Happy Belated Valentine's Day

By Brittaney Meyer

(My best friend, Brittaney's in-laws live in Twain Harte, CA and usually at least once a year, they have all of us up for a weekend of wine, food and fun (in no particular order.) This president's day weekend was no exception. Brittaney and I usually are responsible for breakfast. For Brittaney's breakfast she made, smoked salmon Eggs Benedict with homemade hollandaise sauce, potato and brussel sprout hash and fruit salad. When the meal was finally complete and it was time to eat, Brittaney said, "Now I feel like this meal needs bacon."

God, I love this girl.)

I should preface this post with the following statement: I’m not big on Valentine’s Day. Please don’t misunderstand—I am for love. I am for expressing that love. I just feel that it is more important to express my love and appreciation for say, my husband, throughout the year during everyday moments instead of on the 14th of February. I also feel that it is important that he express his love for me throughout the year and not on a Hallmark prescribed “holiday”… and he does, because, let’s face it, it don’t get much better than this. Am I right?

That being said, I love cooking and I love a theme so, in that regard, Valentine’s Day is right up my alley. Hence, many years ago, when Ryan and I were too poor to buy each other Valentine’s gifts even if we had wanted to, I instituted the “all red food” Valentine’s Day dinner tradition. I will admit, I am not perfect (hard to believe, but true) and I have missed a year here or there because of some conflicting circumstance, but, for the most part, I have kept up the tradition of the all red food dinner. Here are my three rules for the “all red food” dinner:

1. All food groups should be represented—as it is very difficult to find red dairy products that don’t violate rule #2 (see below) I give myself a pass on this one and allow dairy products to be the white “accent” to my red dinner.

2. If at all possible, one should not cheat—a.k.a. food coloring should be avoided and substituted with foods that actually are red of their own volition (please note that I broke rule #2 this year because my husband promised our daughter red polenta—amature).

3. Beverages are part of dinner—they should be red.

Here is what the Meyer family ate this Valentine’s Day:

Starter: Tomato, Bean and Mozzarella Salad with Oregano Vinaigrette



Yes, I realize that basil is not red. But do you know what basil is? Delicious! So, lay off.

Starch: Pink Polenta (see disclaimer above)



I mixed some red food coloring in with the polenta—looks appetizing, right?



And then I cut it with a cookie cutter, pan fried it and made tiny, pink, heart shaped polenta fritters. Our five-year-olds thought they were the highlight of the meal.

Main Couse: Eggplant Parmesan



It doesn’t look that great in the pan alone so you will have to get by on a picture of it with its dining buddies. On the downside, it did not come out as red as I had hoped. On the upside, it tasted better than it looked.

Beverage: Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple and Pomegranate Cider



Apparently Martinelli’s is good for drinking AND smelling—Madison said she sensed top notes of cinnamon and raspberry while appreciating the crisp, clean finish.

Dessert: Strawberries with whip cream “accent”



This is the conversation I had with Ella while making dessert:

Ella: What are you making?
Me: Whip cream and strawberries.
Ella: Strawberry shortcake?
Me: No, just strawberries with whip cream.
Ella: [pause] And cake.
Me: No cake.
Ella: Why? What happened to the cake?

Apparently dessert was a slight disappointment. However, I’m pretty sure the pink hued polenta hearts more than made up for it. Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope you were able to spend it with people you love.

Love, B