Valentine's Day

OK, so I am a romantic sap at heart. I spoil those I love on a regular basis but I do something special on the 14th of February to celebrate. It is a family celebration. And my type of celebration always involves food. Tonight is surf and turf. I have rib eye steaks and scallops. I'm not a scallop fan so I bought myself some mussels to steam with wine. My scallop recipe is one of my Hubby's (and my Dad's) favorites. I thought it time to introduce to the kids who like scallops and whose palettes have matured. For dessert I'm making molten lava cakes. Hubby asked if we had to have chocolate - the kid's screamed yes. For Hubby I am making blondies with carmel sauce. I'm also going to make a batch of banana ice cream because I have one lone overripe banana. One means ice cream, two means cookies and more than that means bread.

Baked Bay Scallops

1 Cup Butter, room temperature
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2 Tbsp. onion, minced
½ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup white wine or sherry
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. onion, diced
1 ½ lbs. bay scallops
½ lb. mushrooms, sliced

Mix together first eight ingredients. Form into a roll and wrap with waxed paper. Chill garlic butter until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450°. Grease shallow baking dish. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add diced onion and sauté until soft but not browned. Add scallops and mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste and sauté briefly. Drain off liquid. Arrange scallop mixture in prepared dish. Slice garlic butter and arrange evenly over scallops. Bake until butter is hot and bubbly, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Friday I spent a delightful day with friends. In the morning I learned how to make lip balm with a dear friend. I am so excited and can't wait to add this gem to my product line. Then I had lunch with another friend. The sun was shining, spring was poking its head out and all was right with the world.

Saturday was grocery shopping day. I only shop every two weeks and the last two trips I got the bare minimums. Not this time. We were running low on staple items. Four hours and many dollars later I came home. The kids are trained. I come in the house as they carry in the totes (I don't use bags) of food. I sort by fridge, freezer and pantry. They put the sorted food away. A full car load is put away in under fifteen minutes. Team work really pays off. We ate lunch and then I went to my aunt's house. I spent the afternoon with my uncle so she could go grocery shopping. He is so damned cute. He was talkative this visit and we chatted as I warmed his coffee again and again. He just became a great grandpa again. My cousin welcomed his first baby a few weeks ago. He sent pictures and we looked at them and talked some more. He asked how I managed such a big family. I said it is the same as when his three were home. That was so long ago he said. And as I thought about it the last time all three of his kid's were living home was 47 years ago.

And we ushered in the year of the tiger with tacos. Youngest was born in the year of the tiger and she has been craving tacos for weeks. I made a huge chopped salad and let them adorn their tacos from that. It worked much easier than setting up a taco bar. And because son has been asking for mozzarella sticks we had those too.

And, I'm so excited for next Sunday. I was just reading how to properly cook a duck and what did I find at the grocery store? So, next Sunday I will introduce the kids to home cooked duck. Yum!