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a new Valentine’s Day tradition

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a day I just don’t get that into. But last year I stumbled upon something that makes me want to mark the day – I spent all day cooking bolognese and cupcakes for dinner and it was lovely. I got to plan and shop and simmer and tidy up the house and sip wine (what? I had to open a bottle to add to the bolognese). So this year I’ve decided to do it again, this is the menu I’m planning:

Alton Brown’s Sour Cream Cheesecake which I chose solely because the episode was on last week and the cake needs to cool for 6 hours and I declared (silently since nobody else was in the room) that it would do. I’ll be buying my first real cake pan for this, I’m very excited.

A meal from Everyday Food of beef tenderloin with horseradish cream, potatoes anna (also) and sauteed swiss chard (or maybe). I suspect I chose this because they use a Hable Construction fabric for the background of the pictures (it’s Issue #8). No, really I chose this because I made the horseradish cream sauce once and it haunts me still.

This isn’t to say I willfully ignore all Valentine’s Day themed things. This year I’ve been eyeing the round up of Valentine’s Day dessert projects at Brownie Points, the stamp your own conversation hearts at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories and the wee Valentine’s boxes at How About Orange.

· comments [16] · 02-13-2008 · categories:food · holidays · mumbling ·

16 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Charcuterista // Feb 13, 2008 at 10:30 am

    I’m glad you chose the dessert first. It made me smile and it is Valentine’s after all. I’ll be making a chocolate terrine, but I haven’t decided on the rest of the menu…

  • 2 KD Lady // Feb 13, 2008 at 10:58 am

    Will you eat the cheesecake first? And what time shall I arrive for dinner? :) Sounds great!

  • 3 Chelsea // Feb 13, 2008 at 11:07 am

    For my first cheesecake I may have to try AB’s. I haven’t watched Good Eats for so long; I am sad now. Enjoy your meal! I am just hoping my students bring me candy tomorrow night.

  • 4 leslie // Feb 13, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    man! you’ve got my mouth watering!

  • 5 Sara // Feb 13, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    I love making the AB cheesecake.. be warned that if you like your cheesecakes dense this is not the one for you. it is deceivingly light and smooth that melts on your tongue. and you can eat several pieces before you feel like exploding. the only mod I’ve done is to use a different crust. i have use one from the cooks illustrated website for pecan gram cracker crust that has ginger cinnamon and cloves… the Oreo is fiercely tasty as well :) good luck and enjoy the yummies :)

  • 6 Rachel // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    The Beef with horseradish and sides looks amazing!! I love that there are so few ingredients for each dish…very cool, thanks for the information.

  • 7 Lava // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    The Valentine’s Day boxes you refer to remind me of those large pink boxes pastries come in. I’ve always wanted to purchase a chocolate cake in a pink box, but that really has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Thanks for the ideas!

  • 8 Jess // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    You don’t understand how happy you have just made me!!! I’ve been searching high and low for ways to make my own conversation hearts… I work with kids and I wanted to make special hearts just for them… and you, as always, have solved the dilemma!!!! (and just in the nick of time!!!)

    Oh, thank you thank you thank you *grin*

  • 9 courtney // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    My mom used to make potato’s anna (not what she called them but same basic recipe/process) except hers had parm. cheese on them. SO GOOD. I’ll have to make those soon.

  • 10 Rebecca // Feb 13, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    I love it! Scott and I are also staying in and cooking. There will be a post on that tomorrow :)

  • 11 EB // Feb 13, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    Your Valentines Day Plan is brilliant! And I cannot thank you enough for pointing me towards Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

  • 12 megan // Feb 13, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    Sara – Thanks for the warning, light and smooth is ok by me. Thanks for mentioning the alternate crust, I decided to do a Famous Wafer crust instead of graham since Scott LOVES Famous Wafers.

  • 13 Sara // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    that’s a brilliant choice.. i’ve been meaning to bust out with a ab cheesecake lately myself(i need to get a new pan for water bathing- i killed the last one by having foil on the enamel *shudder* kitchen towel buffer time)..i grab those the next supermarket run for crust making. *dance*

  • 14 Anna // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    Ha! That stamp set is so funny! Thanks for the heads up, and have fun cooking tomorrow!

  • 15 KD Lady // Feb 15, 2008 at 6:27 am

    So, how was it all?

  • 16 megan // Feb 15, 2008 at 11:53 am

    It went really well! I took pictures of the cheesecake making process, you can see them starting here. I ended up buying the meat from Whole Foods, I asked about getting a roast that was about a pound and a half and it ended up being a $37 piece of meat! But, it was totally worth it.

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