I don’t like Valentine’s day. We have a bad history: many of my relationships have ended days before, and I can still recall the bitter memories of those lonely, single years. My way of coping with this occasion now is to insist on letting the day pass with little fanfare, even though Kurt is quite the romantic.

Having said all this, yesterday was a terrific Valentine’s day. I had asked Kurt to keep his Valentine spending to a minimum, and in return, I’d prepare a 3-course meal for us that night. Despite the constraints, he still managed to eke tears out of my eyes with his gift: a single peach-coloured rose and a beautiful card with utterly romantic sentiments written inside. I cannot imagine where he must have hid the rose, because there it lay first thing in the morning after I stepped out of my shower. Isn’t it beautiful?

The meal I elected to make was quite the challenge: mango and melon salad with romaine hearts, wine and rosemary drenched tenderloin roast with horseradish potato cakes, and a Cointreau chocolate mousse with whipped cream and fresh berries. The grocery list was huge! Thanks to the amazing folks at Nester’s Market who ran around for me at lunchtime to cross everything off the list. (That story deserves its own post…will get to it eventually…) It took over two hours to make with Kurt emprisoned in the computer room, but it was well worth the effort:

No pictures of the salad, sorry–forgot to be camera-happy for once. My pièce de résistance was the heart-shaped strawberries. The “awwwww” look on Kurt’s face when he saw those was all the reward I needed.

Anyhow, enough wishy-washiness. Hope you had a happy Valentine’s Day too!