Be My Valentine (part 2)

This year and last year Brian and I have celebrated Valentine’s Day and our dating anniversary (Jan 26) on one weekend in between. This year was our fabulous dinner in Portland, ME at Fore Street. We also make a delicious dinner on Valentines day. Last year we did a seafood risotto…mmmm. This year we went classic Steak House style!

We had lots of errands and things to do before dinner thought, so I made us a energy packed breakfast.

Veggie Omelets!

These babies contained (for two people):

• 2 Eggs and 2 Egg whites
• a little Skim milk
• onion
• orange bell pepper
• broccoli
• tomato
• 1 garlic and herb laughing cow dotted throughout
• reduced fat cheddar

Served with a toasted homemade Choco-Coconut Muffin!

I spread a little Cashew Butter on some of my muffin…I couldn’t believe I found CASHEW BUTTER in my MOM’s fridge!! GO mom! (It was in there next to the Almond butter…yay for my influence hehe)

Our first stop was at a really nice meat shop in Wellesley, MA:
John Dewar & Co., Inc. My aunt told me about this place and they apparently supply meats for many high end restaurants in Boston! Perfect!

We went all out:

I have only ever eaten Dry Aged steak at really nice restaurants and never see it in regular grocery stores, so I was very excited to purchase one. A $30 steak for the two of us is still way cheaper than getting this at a restaurant!

I also grabbed these…because, well I love pickles :)

The rest of the day included:

• stopping at Great Harvest for some bread! (we each got loaves of the 9-grain bread, and also got lunch there)
• To the jewelers for my 6-month inspection on my engagement ring!
• An Unplanned purchase at the jewelry store…Brian got his wedding band!! It’s so cool…I’ll post a pic when we pick it up sometime this week :)
• Visit the grandparents
• DINNER!

A steak needs some sides:

And a nice red wine of course…I picked this up at TJ’s Friday night after trying a sample. It was really full bodied and flavorful, and I Liked it which is key since I don’t love all red’s.

On to the main event: the meat! I probably eat red meat 1 or 2 times a month…if that! So if I do I want it to be goooooood.

It was 1.5 – 2” thick!!!

We seared it in a HOT cast iron pan for 2-3 minutes on each side, then placed it into a 325 degree oven for 8-10 min. Or so that what we were told.

(**We were also waiting for the meat thermometer to read 140 (med. rare), and it just wasn’t getting there, so we left it in a little longer…BAD MISTAKE! It wasn’t completely overcooked…still pink inside but I was SO upset, a steak like this NEEDS to be med rare or you might as well have just picked up a regular old grocery store piece…it was still good but I was really really disappointed…STUPID MEAT THERMOMETER!!!!)

The sides were delish though haha…

Oven roasted red potatoes with onion, garlic, EVOO, S&P!

Grilled Asparagus with EVOO and garlic, splashed with lemon at the end.

Dinner is Served

Dessert was simple yet decadent…

Picked up some of this deliciousness at WF’s

• Used the crepes I bought last week at WF’s
• heated in the micro
• Spread with the Choc. Hazelnut Butter (practically the same as Nutella),
• Topped with sliced banana and strawberries
• Rolled up
• heated a little again
• topped with 1 scoop Dulce de Leche ice cream (for him) and half a scoop for me, and half a scoop of vanilla.

His

Mine

I’d say minus the steak snafu, it was a success! And delicious to boot! I must say I had a FABULOUS Valentines Day!

Yay for no work tomorrow!! Mom and I are shopping for a dress for HER to wear at the wedding…this should be entertaining haha. We are staying FAR far away from bridal store “Mother of the Bride” dresses, I can’t stand those things!