A Valentine's Day Built for Two

Well, Hello!

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day together, in fact, we wish the holiday didn't have to end! Valentine's Day is sort of "our" holiday, it was the first one we had together as a couple; so we're Valentine's Day people. Whatever a Valentine's Day person is....anyway.

I have the sweetest boyfriend in the world. He told me "Everytime I see you today, I want you to have another surprise!" Surprise me did he ever. First, I received a dozen, beautiful red roses. Then, a swan bud vase with another big, red rose. THEN, about the hugest box of chocolates I've ever seen! What a wonderful boyfriend.

I then baked heart-shaped brownies using this recipe. I would have posted pictures of the baking process but when one has to "coarsely" chop 6oz of baking chocolate...things get a little too messy for pictures. They turned out a little dry, but I think it's because I was baking in a glass pan and therefore cooked them a little too long. Boyfriend loved them anyway though, so I guess they were a hit regardless.

Then boyfriend and I went to dinner at Nectar, which is a pretty hip place in Moscow, Idaho. We decided to go a little early (about 3 hours early) because we missed wine tasting at a nearby winery (I forgot my ID at home so we had to go all the way back and by the time we made it back....we missed it!). BUT that meant we got to do some champagne tasting at Nectar which made up for the lack of wine tasting. We decided we liked the first and third glasses the best.

As we waited for our reservation, an interesting fellow sat down next to us at the bar. Apparently he had QUITE the lady friend coming to meet him for Valentine's Day and although she was 5 minutes late, he was sure she was bound to arrive any moment. He spent the next 3 hours convincing the wait staff that this girl was the cat's meow and snapping at them when they asked him questions as to her whereabouts. (To keep from laughing, I taught Boyfriend French vocab). Needless to say, the guy stayed at the bar all the way through our 5 course meal and the lady in question never did show up.

(Nectar was VERY dimly lit and putting the flash on the camera overexposed the pictures so forgive me for the questionable quality. I gave up after our 2nd course, the lighting was just too terrible)

Nectar is such a swanky little place so I was laughing hysterically when I saw this sign. Too funny!

Cumin-spiced red lentil soup

Butterleaf salad with oranges, sesame seeds, and citrus vingerette.

Our 3rd course consisted of seared Ahi tuna and spiced pork pate on a baguette. Our 4th course, which was the entree course, I had trout and Boyfriend had short ribs. So tasty! Our favorite course was dessert (naturally) and they gave us 2 chocolate covered strawberries, vanilla custard, and cupcakes with buttercream frosting and sugared roses.

Needless to say, it was a beautiful Valentine's Day!

 Hope your day was magical and filled with love.

X, J