Valentine’s Recipes – make it special, make it fun!

I was having problems with the light so my husband put up this white sheet to filter it for food photos. Then, our daughter got all excited about how it looked so we had to leave it up for dinner 🙂

All it takes to make Valentine’s Day special is showing your love to those you love!

With that in mind, I like to cook a special dinner. I’ve done all sorts of things over the years, from heart shaped meatloaves to cinnamon love knots, and usually chocolate cobbler or brownies for dessert. Chocolate is a must for Valentine’s in my book.

I wanted to share some fun Valentine’s recipes with you in addition to a few decorating tips. Now, keep in mind I’m no decorator. I have not within me the slightest fiber of interior decorating skill, but kids are easy to please and I lean on that!

Having issued a disclaimer as to my lack of decorating skills, here are a few suggestions to make the meal extra special.

 My simple but special Valentine’s Table

A Red Tablecloth is one of the most useful tablecloths you’ll ever have! – I got my red tablecloth for $12.99. It is washing machine and dryer safe, stain resistant, and…red! Red is important here because this is why I feel it is worth the investment. A red tablecloth can be used for: Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, 4th of July, and even Christmas! My mother and I strongly believe all you need are three tablecloth colors: Red, Green, and Ivory. The Green can be used for St Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Christmas (you can even put it cattywampus on top of the red one for a fun look). Ivory is for Thanksgiving and all other special occasions. So there you have your tablecloth wardrobe – if you’re interested in tablecloths, of course!

Decorations – Katy Rose and I went to the Dollar Tree and spent a grand total of five dollars on some decorations for our table. We got four different balloons on a stick (one for each of us) and the I trimmed the sticks to be varying heights before putting them in a vase on the table. For another dollar we bought some glitter scatter hearts to sprinkle about. Pretty, festival, and cheap! In the past we’ve just decorated with construction paper. Using pink and white, we make place mats for each person and then cut out little paper hearts to decorate them and the table.

Dishes – Back to red! My day to day dishes are Corelle Cafe Red. I love this color for the same reason as the tablecloth. They’re perfect for every day but the red also matches with Valentine’s, Birthdays, Fourth of July (and other patriotic holidays), and Christmas. I prefer these dishes for their durability and price (about $19-$25 for a 4 piece place setting at Wal Mart). I also love that they take up very little room in my cabinet. So if you were thinking of going to buy special dishes for Valentine’s dinner (hey, some people do that!), I’d go with Corelle because of their versatility.

FOOD! – Let’s face it, it’s EXPENSIVE to eat out and truly, I think most of the food you could cook at home tastes better anyway. For a family of four to go to a moderately priced restaurant is easily over $40. but even fast food can go over $20 really quick. As I mentioned before, we’ve had all sorts of Valentine’s menus over the years but this year we’ll be having:

Steak Kabobs

Rice Pilaf

You can easily feed 4-6 people (eight if you double the rice recipe) for around $20.00 with these two recipes.

Don’t Forget Dessert!

Here are some of my favorites:

Cappuccino Cake

Strawberry Pie

Symphony Brownies

Fresh Strawberry Cake

Sweet Valentine’s Cookies Heart Cookies

Milk Dunkin’ M & M Cookies

Love Knots ( or try this recipe using homemade dough)

Remember, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate all those you love. Often, we center Valentine’s wishes on our spouses or significant others. I’ll never forget though, when I was five years old, walking into the kitchen Valentine’s morning and finding a vase of roses for my mother, with two smaller vases on either side that had a single rose in each one for my sister and myself. I had not expected it, and that made my heart fill even more!

In today’s rapidly expanding and changing world, we never know how much distance might be between us and our loved ones from one day to the next, so don’t miss an opportunity to show all those you love how much they mean to you. Be it a special meal you cook, a phone call, or even a note. Don’t wait.

There is a song I learned in first grade that still pops into my mind from time to time…

“Love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

It’s just like a magic penny,
Hold it tight and you won’t have any. 
Lend it, spend it, and you’ll have so many
They’ll roll all over the floor.

For love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away, 
You end up having more.”

This is one form of currency that we can all find wealth in!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,

Christy

I’d love to hear what you do to make Valentine’s Special at your house in the comments below! Feel free to talk amongst yourselves, too – we’re all family here. 🙂