Romantic Dinner 101: Valentine's Day

1. Location, location, location! Anyone can make a reservation at the local French restaurant, but we are going to help you create the perfect ambiance in your own home. Find a non-traditional and unexpected spot to enjoy dinner within your house or apartment.  If you are lucky enough to live in a warm climate, utilize your outdoor space as well. For example, the formal dining room, an intimate nook in the bedroom, the garden, etc.
2. Use your nicest dishes, flatware, and glassware.  This helps set the "special" feeling of the evening!
3. Mood music is key.  Put on a classic artist such as Eric Clapton or Sinatra.  Play a record for a special feeling.
4. Avoid scented candles around your dining area.  Stick with unscented, white candles for a classic look. Make sure however the house does smell pleasant and the temperature is comfortable.  Take out the trash, change the litter box, etc.
5. For romantic lighting, cluster your pillar candles for the perfect glow. Be sure they are no higher than 12 inches tall.  Scatter votive candles around the room to add ambiance and mood.
6. Keep your menu fairly simple and prepare as much in advance to save your attention for your special guest.  This also keeps the kitchen relatively neat.  No one wants to spend the evening stuck doing dishes or looking at the mountains of dishes made from the meal.
7. Make the meal three courses: appetizer, entree and dessert. This makes it feel more special than just a snack.
8. Make sure you have a pitcher or glasses of ice water flavored with citrus fruits, cucumber, or even basil/mint in addition to wine or cocktails.
9. Avoid messy and overly rich foods for the meal.  No one feels sexy when they are bloated or if they have greasy fingers from tacos.
10.  Make sure your timing on the food is just right so everything is served at the correct temperature and time.  Be ready when your guest arrives.
11. Before your guest arrives, go and dress up in a special outfit.  A nice dress or shirt and tie.  Remember this is a special evening, no PJs or baseball caps.
12. Make sure to eliminate all distractions including technology, phones, pets, etc.  Send your cats or dogs for an overnight at the kennel or grandma's house.
13. After your dinner is finished, dance together, watch a romantic movie, or maybe hand dip strawberries together.
14. Our last tip, our favorite way to start and end a romantic, Valentine's dinner: Chocolate.

• Chocolate Martini: Take a martini glass and drizzle hard shell ice cream coating on the inside of the glass.  Use both milk and white chocolate varieties to create a pattern. Next, in a shaker combine 3/4 cup half and half or light cream, 1 cup dark chocolate liquor, 1/4 cup vodka, with ice.  Shake to combine.  Strain into prepared glass.  Garnish with a conversation heart.
• Flourless Fudge Cookies (Courtesy of King Arthur Flour): 
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp espresso powder (optional but divine)
• 1 cup dutch process (preferred) cocoa powder
• 3 large egg whites
• 2 tsp gluten free vanilla extra (most pure vanilla extracts should be gluten free)
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease two cookie sheet, or line them with greased parchment paper. Stir together all ingredients until smooth.  Scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir again until smooth.  Drop the soft, batter like dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2 inch circles.  Bake the the cookies for 8 minutes.  They should spread, become slightly shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets.  The result is an ultra chewy, rich chocolate cookie with no additional fat or gluten!

Outside The Chocolate Box Valentine Ideas

Anyone can buy a box of chocolates and a dozen roses for their love on Valentine's Day but that is just down right BORING and so left brained!  Here are Celebrate's inventive suggestions that are guaranteed to be sure-fire hits!

1.)  Everyone sends Christmas cards and often they lose their pizzazz in the flood of holiday well wishes.  Why don't you and your mate send Valentine's Day cards to friends and family!  Lose your inhibitions and have a quirky photo shoot a la Julie Child and her husband Paul;  the two of you in a bathtub full of suds being silly, holding cute speech bubble signs, acting as cupid and target, etc!   Then print them off like you would holiday cards and mail them out!  Your friends and family will be delighted by the unexpected, cute greeting!

2) Plan a feast!  Invite all your coupled friends over for a Valentine's Day dinner!  Prepare a "heart warming" menu and hand out over-sized paper hearts for everyone to pin on.  Run with the theme.  Heart themed everything!  (If you really want to get into it, you could encourage everyone to come dressed as the King and Queen of Hearts.)  If you are single and bitter, you could host the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre Dinner!  Hand out "broken" paper hearts to all guests,  have a bitch-off, and order greasy takeout!  (You could encourage your guests to dress as gangsters.)

3)  Why buy your love stale, mass produced, chocolate confections?  Instead, take a candy/chocolate/truffle making class together!  This could be your gift to your sweetie (pun intended)!  These classes can be found at candy stores or continuing education centers.  Google it!  As an invitation, you can give him/her an empty, heart-shaped box with a note saying something like: "Let's fill this together with handmade chocolate and the memories of making it with you." 

Look at these two lovebirds! 

Come back next week as Celebrate brings you unique and "out of the chocolate box" engagement ideas for all of you contemplating popping the question! 

:: Last Minute DIY Valentine's Day Gifts::

Here are a few quick and easy DIY gifts from our friends at Real Simple Magazine!

Crafty Custom Votive Holders


On your way home from work swing into a discount store and pick up a few plain glass votive holders, double sided tape, and some fun decorative paper (scrapbooking paper, wrapping paper, even magazine pages).  When you get home, cut the paper to strips of varying sizes.  Using the double sided tape, adhere the paper in fun patterns!  Tada, an instant custom gift that can add a touch of intimacy to any setting with a few votives or tea lights.

DIY Valentines Day Cards
Skip the impersonal, over priced cards found in drug stores and supermarkets.  Take a few moments to create a more thoughtful, creative card that has the ability to speak directly from your heart, not Hallmark's!  Pick up some heavy weight card stock, colored pipe cleaners, some buttons in assorted colors, and craft glue.  You can use the pipe cleaners to create words in cursive type such as "love" or "XOXO", glue this to your card, add a heartfelt note, and voila!  For another great card idea, glue the buttons into the shape of a heart on the cover a card for a cute crafty touch!

Chalkboard Picture Frame
Here a super cute gift idea! All you will need is an unfinished wooden picture frame (found at most craft stores), chalkboard paint (found in the paint section of your home improvement store and which can be tinted), and some chalk!  In a well ventilated area, paint the frame with the chalkboard paint.  Once dry, pop a favorite snap shot into the frame and add a sweet message to the frame itself with the chalk.  Pow!  An adorable personalized idea!

Enjoy these last minute ideas and may you have a Happy Valentine's Day with all of those you love!

::Fabulous Valentine's Day Gift Ideas::

Hello Everybody!

Here are some fabulous DIY gift ideas that you can make for your Valentine that personal and sweet!

TEA BAG TAGS: Remove tea bag tag carefully. Cut two matching hearts or other Valentine's themed shapes out of a sturdy paper such as card stock. Write a sweet message and trim the edge with glitter glue if desired. Put glue on the back of one of the hearts and place the strng on it then place the second heart on. Think of this as a string sandwich with the hearts/shapes acting as the bread! Enclose one in a Valentine's card to a favorite friend or relative, or make a box of of them for your tea time sweetie.



HEIRLOOM PHOTO PLATES: Buy a clear glass plate in a size and color of your choice. Next, make a photocopy of a favorite photo. Spread a collage glue such as Modge Podge over picture and place face down on center of plate back. Smooth out any bubbles (you could use a bone folder). Let dry this dry completely. Next, spread another coat of Modge Podge all over the back of the plate. Layer tissue paper over the entire surface. Smooth and tap down removing any air bubbles. For a lighter background, layer white or light colored paper down first and for a darker background, use darker papers. Experiment with different shades, shapes, or patterns with strips of different hues. When dry, trim the edges with a craft knife or sharp scissors. Now you are ready to seal your work. We set out sheets of newspaper and placed full soda cans on the paper on which to balance the plates. Place the plates face down on the cans and spray the backs with a sealer and let them dry completely. Don't stack the plates for a few days to make sure they are really well cured, you don't want them to stick together! Even though the plates have been sealed, don't put them in the dishwasher or in a bucket of suds. Spot clean with moistened paper towels and gently towel dry. These plates are best for things like chocolates or chocolate dipped strawberries. Voila!



VEGGIE ROSE STAMPS: When you think of Valentine's Day, you always think of roses. Here is a clever, inexpensive, and easy rose stamp idea for all your paper goods! It's perfect to stamp roses on cards, envelopes, love letters, gift tags, etc. Take a head of Radicchio, fresh Brussels Sprouts, or even Romaine Lettuce found at your local supermarket produce department. Rinse them and dry them completely. Using a very sharp knife, trim the veggie a few inches from the stem, be sure to make sure the cut is even and level. Next, wrap a rubber band around the leaves to hold the veggie together while you use it. Press the cut side onto a stamp pad and stamp onto your paper. You should have a nice rose shape. Blot on paper towels between presses.