Say “Be My Valentine” with this luscious libation to begin your Valentine celebration. Then add a handwritten card, bouquet of roses, dinner, a thoughtful (shiny) gift and your work is done!

Dress up for date-night at home and temporarily re-home distractions like rug-rats with the grands. Then, you can focus on your significant other, because there’s nothing like an intimate, candlelit dinner for two. It does beg the question of what’s for dinner, but I have a suggestion, complete with instructions right here.

Steak au poivre for two with some fresh asparagus make a perfect main course, followed by chocolate pot de creme. Make dessert in advance, the asparagus only takes 4 minutes and I know you can cook a steak. If the sauce sounds daunting, think of it like making gravy and it will ease your mind. If you’re not a pepper-head, go easy on the pepper – the sauce is still delicious.

Valentine’s Day

Pope Gelasius I inaugurated the feast of St. Valentine to honor the Christian martyr on February 14th, 496 A.D.. It took a thousand years to evolve into a celebration of romantic love in the fifteenth century.

The notion gained momentum in England where it grew to include gift-giving and written love notes known as valentines. Handwritten missives gave way to mass produced cards in the 1800’s.

The celebration of St. Valentine has become thoroughly commercialized around the idea of love. More than 200 million cards are exchanged between individuals today and that number climbs to over 1 billion when you include school related exchanges.

If you’re curious, teachers receive the most valentines and yours might appreciate a cocktail after a hard day’s work.

Happy Valentines Day!