It’s a little too commercial for our taste. So from the start, we vowed not to make a fuss of the holiday. Instead, we created our own tradition: staying home and cooking lobsters — one of our favorite meals.
This year, our lobster feast was fairly low key. We had spiced shrimp with cocktail sauce to start, a mixed greens salad, lobsters, all followed by strawberry shortcake for dessert.
I often blog about the presentation of a meal — the place setting, the tablescape — the little details that make the event special. While those things are important, the practical work of preparing and cleaning up after the meal should also not be overlooked. Here are a few practical matters we ran across when preparing our Valentine’s Day lobster feast:
serveware and lobster tools
Our lobster platters aren’t used everyday so we keep them stored in a sideboard rather than in the kitchen. Items you don’t use regularly need not be crammed into your kitchen cabinets. Make sure they are clean before you store them and set them in a sideboard or your storage room. If the item is decorative, you might wish to display it in a hutch or elsewhere in the dining room.
The lobster tools were on our registry. Knowing we loved lobster, we knew they would be useful to have on hand. We only registered for a set of 4 tools, realizing we probably wouldn’t be having large lobster dinners at our home. And in the case of lobster and crabs, not everyone always needs their own set of tools. When registering for or buying speciality kitchen items, linens, or serveware, consider how you will use them and only buy what you need.
lobster rolls
We decided to cook four lobsters and eat two for Valentine’s Day and prepare the meat from the other two for lobster rolls — another all-time favorite of ours. I always buy Pepperidge Farm top split buns for the rolls — the sides of the buns are perfect for buttering and toasting. Fill them with some lobster meat mixed with chopped celery, a little mayonnaise, salt & pepper and voila! Decadence!
lobster shells
After cleaning all of the lobsters we were left with a mountain of shells. My husband suggested we make lobster stock. Brilliant! We added the shells to water, chopped onion, celery, and carrots, and a little white wine and let it simmer for a couple of hours. Now, we’ll have homemade stock on hand when we need it.
freezer label for lobster stock
We often end up with a ton of things in our freezer and sometimes it’s hard to tell how long something has been in there. (Scary!) So I’ve started using freezer labels to mark the date on each item. Martha Stewart’s template for freezer labels came in very handy. I printed the template onto full-size label sheets and cut them with paper cutter. I keep a stash in my drawer near my freezer for when I need them. No more guessing how long something has been in the freezer!
Simple things like properly storing serving pieces, making full use of every food item in your kitchen, and keeping food organized and well-stored can make the behind-the-scenes preparations of any party much more enjoyable.
While my NFL team did not make it to the SuperBowl, I did find myself cheering rather loudly last night. It was hard not to cheer for the Saints. After all, it was their first time ever making it to the Big Game. And with all that the city of New Orleans has been through, how can you not cheer (even a little bit) for them?
New Orleans will go from celebrating the Saints sweet victory right into Mardi Gras, which starts on Fat Tuesday, February 16. While I am not big into Mardi Gras, it does remind me of some of the amazing culinary creations New Orleans has to over. My favorite is beignets.
Beignets are a wonderful morning, afternoon, evening… well, anytime snack. Serve them in honor of Mardi Gras or even as a sweet treat for a sweet someone on Valentine’s Day. Here’s a recipe to try:
Buttermilk Beignets from Epicurious
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups bread flour plus extra for flouring work surface
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Peanut oil for frying
Confectioners’ sugar for serving, as much as you think you’ll need—then double that!
Preparation
Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until small bubbles form at the surface. Remove from the heat, add the buttermilk, and then pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk in the yeast and the sugar and set aside for 5 minutes. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed, using a dough hook, until the dry ingredients are moistened, 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue mixing until the dough forms a loose ball and is still quite wet and tacky, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough aside in a draft-free spot for 1 hour.
Pour enough peanut oil into a large pot to fill it to a depth of 3 inches and bring to a temperature of 375°F over medium heat (this will take about 20 minutes). Line a plate with paper towels and set aside.
Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out on it. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, gently press to flatten, fold it in half, and gently tuck the ends under to create a rough-shaped round. Dust again and roll the dough out into a ½-inch- to ¹/³ -inch-thick circle. Let the dough rest for 1 minute before using a chef’s knife, a bench knife, or a pizza wheel to cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares (you should get about 48).
Gently stretch a beignet lengthwise and carefully drop it into the oil. Add a few beignets (don’t overcrowd them, otherwise the oil will cool down and the beignets will soak up oil and be greasy) and fry until puffed and golden brown, turning them often with a slotted spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the prepared plate to drain while you cook the rest. Serve while still warm, buried under a mound of confectioners’ sugar, with hot coffee on the side.
Make ahead:
The beignet dough can be made up to 8 hours in advance of frying. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. After cutting the dough, place the beignets on the paper and place another greased sheet of parchment paper, sprayed-side down, on top. Wrap the entire baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The beignets can be fried straight from the refrigerator.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Going to a Valentine’s Day party? Hosting one? Need a sweet gift for a special someone? Try some of these on for size…
Chocolate and salt are such a beautifully delicious combination. Add some caramel and walnuts and you have one amazing “turtle” chocolate.
Caramel clusters from John Kelly Chocolates
Remember pop rocks? The fizzy candy you used to eat as a kid? Introducing a very grown up version from Francois Payard: pop rock truffles.
Pop rock truffles from Francois Payard
A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. That’s all I can say about these cinnamon marshmallows from Whimsy & Spice.
heart-shaped cinnamon marshmallows
My personal favorite? Chocolate-covered strawberries – a classic that never goes out of style! Add a glass of champagne and …. YUM!
Chocolate-covered strawberries from Dean & Deluca
The Rex & Regina Blog shares both trendy and traditional ways to extend gracious hospitality through weddings, other social occasions, and at-home entertaining. Learn more about Rex & Regina.