Tasty Tuesday ~ Nothin' Says Love Like A Valentine Dinner

 

I always enjoy Tasty Tuesday with Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!  I usually link up a previous post, but this week I thought I would actually post some recipes for you today - I'm going to share my Valentine's Dinner with you!

Jennifer at Savor the Thyme and Kelsey from The Naptime Chef were talking about how "Food is love" which is just what I thought of this Valentine's Day!  We don't usually do much to celebrate the day as we would rather do romantic sweet things year-round, but this year I thought it would be nice to express my love for my family in a simple way.  I decided to spend a good part of the day making an extra-special meal for my family.  I usually cook good dinners, but they are easy and simple.  The fancier dinners are reserved for company or holidays.  Why not make a fancy dinner for my sweet little family?  Here's what we had (it was actually mostly a repeat of what I made Christmas Day, but we all love it!):

Chicken Caesar Lasagna

 

This lasagna recipe is over at my healthier blog (Stop Eating All The Chocolates).

Festive Winter Salad with Walnuts and Apples

1 pkg any European-style salad mix (I used organic mixed baby greens)

1 thinly sliced tart apple (I use any variety apple I have on hand)

1 pkg (4 oz) Blue Cheese, crumbled (or Gorgonzola)

1 cup walnut halves

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (white balsamic keeps the salad prettier)

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine salad, apples, walnuts and Blue Cheese.  Whisk together oil and vinegar; pour over salad.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then toss well.  Serve immediately.

Rosemary Asiago Rolls

 

8 frozen Bridgford Parkerhouse Rolls, thawed (I used Rhodes frozen rolls, can use homemade dinner roll dough too)

1/3 cup crumbled Asiago cheese

1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

Lightly grease baking sheet.  Place thawed rolls on lightly floured board.  Top rolls with equal amounts of cheese and rosemary and knead lightly to mix in dough.  Brush rolls with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt.  Place on prepared baking sheet and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked and golden brown.

Powdered Sugar Pound Cakes with Chocolate Raspberry Ganache

I made our favorite Powdered Sugar Pound Cakes in my flower molds and combined them with the Chocolate Raspberry Ganache from the Chocolate-Raspberry Cookie Trifle recipe (melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, seedless raspberry jam, and a little half and half) - it was a delicious combination!

My family really loved and appreciated the extra effort that I put into our dinner.  I even got out the china to put it on and some goblets for our sparkling cider!

How do you express love with your food?  You can submit a Food is Love post through today (2/16) - stop by Savor The Thyme or The Naptime Chef for details and be sure to stop for Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam to check out all the delicious recipe links!

Have a terrifically tasty day friends!

10 Things I Find More Romantic Than Roses or Diamonds

Yes I know Valentine's Day is over and I hope you all had a lovely one as I did!  But I can't help wondering who declared that roses and diamonds are the only way to express romance?  I am not opposed to them mind you, but would rather get them some other time of year for no particular reason and even then they're really not at the top of my list of gifts to receive.

Here are 10 things that I think are much more romantic! 

1.  A lunch or coffee date.
2.  A homemade latte in bed to start my morning.
3.  An unexpected kiss.
4.  Pile of dishes washed for me after cooking a big dinner.
5.  Pile of laundry folded and put away for me.
6.  Holding hands.
7.  Chocolate, but just a little bit.
8.  Thrift store shopping together.
9.  An unexpected fancy coffee drink brought home for me.
10. Control of TV remote for at least an hour.

What do you think?  Are flowers and jewelry your favorite romantic items or does your list look more like mine?

Have a lovely day friends!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Chocolate-Raspberry Cookie Trifle

 

It's Chocolate Friday again - Woo Hoo!  And I know.  You saw the title and now you're not even paying attention to what I'm saying - you're scrolling down to the pic so you can start drooling.  It's OK - I'll pretend like you're slowly and carefully reading my every word.  :)

Valentine's Day is almost here, but there is still time for you to do something crafty (I gave you some links to CUTE ideas yesterday) and to plan a yummy chocolatey dessert.  You could look through all my chocolate desserts and choose something OR you could try out this lovely recipe!  I recently ran across it in a Pampered Chef recipe book.  I HAD to make it and I'm pretty sure that the folks at our church potluck enjoyed it.

Now my hard-core everything-from-scratch friends will have to come up with their own fabulous version, but I know they can do it!  The rest of us can head to the store and enjoy our dessert a little sooner!  :)

  

Chocolate-Raspberry Cookie Trifle

1 cup milk
1 pkg (3.3 oz) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling*
1 container (16 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 box (12 oz) vanilla wafers, divided
1 cup milk chocolate morsels**
1 jar (12 oz) seedless raspberry jam, divided
1 bag (12 oz) frozen sweetened raspberries (not in syrup), thawed***

*I could not find white chocolate pudding AT ALL - I checked 3 grocery stores and hubs checked another 3.  I substituted cheesecake flavor pudding...yum.
**I used semi-sweet chocolate morsels...also yum.
***I used frozen raspberries, but they were unsweetened - no need for the sweetened.

1.  For filling, in mixing bowl combine milk and pudding mix; whisk until pudding mixture begins to thicken.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the whipped topping.  Gently fold remaining whipped topping into pudding mixture.  Cover and refrigerate.

2.  For ganache, combine chocolate morsels, reserved whipped topping and half of the jam in a small bowl.  Microwave on high 40-60 seconds or until melted, stirring after each 20-second interval.  Stir until smooth.  Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish.

3.  Place remaining jam into another bowl.  Microwave on high 30-60 seconds or until melted.  Place berries into bowl.  Pour jam over berries; stir gently.  Set aside 16 cookies for garnish; break remaining cookies in half.

4.  To assemble trifle, place one-third of the broken cookies into bottom of trifle bowl.  Layer one-third of the raspberry mixture over cookies.  Top with one-third of the pudding mixture and one-third of the ganache.  Repeat layers two more times, finishing with a smooth layer of ganache.

5.  Dip reserved whole cookies halfway into reserved ganache; place into top of trifle.

Yield: 16 servings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I may have used a few less cookies on the top and made sure there was some extra ganache and a little whipped cream mixture left over so I could dip the cookies in both and sample, you know to make certain that this dessert was safe to consume because I am very safety-conscious like that.  ;)

This would be such a pretty Valentine's Day dessert!  You could even make individual servings by layering in glass dishes or goblets.  You could just make the ganache and serve it over ice cream with some raspberries.  Or you could just eat it right out of the bowl - I won't tell.

And now it's whose turn to bring some chocolate??  YOUR turn!  Bring those family-friendly chocolate posts on over here and link them up below!  And if you're reading this in a reader or before there are many links, you really should check back and visit the links.  There have been some outstanding chocolate desserts linked up and I wouldn't want you to miss out!

Happy Chocolate Friday!

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Crafty Valentine Links

I do apologize for getting my posts up late every day this week!  Being a West-coaster, I normally write my posts at night and schedule them to be up anywhere from midnight to 2 AM my time so East coast peeps will see them bright and early ('cause I know your day just isn't the same if you don't see a post from me first thing - HA).  This week, I've been too tired in the evenings to think straight and taking care of and entertaining my sick kiddo in the mornings.  But I assure you that Chocolate Friday will be up at midnight PST because it's THAT important.  :)

I am not such a crafty person.  I can be if I feel really inspired and force myself to actually take the time to sit down and do the craft, but that is a rare occurrence!  I seem to be surrounded by crafty people though and I have seen many a great Valentine craft online!  It's not too late to get crafty for Valentine's Day!  I'll share a few ideas with you now...

Easy and cute idea with candy and notes in a muffin tin from Cathy Heck:
Valentine Candy Love Note Muffins

Darling hearts and a Valentine Swag from Kathy at Blessed Beyond Imagination:
DIY Fabric Heart
Valentine Swag

A cute bird house, tissue carnations, and a Valentine pillow from my friend Kim at Homesteader's Heart:
Bird House Project
Carnations and Pillow

Sweet Love letters in a frame by Myra at My Blessed Life:
LOVE in a Frame

Decorated box of chocolates from Alyssa at Keeping the Kingdom First:
Decorated Chocolates Box

These are just a few - there are MANY more ideas out there in blogland!  Have you seen a cute idea or posted about one?  Leave the link in your comments!

I love all you crafty people - thanks for sharing your ideas with the rest of us!  :)  Have a lovely day and remember to come back for Chocolate Friday - it involves chocolate (OF COURSE) and raspberry which equals yum!