Valentine's Day... or the day after anyway...

Let's just say that Valentine's Day didn't work out for us last year. I was hoping (for once) to have a Valentine's Day with a handsome man, but we ended up eating Sushi at his parents... not bad, not romantic either.

This year, we promised to do better. Was it? Yeah! We went up to Blue springs and hanged out with Carl's sister and three kids (and saw an armadillo and some manatees and lots of fish) and ate greasy pizza at Hungry Howie's. It was wonderful, but once again, not very romantic. So the day after Valentine's Day, Carl decides we're gonna still do Valentine's Day anyway. We had a delicious (!) homemade Alfredo on spaghetti pasta (I don't know who invented canned Parmesan, but I suspect that's why the recipe called for twice as much as it really needed when freshly grated). The pasta was accompanied by a wonderful salad and warm garlic French bread.  Our "wine paring" was Martenelli's apple cider. Thanks to Dollar tree we even made it candle-lit.

After a meal like that, and dishes (the biggest downside to eating at home). I was feeling like rolling to bed and sleeping for about ten hours. But Carl had more. He locked me in my bedroom for five minutes and when he allowed me to exit, he produced a lovely plate of cheeses, nuts, dried cranberries, and chocolate (after dinner because, "only a full cook can really judge food.") Unbeknownst to me, he stopped at Whole Foods "on the way home" and procured 3 very distinct cheeses.
The Mahon Do was the mildest, from Spain, it looked and tasted like a mild form of Munster.
The Capricho de Cabra was also from Spain, it was a goat's milk cheese whose flavor I might not be able to distinguish from any French Chevre. I love goat cheese. : D
The third was Brillat Savarin, a relative or type of (I'm not sure which) Brie. It was incredibly pungent, almost spicy in aftertaste. But the buttery center oozed out and cried, "Spread more of me on your cracker!" So I did, and then it was all gone. :(

So, conclusion? Valentine's Day can be wonderful without being on February 14th, in fact, I'd love to have a cheese course EVERY day, but alas, my favorite food is expensive, and so it will continue to be consigned to special occasions.