Tuesday, February 14, 2012

VALENTINE'S DAY 2012


We had our little Valentine's Day celebration a day early, for it was Caro's day off, and she would be here for dinner---indeed, she COOKED most of it, including a gorgeous 9x13 of "shells,"



stuffed with ricotta, spinach, and herbs, and topped with a sausage marinara and mozzarella.   Mario would have been PEA-GREEN with envy.



And speaking of Green, Sweetpea and I "did crafts" for the better part of the day, and we somehow ended up with the Spring-iest collection of decor:   Yellow hearts, with everybody's faces drawn on, and all strung on a pretty green satin ribbon across the bookcase.    A couple of dozen pipe-cleaner hearts in assorted colors were linked sorta drunkenly across the top of the kitchen pass-through, and a long rectangular paper-doily was festooned with a dump-truck, drawn and colored and with a neat yellow construction-paper tailgate and five little wheely-pastas Elmered across the bottom, like the track-treads of a tank.

The table was set with Fifties square Melmac plates and salad bowls, in several shades of green---one guess as to who chose the "china."    Our only concession to the REDS of the holiday was the thin red vinyl cloth which started life as a big "door-cover" for Christmas, and has been clipped and snipped and re-shaped many times and pressed into use for whatever holiday or birthday requires RED.  Caro supplied some pretty heart-covered plates and napkins for the desserts.

We had a lovely big bowl of Romaine salad, with a tangy vinaigrette and homemade croutons, and a bowl of low-cooked snap beans---the salad missed its moment in camera range, and the beans turned out a Safeway-canned-bean blue in the picture.

There was also a little pot of "geddi," made with a McCormick packet and a can of Hunt's sauce, for those with simpler taste, 





and a beautiful bowl of marinated mushrooms with olives, grape tomatoes and little cubes of Fontanella.   The tiny mince of celery, onion and green pepper in the dressing made a delightful crunch.


A quick shot of my plate---I don't stop for inconsequential things like focus and distance, etc.



Desserts were Red Velvet cookies, a little white-on-white cake, some just-from-the-oven pink-frosted sugar cookies,  a pan of FF brownies and some of those crispy chocolate-covered Keebler finger-stacks,   The little cookie stand was arranged by Sweetpea.

We're in the midst of a gentle, drifting-down white-out, with all the bushes and lawn and trees getting frosted over as thickly as dipped pretzels, and I wish you all a warm bright SWEET Valentine's Day!

11 comments:

  1. Your Valentine meal looked delicious. What a fun day of celebration!

    Happy Valentine's Day

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  2. My mouth is watering! Happy Valentine's Day to you.

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  3. What a lovely (and delicious looking) meal!! Happy Valentine's Day to you! :)

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  4. Happy Valentine's Day Rachel. Your Valentine's celebration diner sounds delicious. Good for Caro. The marinated mushrooms, grapes and olives sounds like an unlikely combination but it looks tasty. Since I am on a diet, no dessert for me but I long for it believe me. I am trying to be strong.

    I know you and Sweetpea had fun crafting awesome things to decorate the room. I miss my grands so much.
    I'm glad you had a fine Valentine's Day. So did we.

    We just came home from seeing the Lettermen singing group from the 50's. An awesome show. Lots of memories.
    Stay warm,
    Love, Jeanne

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  5. Happy Valentines Day my friend..love always

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  6. Think of Valentine's Day with you gives me a smile. I know it was filled with love.♥

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  7. I came back to drool over the shells again..I want them..now!!

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  8. It all sounds lovely! Wish you'd taken pictures of the decorations - some of my favorites are things that Jessie made when she was little.

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  9. Awesome post .. and food looks like delicious

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  10. Hi sweet friend

    I'm up early...way too early...but I'm having fun sipping on some coffee and FINALLY catching up on my blog reading.

    It's always fun to visit YOU. Always!

    Hugs,
    Kat

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