Our First Valentine's Dinner on NB Valerie

   A year ago Les proposed to me and we had a lovely dinner at Swilly's in Pullman, WA. It was at that dinner we discovered sparkling Shiraz. We ordered a case for our wedding reception in July.
   It is hard to believe a year ago I was caught up in a whirl of romance, waiting for my new life to begin....and now I am actually living it!
   We decided to stay in for Valentine's Day this year. Since Les bought a very respectable bottle of Moscato for dinner, I cooked, we ate, sipped wine, and reminisced accompanied by our music--a DVD of slow dancing music I put together at Les' request a year ago when he knew he was coming back to Cloudhouse to finally land in my arms.

2012 Valentine's dinner Menu
Tossed green salad with homemade dressing
French rolls with butter
Baked Chicken Dijon
Jacob's Creek Moscato white wine
Surprise dessert with homemade Bailey's Irish Cream

Here is the recipe for Baked Chicken Dijon:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, patted dry
1 Tablespoons of butter, melted
5 Tsp. of Dijon mustard
2 cloves of fresh garlic, very finely minced
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (4 oz. or 118.3 ml)
1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs (354.9 ml or 12 oz.)
3 Tablespoons of fresh diced parsley
Mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley together in a wide bowl. Set aside. As the butter melts on low heat add in the diced garlic. Remove from heat and let sit until it cools to room temperature. Whisk in the Dijon mustard until it sets in a thick sauce. Dredge the chicken breasts in the butter/mustard sauce, and coat in breadcrumb mixture. Set on a baking pan. Once coated, refrigerate for two hours before baking for 25 minutes at 350F (gas mark 4). Remove from oven, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of each breast and return to oven for final five minutes of baking. Enjoy!

  Les and I LOVE ice cream but we don't buy it here because A.) Our tiny boat freezer doesn't have much room and doesn't freeze cold enough for long term storage of ice cream, and B.) It is hard to find ice cream which compares to Ferdinand's fresh ice cream from WSU's creamery!

Nonetheless I managed to find a liter of Kelly's of Cornwall Creme Fraiche ice cream at the Newbold Cooperative...so I surprised Dear sir with ice cream sundaes for dessert!

Les & Jaq's romantic DVD Compilation:

1. Swayin' to the Music/Johnny Rivers
2.Crazy Love/Van Morrison
3.The Very thought of You/Rod Stewart
4.Unchained Melody/Righteous Bros.
5. These Arms of Mine/Otis Redding
6. Only when I Sleep/The Corrs
7. The Look of Love/Dionne Warwick
8. Hold Me in Your Arms/Teddy Pendergrast/Whitney Houston
9. Take My Breath Away--Instrumental version/Atlantic Five Sax
10. Making Love/Robert Flack
11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You/Rod Stewart
12. At Last/Etta James
13. Here, There, Everywhere/The Beatles
14.Natural Woman/Aretha Franklin
15. You Send Me/Sam Cook
16. From This Moment/Shania Twain

Valentine's Post Script:

The Rev. Patti and her husband Steve

  Those of you who've read our about wedding on my blog So This is Love... will recall the Right Reverend Patti Gora McRaven who married us, and her husband Steve McRaven who walked me up Kamiak Butte and gave me away to Les; here, just in, is their Valentine's Day 2012:    "Best. Valentine's Day. Ever. Took Steve to lunch in Olympia; spied a sweet couple across the aisle that were in their mid-80's. He'd brought her a lovely corsage which she pinned on with slightly shaky hands. We overheard his excited tale of how they met ("we were best friends") and how they'd been married 50 years; he explained that they were engaged on Valentine's Day, and took a walk after along the path by the falls visible from the restaurant window. They split an entrée (whether due to small appetites or a small wallet we’re not sure…). We asked the waiter to quietly put their tab onto ours…and to include dessert. Anonymously. Priceless. And I got to drive home under a gorgeous double rainbow to boot. True love rocks!"