A Stress-free Valentine’s Day

Home Cooked Dinner – I don’t care what they say, the way to a man’s heart is still through his stomach. If cooking is how you plan to treat him, treat yourself as well – keep it simple or make it ahead of time.  Beef tips can be made rare, and a sauce prepared ahead.  Bake your bread or pastries ahead.  At zero hour, make some brown rice, a shrimp salad, warm up the beef in the sauce, and pour the wine.  Add some candles, some music, and viola!  Another idea is to let someone else do the cooking.  Home businesses are sprouting up everywhere that offer a complete cooked meal for two for a flat fee.  Some have it ready for you to pick up, others deliver.  If your pcketbook can stand it, there are a few that will come to your home and cook for you!  Generally they include unique personal touches that make well worth the investment.  For ideas, google “home cooked meals delivered” or check your local phone directory or newspaper.

Parent’s Night Out – Our church youth group did a Valentine’s Dinner as a money raiser one year.  The kids split up the chores between them and sold tickets to couples for a nominal fee.  For $20.00 we got a spaghetti dinner and salad, choice of desserts, baby-sitting services, and three hours of dancing.  What a deal, especially for parents of young children!  The parents then turned around and rewarded the kids by hosting a  sleepover the next weekend with movies and games. Everybody was happy.

The Classic Finish – Want to finish your evening with excellence?  Here is an easy, do-ahead chocolate mousse to have ready.  Heat over low heat 1/3 cup milk.  Add 15 large marshmallows and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, stir until melted and smooth.  Let cool.  Have ready a small container of whipped cream.  Add half to chocolate and whip well.  Pour into parfait glasses.  Stir a few drops of almond or mint extract into the rest of the whipped cream.  Dollop onto pudding.  Top with a cherry soaked in rum, or a Hershey’s Kiss, and chill. Serve with coffee or a favorite liqueur or cognac.

Flowers and Candles – I don’t think there’s a woman alive that doesn’t enjoy them, and don’t the flower shops know it!  But you can create ambiance anywhere – a table, a bedroom, a picnic – with a little thought.  Silk rose petals can be purchased at places like PetalGarden.com for as little as $2.99 for 100, and come in 60 or more colors.  Candles of all types and sizes can be purchased almost anywhere.  I like craft shops like Michaels, where I can buy floating candles to use with the rose petals.  Use your imagination!

To some, Valentine’s Day will always be a heart-shaped box and bouquet.  Learn to appreciate anything your loved one does for you, and your heart will open dramatically.  One of the best V-Days I remember was a year when we were so broke it hurt.  My husband turned in pop cans to get enough money to buy me a bouquet. On the way there the car broke down.  By the time he got there, he was greasy and dirty, searching through the car seats for the last of the change, and choosing each bloom with care to get what he wanted.  The proprietor took pity on him and fashioned a beautiful arrangement.  Meanwhile my son walked through the desert for days (and the neighbor’s garden, wich we discussed on a later day!), finding wildflowers and buds which he then dried and sprayed with perfume. He unearthed some discarded pretty dishes as well, and cleaned them up and put his homemade potpourri in them for our table. I had a lovely dinner waiting, and we finished with guitars and roasted marshmallows around a bonfire on that dark, starry night.  It was magic.  The perfect Valentine’s Day should never be what you spend on it, but the thought you put into it.  That is how you will make memories that last a lifetime.