Happy Valentine's Day!

So what is everyone doing (or not doing) for Valentine's? In an earlier post, I revealed that I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's day-- it's over commercialized and too high-pressure. Me, I'd rather have a guy who treats me well every day of the year, not just when he has to. I'm very lucky that way. So, because I feel like cooking a meal, I'm doing a Valentine's dinner myself tonight. I'll be heading over to his place with groceries later this evening.

First, I'll be going out with some work associates to Twist for happy hour. I'll report back.

As far as dinner is concerned, I wanted a few things that were tasty, appeared fancy, and didn't need a lot of prep time. My appetizer was inspired by my friend Deb, who needed a dairy meal for Shabbos that wasn't a quiche. I suggested a veggie-based tarte fine, and together we came up with the idea of topping the tarte (for her, made out of kosher Pepperidge Farm puff pastry; for me, made out of TJ's butter puff pastry, which we weren't sure was kosher or not) with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and topped with slices of goat cheese.

I'll probably slide in a salad of some sort. Inspiration hasn't hit, but I'll probably do a basic vinaigrette, maybe with some shallot, using muscat-citrus vinegar.

Entree? Seared scallops, fresh asparagus (or spinach, haven't decided, depends on how the asparagus look at the store) and mushroom risotto. Terry loves my mushroom risotto, so I'm happy to make it.

Dessert? Chocolates from Greenup Cafe, which I need to remember to pick up. I am not much of a dessert baker (though friends who attended my housewarming will remember my angel food cupcakes filled with raspberry, and the fact that I had about four dozen of them, and I hand-filled them all post-baking), so I'd rather buy something.

Pictures will follow, as well as a post about bacon brittle!