PREPARE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!
PART OF A VALENTINE’S DAY MENU
In cooking, as in the arts, simplicity is a sign of perfection.
~Maurice Edmond Sailland, aka Curnonsky (1872-1956)
A HOME CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY FLOWERS
It’s not the size of the gift, but the size of the thought. And maybe the size of the effort. A little labor, thoughtfully presented, can feel like a million bucks. The payoff comes when seeing the delight in the face of a cherished someone.
This is what making dinner is.
One month until the dreaded Valentine’s Day, that Hallmark holiday everyone loves to hate. It’s no secret that the company manufactured this red-letter day to give people a reason to buy more greeting cards. Retail and restaurants fall all over themselves every year, grasping to get a large piece of the commercial pie.
Greeting cards are harmless enough, always conveniently available, and prices remain constant. Not so with flowers where the week before Valentine’s Day, prices double. So the blooms you buy in a month will cost far a lot more than today. Such is supply and demand. And who is Hallmark, anyway, to tell you when you should give flowers? Those energized enough to offer a gesture so sweet, so thoughtful, should be celebrated for heeding the spontaneous desire to bring home a bouquet. It’s like art, instantly available. So give flowers, by all means, and give them often. The best way may be to just pick them up on the way home, for no reason at all. Like tonight.  Just because.
And then you have to eat. Feel like dining out with hundreds who feel the need to prove their devotion all on the same single night of the year? Way too many restaurants have gone Hallmark, offering standard fare at suddenly premium prices. You will be served an appetizer, entrée, dessert, coffee and maybe a glass of house wine. No substitutions. Cocktails, bottled water, tax, gratuity and anything else extra.
If a restaurant turns tables twice on the thirteenth of February, they will be turning them three, four or five times the next night. Not only will you have to make a reservation far in advance, you can expect to be kept waiting for your table as those ahead of you are rustled through their dinner so that you can be seated before being rustled through your dinner so that the next people can be seated. Expect the waitstaff to be harried, the service sparse, and the ambiance noisy.  Valentine’s Day has turned into a sad affair masquerading as a memorable night out. Like dinner theater, dining on Valentine’s Day is neither good food nor good romantic drama. Reserve a table on the seventh or the twenty-first; you’ll have a much better time.
PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING
What if you prepared dinner for your sweetheart? Unexpected and — with a little planning and an element of surprise — can be much more romantic than anything a public dining room offers. And, hey, no need to worry about a designated driver because, well, you’re already home! Select from the menu something (or a few things) that you’d like to prepare, do the shopping and make it happen. There is time to practice before the event to gain confidence.
Candlelight, lots of candlelight (unscented, so as to not interfere with the aromas that will be emanating from the kitchen), music, and a little wrapped token at the place setting will set the singular tone: I adore you. Doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s the thoughtfulness of the gesture.  And if the word adore is too strong, just back off the candles, serve fewer courses and refuse to let the object of your affection help you with the dishes.  Only unless he insists. If you clean up as you go, there will be only a little of that anyway.  Stay cool and collected, and collect your kudos.
