the foodie and the dog

Sure, Valentine’s Day may be for lovers to go that extra mile, but it’s also for eaters who want that extra decadence. I usually make a nice meal at home because going out can be frustrating, crowded, and expensive. This year, I created a cafe setting in the big room near the kitchen. It was just too sweet. String lights were placed on tall photo stands that hovered overhead. A small bouquet of white roses, chocolates, little hearts, and candles decorated the small round table. It was almost like sitting in the back patio of a restaurant.

The chocolates were made from melted semi-sweet morsels poured over chopped walnuts in small paper baking cups and placed in a heart box I found at the party store. I didn’t make an appetizer or a salad as I had an amazing pasta dish prepared that would certainly satisfy the biggest hunger. Days before, I asked James what he wanted for the big dinner, and he picked my pea cream pasta.

I usually make it vegetarian, but this time I made the pimped up version. The shrimp and pasta were on steroids. I mixed in these huge shrimp and used a thick, regine pasta, which is a fatter bucatini. The shrimp were larger than my thumb, and the pasta was about a quarter inch thick once boiled.

For dessert, I made chocolate mousse from those semi-sweet morsels and heavy cream with homemade whipped cream, topped with the most beautiful strawberries and powdered sugar sprinkled on top, as if it weren’t sweet enough. We definitely went into a food coma pretty quickly. Luckily the couch was nearby, because we looked like a couple of beached whales once we crashed on them.

Since the third 50 Shades movie released on Valentine’s weekend, the featured photo is Betty rocking her 50 shades of sweetness.