Last year, before Valentine's Day - I was trying to figure out what to do. Should we get a sitter and dine out, nix the sitter and bring the boys, or simply stay home and make up something fun to do?
I couldn't see facing the crowds (and expense) of a fancy dinner out - although I certainly DO enjoy the luxury on occasion - but thought, why not a fancy dinner at home?
We are big fans of the Food Channel here at the Teichrow house (I don't think that's a big secret). I thought, wouldn't it be fun if we did a big fancy dinner - with courses and everything? So...
We are family of four - so I put four pieces of paper with courses on them in a hat - and we each drew a course: appetizer, soup/salad, entree and dessert. In my head, I fantasized about each person coming up with the item to cook - as well as developing the shopping list... As our busy lives rushed ahead and closer and closer to Valentine's Day at breakneck speed - my fantasy evolved into (pointing at each family member) "quick - what'cha cooking'?" and I wrangled the shopping/list making... (really - it would have been a great teaching moment for the kids, but oh well, next year!).
It was a Monday last year - and once Dave got home from work, we scurried through the prep and planning, making a huge mess along the way, but laughing and giggling – and calling on our inner "Guy" (Guy Fieri is the boys' fav' Food TV star). We carefully plated each course, using nearly every single plate, bowl, ramekin & utensil in the house. We'd bought both wine and Martinell's - and popped "corks" for each in celebration for the first course, and served at our festively decorated table, complete with all of the proper place settings. We called it "dining" as we ate horribly late (for a school night), and in our haste, the chocolate cake turned into a "lava cake" since we didn't allow for proper cooling before frosting...
BUT...
It was lovely. It was fun & certainly left an impression on the family, as in this year's Valentine's Day planning - there was a unanimous decision to repeat the feast. Complete with tasty food, a mountain of dishes, and a whole lotta love.
Enjoy the photo tour (from both years!):
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| The hubbub - prepping for dinner! February 14, 2011 |
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| Max had seen a Tailgating show - and his dish (Entree) - a "football" " involved chicken, ham {maybe cheese?} & bacon. |
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| 2011 Appetizer (ala Kimberly) - Individual Shrimp Cocktails (EASY and Quick were my priorities). |
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| 2011 Soup/Salad - Sam chose to make Tortilla soup. Nice work, kiddo! |
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| 2011 dessert: Dave's chocolate {LAVA} cake. Yeah... Lava. That's it! |
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| Every. Dish. In. The. House. |
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| 2012 - Appetizer. Dave fixes his delicious bacon wrapped prawns (started inside, finished on the BBQ). |
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| Awww.... a little love from the {big} boy. |
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| Grandma joins us this year - and helps Sam with his Shredded Beef Tacos! |
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| "And for our first course..." |
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| Ta'da! Served with BBQ sauce. Who doesn't love bacon? AND shrimp!? |
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| 2012 Soup/Salad (A'la Kimberly). Tasty green salad with oranges, avocado, pepitas and (for just me) smoked blue cheese crumbles! |
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| Grandma chose "side dishes" and made a fantastic Mint-Mango Salsa |
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| Max's shopping list: 2 kinds of ice cream, whipped cream, and a blow torch. Something about ice cream on a melted ice cream float... |
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| Ta-da! Excited about his dish - which is what it's all about... |
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| And yes. Every. Dish. In. The. House. Again. |
