My Valentines Menu

Here's what I'll be making tonight!

Steak, because it's romantic.

2 HUGE steaks (totaling 3 pounds...)

lots of Worcestershire sauce

Fresh thyme (from my garden)

a thick coating of ground pepper and a drizzle of Olive Oil.

Only marinate for about an 30-45 minutes.

Put it on the grill, only turn it once, and cook until it's to your liking. In my house we like our steak medium rare, so our steaks will cook anywhere between 11-15 minutes total.

For sweet potatoes, I won't do anything fancy. Just poke holes in them, wrap um in foil and bake at 400 for 1.5-2 hours. Serve with butter and brown sugar :)

For the mushrooms, it's a little more involved.

What you need:

2 tbs. unsalted butter

2 sweet onions

1 pkg sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup brandy

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pan and sautee the onions on medium low heat-this is important, or else they'll burn. Once the onions are clear and soft, stir in the mushrooms and cover the pan. Let them sit for a few minutes and then add the brandy. stir and cover again allowing the mushrooms to get all nice and flavored.

SO GOOD!!

Steamed greens. Joshua loves them, so I'll gladly make them for him, but gross! I can't stand the taste. Steaming really needs no instruction. Just keep an eye on them or they'll over cook. Take them out of the pot when they're a truly vibrant green color. At least they're pretty...

My Spinach Salad has a sort of Asian twist. You'll need carrots, celery, cucumber, and onion. Chop them us as fine as you can get them (a handy chopper tool can work wonders at a time like this :) ) and add them on top of a pile of spinach. as some cheese (whatever you like, or have at the time. I usually use either feta or shaved Parmesan) and serve with your favorite Asian ginger dressing. I personally LOVE Makoto ginger dressing. I could practically drink the entire bottle!

Dessert is easy. I kind of cheated and bought chocolates that the culinary department at my school. The students were making and selling them for a very good deal! 25 different kinds of chocolates and sweet treats for $5, not too bad, huh?