Since we’ll be in Cooperstown on Friday we are celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early this year. Per our Valentine’s Day celebration tradition, this year I made a decadent dessert. It all started with my daughter’s new found love of coconut and my eternal love of chocolate. When you put the two together you get this sinfully rich chocolate coconut pie.
To create a little excitement while we slog through the winter doldrums I like to change up our dinner routine. Any break from the norm on evenings when the sun has set by four o’clock is a good way to lift the spirits and keep a smile on our faces. This winter I’ve tried everything from breakfast for dinner, testing new cuisines (more on that soon!), and revisiting our beloved sandwich maker. We received our panini press as a wedding gift nearly a decade ago and it has held up like a champ. I use it all the time to make our favorite pressed sandwiches, grilled cheeses, and even grilled vegetables. Last week I dug it out of the basement for the first time since we moved to make some dinner sandwiches on a particularly cold evening.
I thought I’d pop in with a few Valentine’s gift ideas this week and next. I don’t go crazy with Valentine’s Day like I do with Christmas, but I do enjoy the sentiment of a sweet romantic gesture and a small extra-thoughtful gift. One of my favorite Valentine’s gift ideas is simple: flowers and chocolate. Each year I challenge my husband to find me some unique chocolate treat. He does his research and has brought me little boxes from La Maison du Chocolat, Chocopologie, and See’s in the past. This year I plan to reciprocate with a little chocolate of my own.
Over the years I’ve made endless (endless!) lists about my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. And, while I like making all of them, I am still searching for new ones. Last week I was inspired by an article on Food52 and wanted to recreate Phyllis’s recipe. However, I didn’t want to use walnuts since many of my daughter’s friends are allergic. I also had a different selection of chocolate on hand. And, I was jonesing to try my big new bottle of bourbon extract.
This week I finally got around to putting away my Christmas linens. Now I am trying to decorate our table for winter. The current scene outside our dining room is a blanket of winter white and pretty bare branches and I want a natural feel inside to match. Here are a few images I found inspiring. I’ll share my final centerpiece on instagram once it is put together next week!
I love the juxtaposition of rustic birch with colorful flowers. This would be so cheery with red flowers for Valentine’s Day. (photo via Tory Burch)
For Christmas I gave my husband a Moscow mule mug. I collect all things copper for my kitchen and couldn’t wait to add it to our collection. I also know how much he loves trying new cocktails, especially in the deep-dark days of winter. On Sunday night was started the second season of Breaking Bad (yes, we are behind, but it is so much easier to watch in one fell swoop) and mixed our first Moscow mule. I am not one for heavy cocktails on a regular basis but this is one we’ll definitely be breaking out again in the near future.
I am always a sucker for a good baking book and this week I am excited to share a great one: The Dollop Book of Frosting: Sweet and Savory Icings, Spreads, Meringues, and Ganaches for Dessert and Beyond. At first I thought this would be just be a ho-hum baking book but it really is so much more. Not only are the recipes for spreads and baking goods amazing, they are all different from ones I currently have in my cookbook collection. There really is something for everyone in here, especially if you are looking to add something new to your everyday sweets repertoire. Today I am featuring a fun little chat I had with the author, Heather Saffer and am giving away a copy. I am also featuring one of my favorite recipes from the book!
