The act of feeding someone is the ultimate act
of care and affection.
'Tis Valentines day, and the strings of the world wide web tremble to romantic tunes.
Opinions on how to win affection, give affection (or live without it) are flying thicker and faster than a hail of arrows from an army of cupids, coming from sources both solid and a little dubious - like this guy:
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| "flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep....." |
And this guy:
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| "Hey girl. Candles? Love 'em. The scentier the better. And pictures of funny kittens that can talk but can't spell. Love those too." |
Don't listen to them.
Listen to your tummy.
Because whether your valentine is 6 or 60-
Whether you're offering affection to a mob or your mom-
Restaurant or rangetop, fishsticks or filet-
Food comes first.
A happy tummy can turn all that follows into poetry.
Just look what I found in the vaults of the internet! Romantic pictures! Momentary demonstrations of affection captured forever- and since I read the backs of the photographs, I can reveal to you the true thoughts that prompted them:
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| Thanks, Queen of awesomeness! That's for cutting the crusts That's for packing my lunch! off of my PB&J! |
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| That's for no more Navy dinners! That's for making better fried chicken that my mother. |
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| and that? well, that's just because I found this picture of a man in a chicken suit and thought it was hilarious. |
So yes, since I'm lucky enough to have access to a kitchen I'll be using it, once again, to cook up some things that say "I love you".
At least I hope so-
Here's the plan:
Wednesday: Buttermilk Pancakes and (maybe) Homemade Turkey Sausage
Besides Valentine's day, this week also hosts Mardi Gras (aka Shrove Tuesday) and Ash Wednesday, and pancakes are a lenten tradition. The very best kind of traditions; the ones most worthy of observation, are those that require eating yummy food, don't you think? This pancake recipe is one that I've relied on for years, and it's not much more difficult that stirring up pancakes from a box, as long as you have buttermilk in the fridge. I'm a big fan of powdered buttermilk, because one doesn't always have buttermilk in the fridge, and yet one never knows when a pancake craving will hit, does one? Most grocery stores hide the powdered buttermilk on a top shelf in the baking aisle, above the evaporated and condensed milk. It looks like this:
If you can find it, pick some up- it'll come in handy for biscuits, salad dressings, lots of stuff.
The idea of making sausage from ground turkey? Intriguing. If by dinner prep time on Wednesday it still sounds like play, that's what I'll do. If patting up sausage patties sounds like work, I'll use a nice low fat smoked sausage instead.
Thursday: Marinated flank steak, green beans and Red Sauce with gnocchi
If we go out to eat this week, it won't be on this night of a thousand crowds, but that doesn't mean I don't want dinner to feel special. I'll be making extra steak for a stir fry later in the week, and I'll be using gnocchi as a fun and lower gluten alternative to pasta. Or, I may use a gluten free pasta.
As a Valentine's day bonus, I offer you not one but TWO of my favorite dessert recipes.
The custard recipe you'll find on a page to the right- I've written down the recipe for basic vanilla; leave it in it's pristine vanilla purity and spoon it over fruit for dessert or a wonderful breakfast, or you can turn it to the dark side by melting in half a bag of chocolate chips.
And here is one of the nicest valentine's day gifts I can give you:
Honestly, there aren't very many recipes that are it's equal in the stupendousness relative to effort ratio.
The batter stirs up in minutes, pours into muffin tins or custard cups and can be baked right away or frozen. So easy, so fast, so delicious, so....warm chocolate.
Friday: Salmon, asparagus and rosemary mashed potatoes
Last week, a cashier at Kroger offered me this rosemary scented potato inspiration- I'm so excited about this! I'll be using evaporated milk to cut down on the fat, naturally.
Here's a tip: Take the butter and/or milk for a spin in the microwave before mashing them into the potatoes and you'll end up with a nicer mash. Dropping the temperature of the potatoes with cold milk and butter can make them all sticky and heavy.
I'll probably cook the salmon on the stovetop in a pan with olive oil and a little white wine. If you like asparagus (and I really like asparagus) Kroger's jumping into spring by putting it on sale this week.
Saturday: Broccoli Beef stir fry
I'll be using the leftover flank steak from Thursday, some green onions and depending on how much time and energy I have to spend, I'll use a bottled stir fry sauce, the sauce in the recipe, or this fantastic America's Test Kitchen teriyaki sauce. The teriyaki sauce recipe is a consistent winner round here though....hmmm. 
Sunday: Polenta with vegetables and red sauce
Sorry, no linkage here, because I'm just going to saute some zuchinni, mushrooms and frozen artichoke hearts in some olive oil and garlic, spoon that onto some cheesy polenta (or pasta, or rice) and ladle some of Thursday's red sauce over it all. Since I couldn't find a recipe or a picture for you, I drew one:
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It's so goofy sometimes, all this giddy giving and receiving of love.
So reckless and impractical.
And yet I hope.
I hope that this week you are fed, body and soul, by love.
I hope that whether you mark this day or wish to miss this day, you know yourself to be somehow, by someone, loved and cared for.
And that those you care for know beyond doubt the depth of the love that you hold for them.
A long time ago, one of Shakespeare's most lovesick losers sighed to his court musician,
"If music be the food of love, play on"
But maybe it's food that is the food of love.
And if that be so, then cook on my friends,
cook on.
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