How to do Valentine's Day...the right way.

We are slowly inching towards spring. Really slowly. How do I know? The days are getting longer, we have days that look and feel like spring, and I’m getting itchy for the summer. Maybe it’s just our upcoming trip to Florida, who knows.

We wouldn’t say we’ve been crazy busy, but steady. We’ve had two weekends of settling the past couple weeks. The highlight of the first weekend in February was that I made French Beignets. They are like a sweet fry dough, but different. Matt and I enjoyed them while we organized a bit around the house and got a few more things hung on the walls, it’s like we may actually live there. I’m concentrating on decorating in the kitchen. We definitely have a farm-house rustic feel. Ironically, my mother and my grandmother had farmhouse kitchens and it’s nothing like there’s. They’d never put a cream can as focal point in their kitchen! Hahaha, the irony is not lost on me.

Matt also officially finished butchering. The bacon was brined, smoked, cut, weighed, sampled, and put away. He's now suffering from post-postpartum depression. I heard him mumble sadness about butchering finally being over, blah blah, poor me.

The big shift in the kitchen happened this weekend, not sure if it’s a Valentine’s gift to each other or what, but Matt and I replaced the hardware in the kitchen this weekend. Looks completely different. We had purchased a few options and had them hanging around for a week but we did settle on one and replaced all 39 pulls on Sunday, before our Love Pot meal.

Now on to one of my top 5 meals of the year. Many moons ago, when we were a young dating couple, I told Matt that I don’t want to buy gifts for each other. In lieu of this, we should buy king crab and make surf and turf together…make a memory, not settle for the cliché gifts. We’ve never looked back on this decision. The decision was only further supported by a gift we got from Matt’s Aunt Judy, which we refer to as the Love Pot…and considering Judy’s surname, it’s incredibly fitting.

So there we sat with 12 oz sirloins and Alaskan king crab and scissors and
steaks and toast. Why toast, you ask, because you have to have a side. Anyway, we sat, talked, shared a bottle of wine. It was a great night. We had made the realization that we’ve always celebrated Valentine’s Day in a different house. First on 20th (which was a dive), then on Park (where we still struggled to find a system that worked), then on Hillside (first year with the love pot) and now on Cottonwood.

Although I don't need to state what the best meal of the week was, I will add that I also tried to make red velvet cinnamon rolls. Something fun for the weekend. They didn't turn out too bad.

MJR: I don’t care what they say, this is way better than a dozen roses. (Stuffs steak into his mouth)
ALR: You would say that. Flowers ARE nice.
ALR: But I guess I would say that too.
(Cracks open the arm of the crab and peels out the meat inside)