Valentines Day

...was a wonderful day! After a rousing "Birthdays Party" at the Sholl's - a joint venture to celebrate all of the Feb/Mar birthdays we have amongst our friends, not to mention that Erin's birthday is actually on Friday the 13th of February - where the po-lice came to bust up the party due to noise infractions (awesome!), I slept in a little. Charlie went to play football with his friends, got home around 1:00pm or so, we had lunch of mac & cheese and sausages then napped until 5:30pm. The day was dreary and rainy, so it was perfect nap/cuddle weather. The dogs even joined in the fun...

We woke up and cooked a dinner Charlie had researched and planned, the menu consisted of the following - mind you, all of this was fresh and none pre-prepared!:
*Chimney Loin Tuna - Tuna Loin marinated in soy/wasabi/honey, then covered in sesame seeds and seared - delish!
*Carmelized Pancetta Salad w/ Red Wine Vinaigrette - all homemade over a bed of salad greens
*Mushroom Wheat Berry Pilaf - Brown rice, wheat berries, crimini mushrooms, fresh thyme & rosemary all in pilaf
*Fresh Green Bean Casserole - think the kind with those Durkee onions and cream of something soup...only all of the ingredients were fresh, from the homemade fried onions to the blanched green beans to the mushsroom-cream sauce.
*Chocolate Covered Strawberries - Dark & white chocolate mixture over delectably ripe strawberries!

I would eat it a hundred times again, it was so good!! Mmmmmmmmm. PLUS, we knew every single ingredient we were putting into our bodies, you can't beat that! Charlie did a great job planning an innovative, delicious meal. I am very lucky :)

Following dinner (which was at 9:30pm), we watched Boondock Saints on the BluRay then hit the hay. I hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day!