Valentines day

 This Valentine's Day was something I had been scheming together for quite a while now. In the 4 years since my husband and I started dating we have only spent one Valentine's day together, and that was only a week or two after we got married and was not very largely celebrated as we had just come back from our honeymoon. Between long distance dating, basic training and field exercises, we've never really gotten to go all out for a valentine's day, but this year I decided to change that. Starting weeks in advance, I started planning up a menu, thinking up decorations and the lead up to it. The 13 days leading up to it I surprised him with a little treat each day with a cheesy quote on it "I'm nuts about you" "Beer my valentine?" and they only got worse as the days went on. Then I made up our living room like an elementary schoolroom, we're talking pink, red, and purple hearts all over the place. Since my husband had to work most of the day, I didn't plan too much (and he told me after dinner he something planned) so after all of that, I just focused on an awesome meal. Chocolate covered strawberries as an appetizer of sorts, rib eye steaks cooked to perfection (for us, that means rare!) paired with roasted cauliflower with parmesan and finished off with mini strawberry pies. It all turned out delicious! If you haven't cooked steaks very often and are particular, a few little hints to remember, first of it will continue to cook a little even after you take it off the pan, so if you don't like your steaks super dead remember, you can always cook it a lil longer, so take it out a bit early! There are three different ways to check how done your steak is, the worst way is cutting into it, a decent way is to use a thermometer, but if you don't have one, another good way is the finger test, which is explained here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/the_finger_test_to_check_the_doneness_of_meat/ and last but not least, two of the most important (but often forgotten) things are to let it come to room temperature before cooking, and to let it rest when it is done the full time. Steaks are something I'm always worried that I will mess up as it can be such an expensive cut of meat, but you'll only get better with practice :) Hopefully my tips help, and I hope you all had a great valentine's day! (I didn't get many pictures of the actual meal because we were so hungry and just dug in)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• 16 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves
• Optional: White or dark chocolate chips

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture. Turn the strawberries upside down and insert the toothpick into styrofoam for the chocolate to cool, or lay on a sheet of parchment paper. You can drizzle with white or dark chocolate if you desire but they'll taste fine how they are!



Pan-Seared Rib-Eye

• 1 boneless rib eye steak, 1 1/2 inches thick
• Canola oil, to coat
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Place a 10-to-12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bring the steak to room temperature. When the oven reaches temperature, remove the skillet and place on the range over high heat. Coat the steak lightly with oil and sprinkle both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper. Immediately place the steak in the middle of the hot, dry skillet. Cook 30 seconds without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip the steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium-rare steak, for our steaks I shortened the time a bit. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.) Remove the steak from the skillet, cover loosely with foil and rest for 2 minutes. Serve whole or slice thin and fan onto plate.

Roasted Parmesan Cauliflower

• 6 ounces cauliflower florets (1.5 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cauliflour, boiling for about 5 minutes or until it starts to get tender. Drain and add the rest of the ingredients except olive oil. Toss. Drizzle on the oil. Toss. Put mixture into a small nonstick dish. Place into a 425°F preheated oven. Bake for 15 - 17 minutes; stir once. You want it to be lightly browned and tender. Serve.


Mini Strawberry Pies

• 1 roll Pre-made refrigerated pie dough (Or you can use homemade)
• 2 oz cream cheese
• sprinkle of sugar
• 1 cup diced strawberries
• Optional: Hot fudge sauce, whipped cream.

Preheat the oven to 225 F Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many pieces as you can, after rerolling a few times I got enough to make 4 mini pies. Top one with strawberry, sprinkled sugar and cream cheese and then another one of the hearts, sealing the edges with a fork. Prick the middle of each one once with a fork. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream and serve.