the way to a mans heart, is through his stomach.

Happy Late Valentines Day!

Boyfriend and I celebrated Valentines day on Sunday instead of Monday because, as it turned out, we both work! Suprise, Suprise, heh. It turned out great though. Better to have a whole day together than just a night!

For our Faux Valentines Day I had planned this whole elaborate food day for boyfriend. Making all his favorite foods!

We started the day with Turkey-Egg Crepes for breakfast. Now this was not on the original menu for the day, but the day before while I was browsing the blog world I came across a blog called Design Crush which had a simple recipe that just sounded soo tasty!! Plus boyfriend just loves crepes, so I had to do it! They turned out fabulous, and definitely got a gold star in my recipe box.

Afterwards, since it was such a beautiful day, we took Lady to the dog park. It was fun to be outside and relax, which doesn't happen often.

For dinner the menu consisted of my famous Goat Cheese Salad, Potato Halves, and a Rack of Lamb (boyfriends fave meal!). I had never made lamb, not even tried it before so I was definitely very scared of totally messing it up. But thank goodness for my "french lady" (what I call Mireille Guiliano author of French Woman Don't Get Fat. Shes a genius!), she had a wonderful recipe for lamb that just turned out delicious to say the very least!

Lastly for desert I made Tiramisu (also boyfriends fave), which didn't turn out like I hoped (which isn't surprising since I'm not the best at deserts!). SO, I followed a Giada recipe which called for the ladyfingers to be dipped in a rum and espresso mixture (I substituted a coffee liqueur instead) and let it sit over night. I was so excited because I put the desert in these cute red dipping glasses we hardly ever use! But as I took a bite I was drunk! The ladyfingers were just way TOO strong and I couldn't get past the taste lol! Boyfriend finished his off and enjoyed it, but agreed that dipping the ladyfingers was probably not the best idea! So I recommend to everyone out there to BRUSH the lady fingers with the coffee liqueur and not DIP them into it.

~Turkey-Egg Crepes with Chocolate-Fruit Ke-Bobs~

~Lamb with Goat Cheese Salad and Potatoes~

~Tiramisu~

(Forgive my different types of pictures I am trying out new programs!)

All in all it was a very good day! In return boyfriend got me a NookColor with a pink cover!! And even though I love everything about an actual book (esp. the smell!), I just absolutely love the Nook!

Turkey & Egg Crepe Squares

by Design Crush

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 9 thin slices of turkey
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 9 eggs
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• chopped fresh parsley

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, four eggs and the melted butter in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Let rest for 15 minutes.
2. Heat a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and lightly coat with better. Add ⅓ cup batter and swirl to completely cover skillet. Cook until underside of crepe is very lightly starting to brown, about 2 minutes.
3. Loosen edge of crepe with spatula and then either using large spatula or your fingers lift it up and flip it over. Cook for another 2 minutes and then slide out onto wax paper (i use aluminum). Repeat until all crepes are done. You should have about 9 when you are done.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Place crepes on a rimmed baking sheet. Place turkey slice in the center of the crepe and carefully crack egg onto the turkey. Fold the edges of the crepe toward the center, using the egg white as a kind of glue.
6. Season with salt and pepper and bake until egg white is set, about 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve at once.

Grilled Spring Lamb Chops

by Mireille Guiliano's author of "French Women Don't Get Fat"

Ingredients:

• 2 rack of 8 lamb chops
• 1tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 medium shallots
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup of fresh mint.

1. Lay the chops in a baking dish.
2. Combine the olive oil, mustard, shallots, and mint in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a medium-textured paste is formed. Spread the minty paste on each side of the chops, season them with salt and pepper, and let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Broil  for 20 minutes, or grill the chops 3 minutes of each side for medium rare meat.

Tiramisu

by Giada De Laurentiis 

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 lb mascarpone cheese
• 1 ½ cups strong espresso
• 2 tsp dark rum
• 24 packaged ladyfingers
• ½ cup bitter sweet chocolate shavings

1. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. In a small shallow dish add remaining espresso and rum.
3. In a bowl, cup, pan(whatever you use to make the tiramisu) place ladyfingers covering the bottom and brush the espresso and rum over them. Then spread evenly ½ of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of ladyfingers, brushing them again and top with remaining mascarpone cheese (keep layering to fill!)
4. Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours.
5. Before serving, sprinkle with chocolate shavings. I also added some chopped strawberries.