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Romantic Meals

chubbyalaskagriz

chubbyalaskagriz

New member
Okay, so with janie & jon's sweet anniversary, and cathy & eddie's wonderful surprise wedding, ya'll have gotten me into a romantic mood! And Valentine's Day will soon be here, too!

What foods do you like making for your sweethearts? Entrees, sweets, etc... If you're single- where do you take a new date to dine- or what are among the first meals you lovingly create at home to try and impress/entice/seduce?

What would your lovers, spouses, and even your ex's say is/was your crowning achievment in the kitchen- your ultimate, sexiest "come hither" menu? :eek:
 
lol oh boy.
I dont think I have ever set out to make a meal to seduce my husband. When it is a special occasion I just make dishes I know he really loves. I do not cook as often as I did before because groceries have gone up so much. We eat more sandwiches but what ever we have I make sure it is something I know Jon really likes.
 
I'm with you, janie.

I took a fairly big pay-cut many months back, and it will take a few years at this entry-level position for me to come close to what I was making before. How much I spend on groceries is more important to me now, than ever before. And with the price increases in everything the last 1-2 years, well... Let's just say- I KNOW how you feel! (Plus, the fact that for the first time ever- I'm now having to actually purchase food, when I rarely did before, since I worked in kitchens where our meals were FREE!)

I cook fancy stuff far less these days- and when I do, I have to make damned sure to balance it out with cheap days to make my budget work.

For instance, thru the holiday season I used pricey ingredients from shrimp and babyback ribs, to pecans and rum... but the only way I could do it was to also pick-up ramen noodles and cheap pullman-loaves of sandwich bread, peanut-butter, tuna, etc.

I don't regret the salary decision I made back when I left Alaskan kitchens- the money was great up there 'cause I worked 80+ hours and earned a ton of over-time... But, I definitely pay a price for doing so! And, with creative management, I'm making it work. But it definitely takes grand effort- whereas I never needed to even be concerned before.

I'm not even dating these days, so I haven't had to come up with any sexy, impressive "dream dinners" in ages- Ha! After Arturo and I split last Spring I haven't had the urge, really- except for one time that didn't work out anyway. So it's far easier, me being single, to scimp & scrape on groceries, when need be.
 
I know gas prices are down but diesel is still about $3 a gallon around here. I had hoped when gas prices came down so would groceries. Now that they have the price on items up there so much I dont think they will ever come back down. By the time people pay their bills/medicine and buy food they just dont have anything left.
Ramen noodles, tuna and pb are all things I keep in our pantry to. Cheap, filling & quick. Jon has always loved bologna and cheese sandwiches lol.
 
One of those "embarrassing" items I buy at our local Super Wal-Mart when I go (I shop at Wally-world far less these days- I go to "Aldi's" a lot) is a super-large, 5# "block" of "ham". It's fatty & gristly and almost like a SPAM product (without the fancy turn-key/opener or jelly!). I divide it- freeze some. But what I like to use it for is to chop/grind in the Cuisinart and mix with sweet relish and mayo for a sandwich filling. I love it on bread or even on crackers. I've even stirred some into cold pasta, or folded a bit of it into eggs to pour into a shell for quiche and it's tasty. It's damned-near free, and I get a lot of milleage out of it! I also buy a lot of leg/thigh chix quarters, and cheap corned-beef brisket for the crock-pot. But definitely, ramen, PB and tuna and I have become newly acquainted friends again this last year!
 
RE: "I'm not even dating these days, so I haven't had to come up with any sexy, impressive "dream dinners" in ages- Ha! After Arturo and I split last Spring I haven't had the urge, really- except for one time that didn't work out anyway."

Okay, I know this is weird, but speaking of Arturo... have any of you ever seen the whacko nerdy sit-com "Big BangTheory"? It's a crazy show that you either LOVE or LOVE TO HATE and many find me ridiculous for liking it- BUT, one of the stars, Jim Parsons who plays "Sheldon", is a dead-ringer for Arturo. Same hair, face, build- hell, even the same taste in clothes! Just HAD to share it! Ha! (He's the one on the left in both photos)

Photos of Jim Parsons

Photos of Jim Parsons
 
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That ham spread sounds yummy.
Im all about the chicken thigh and leg quarters. They sell those here in town for .49 a pound when they are on sale. We love buttermilk fried chicken. I marinade them with lots of buttermilk and Franks hot sauce. It always costs me about $125 each month to stock up on household stuff. Im always watching the sale papers for the two grocery stores here in town to catch stuff we use alot. They put one pound of pasta 5/$5 on sale alot and cake mix 5/$5. I do occasionally splurge on smoked cheese, fresh ricotta & lunchmeat at our fav deli here in town but not often. WalMart was having a good sale today on more of the shell of shrimp in the one pound bags. I got three of those for $3 each. It will great for scampi this month. Kroger's had black bean sauce on sale for $1.29 a jar. It was regular $2.50 a jar. I grabbed three of those. I found some rosemary and olive oil crackers at Big Lots for $1.50 Our Big Lots was really slim on stock. I keeping hoping they will get in more sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and balsamic vinegar lol.
Oh well...foodies looking for bargains Unite!
 
Valentine's day is the one day a year my husband cooks. He says how special would it really be if I made a nice meal for us? I do that every day. It is special though when he does it. I LOVE it. He sets me up on the bar with a nice cocktail and I watch him make dinner.
 
I noticed some HUGE and BEAUTFUL fresh strawberries at our local Kroger's last night. I'm allergic to them so I cannot taste- but the lady near me had red stains all over her lips and she told me to "trust me- they're just fine!" Ha! They're not cheap like the lovely summer berries are- but I'm thinking of taking trays of yummy chocolate-dipt berries to work and also to my sister's kids, my Dad & his wife, and also my Mom for Valentine's Day. Ain't nuthin' easier than a mess of dipt berries!

Are you all doing any special holiday baking or dessert making with the Lover's Holiday soon rolling aound?
 
I made some tomatillo caramel with some tomatillos from my garden last year I thought I would make some Ancho chili chocolate lava cakes to go with it. My husband can do some cooking but he doesn't bake so that part is usually left up to me.
 
Here is the recipe for the tomatillo caramel It's not a thick and chew caramel just a sauce. The tomatillos keep the flavor light. As for the cake I will make a flourless chocolate cake recipe that I have made several times before and add ancho chili powder to the batter.

tomatillo caramel

1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1/2 pound small fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
1/4 pound piloncillo* (unrefined brown sugar; sometimes called panela*), coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (1-inch) piece cinnamon stick

PreparationMakes about 1 cup. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan with tip of a paring knife, then add pod and remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos are very tender, about 15 minutes.

Discard cinnamon stick and vanilla pod, then purée tomatillo mixture in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Cool completely, then chill, covered, until cold.

*Available at Latino markets and some supermarkets.
 
This sounds unusual and very incredible, jfain!

I use the flourless chocolate cake from Lee Bailey's "Country Desserts". Typically I serve it w/ raspberry sauce and kirch whipped-cream...
 
Chocolate and raspberries is one of my favorite combinations. I also love it with cranberry sauce or really anything kind of tart to act as a foil against deep dark chocolate. Tomatillos are so tart they sort of do the same thing.
 
The strawberries sound lovely but Jon doesnt like fruit. He had mentioned going out somewhere for a special dinner for Val day but Im not sure yet. He loves custard ice cream so I was thinking of making that for a dessert on Val day but he is sticking to his weight loss thing for the new year and I dont wanna blow it for him.
 
On Valentines Day, We will probably order a pizza and have a bottle of wine and lite a red candle. Keep It Simple. I'm Going to make......

Amaretto Chunk Cookies.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks) softened
1 cup brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 2 Large eggs
1 Tablespoon of Amaretto 2 t almond extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds

1. preheat oven375 On wax paper, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

2. In Large bowl, with mixer med speed, beet butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, amaretto, and extract. Reduce speed to low, beat in flour mixture just until blended, stir in chocolate chips, coconut , almonds

3. Drop by Tablespoons, 2 in. apart uncreased cookie sheet Bake 10 - 12 min makes 4 doz. (freezer up to 3 months) Cookie :)
 
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I love amaretto. Could I make these without the coconut?

Is that...

1 Tablespoon of Amaretto and 2 t almond extract or one or the other?
 
Cathy, you SHOW-OFF!

Cookie- I also love your delivered pizza/cookies plan! I'm a single guy... maybe I'll order my own damned pizza & stay in my jammies all night!
 
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