Valentine's Day Menu Ideas

Ryan and I don't like to go out for Valentine's Day anymore. Restaurants tend to be more crowded and there is so much pressure to have the perfect meal. Instead, we discovered a few years ago that we have much more fun coming up with our a menu together to cook at home.

Much like our One Year Anniversary meal, we like to make it special, but simple. Our meal planning always starts around the protein, which in this case will be Alaskan King Crab Legs if we can find them. Don't worry, we will share pics and recipes!!

Here are a few menu ideas for a nice home-cooked date night.

Cocktails

Valentine's Day usually involves a drink of some sort. Whether it be a really good bottle of wine from the cellar, crisp champagne or a fancy cocktail, it is nice to begin the meal with a wind-down and toast to your relationship. Since I am starting to find blood oranges around, Ryan requested that we start with a Blood Orange Martini or Old Fashioned.

We will probably pull out a bottle of wine to finish the night and hope to not be feeling it the next morning! 

Appy

Next up is a nice appetizer to keep your appetite at ease while making dinner. This is also a good way to prolong the evening and slow the meal down. We just picked up some yummy goat cheese from the Farmers' Market, so we will probably make Roasted Grapes with goat cheese and crostini. 

A simple cheese and crackers are a good choice too, but don't eat too much and ruin the star of the show! 

Main Course

We usually like to get seafood, something that we don't purchase a lot. We are straight up seafood snobs, and not afraid to admit it! My regular readers know from previous posts that I rarely spice up seafood. If it is fresh, then none is needed! Lobster tails are a great idea for main course because they take very little time to cook. The prep work (cutting of the shell) can all be done ahead of time, so your attention can be on your date or loved one and not the food! 

We tend to stay away from attention seeking dishes that fall into the "labor of love" category, like risotto. Same goes with the side dishes. A simple vegetable or rice pilaf works great. Occasionally we will spruce up something with a sauce, but most of the time we keep it light so we aren't painfully full at the end of the meal either. This just better prepares us for the best part - dessert! 

Sweets for my Sweet

Yes, I love saying that and LOVE making desserts for Ryan. I always offer to make the dessert for our special meals. This year we are going to take a crack at a chocolate soufflé. My advice would be do any chocolate dessert such as:

• Chocolate Cherry Brownies
• Chocolate Stout Cake with Macerated Blackberries or Raspberries
• Chocolate Raw Brownies (for the gluten free fare)

We are looking forward to having a nice date night at home with delicious food. Hopefully we can find the Alaskan King Crab legs! 

Happy Valentine's Day :)

Kettler Travel Journal: Keep Austin Weird

2012 was filled with amazing trips, including a weekend getaway to Austin, Texas in early November to see one of my best friends get married. Since this was our first time in Austin, Ryan and I decided to spend as much time as possible there to check out what all of the hype was about.

Ryan is a great travel partner. Even though he can be very impatient with airlines (but let's be honest, who isn't), he is great at navigating! This definitely comes in handy when we are in an unknown city, especially since I am HORRIBLE at finding my way around. I still use my GPS around my hometown (sad, I know). 

Back to Austin, the city that lives by "Keep Austin Wierd." Home of SXSW (South by Southwest) an annual music, film and interactive conference and festival.

Day 1

After some very unfortunate and frustrating flight delays, we finally arrived to our destination around 1am. Just enough time to grab a shot, drink and one of the best burgers in Austin at Casino El Camino. Ryan and I shared a burger with chili verde fries and threw back a few local beers (Rahr & Sons Blonde and a Fire Eagle IPA).

              

We were disappointed that the burger was a bit over cooked (but didn't mind since we were starving and we showed up about 5 minutes before the kitchen closed). I had a feeling the next day would start out better! 

Day 2

After a very warm run through a local park, we walked to Second Bar + Kitchen for an early lunch and cocktails. Ryan and I have a way of putting ourselves into the "vacation mentality" way too easily when traveling. This usually leads us to order something like Truffle Pommes Fritte with Foie Gras. Yes, that's right folks - truffle french fries with a slab of foie gras on top! Seriously the most indulgent and most expensive plate of fries we have ever ordered.

I could only manage a few bites with my sensitive tummy, but Ryan was in food heaven! He savored and enjoyed every bite!

         

After that, does it even matter what else we ordered?!?! Just for kicks, I will share. We split an avocado and fried egg sandwich with an escarole, sweet onion relish and black pepper aoili. Yum! To wash it down, he ordered a Mimosa and I indulged in a Patriots Punch - tea infused rum, orange juice and tea syrup. All in all, day 2 was starting out great! 

We then walked over to another bar district to meet the Groom for a drink! After a few local beers and food truck tacos, the Groom was ready to meet his bride at the alter.

Our dear friends Taylor and Katie getting hitched!

Day 3 - Franklin's Barbecue

After a lot of drinking and a VERY late night, we sluggishly woke ourselves up early for the last day. This was the big day - the day we would visit Franklin's BBQ. Drum roll please!

There was a lot of hype for us to go to Franklin's BBQ while we were in Austin. Like North Carolina, Texas is also known for BBQ, but they focus on a different animal - the cow. We were about to experience the best beef brisket BBQ in all of Texas.

The morning started with a brisk walk from our hotel to Franklin's, with a quick coffee stop. We were told that if we expected to actually get some barbecue, we should be in line by 9am (for an 11am opening). Crazy right?!?! Who waits in line for 2 hours just to hopefully get barbecue. This place runs out of food every day it's open - good sign!

We found our place in line, 7th and the countdown began. Luckily we brought our books and the neighboring, anxious patrons were all VERY nice! I anticipated Franklin's to be a tourist attraction, but was nicely surprised to find most of the patrons in line to be local.

I snuck into the restaurant to use the restroom and found myself meeting most of the staff!   They told me that the infamous fatty beef brisket cooks for 14 hours! Talk about a labor of love....literally. After a two hour consultation from the locals, we finalized our order and watched as the line kept getting longer and longer.

It was like Christmas morning when we finally made it through the door at 11am. We decided to go all out: 1 pound fatty brisket, 1 pound ribs, 1/2 pound turkey, side of coleslaw and espresso BBQ sauce, banana bourbon pie, pickles and (as if we would have room for it) the Smokey Franklin Porter, brewed just for Franklin's!

We were treated to a few burnt ends while we were waiting for our order and went for it! I ordered the turkey for the sake of my tummy, but snuck a bite of the brisket and ribs - holy awesome Batman!

This meal was like a religious experience! I am usually not one for meat overindulgence, but this was SERIOUSLY good. We walked back towards our hotel, much slower and heavier than before and stopped in a few places for photo ops. After a short food coma, er, I mean nap, we packed up and headed out for a final drink before departing for the airport. Glad we did, because I found inspiration for my Clean Margarita at Chipacabra!

We did find Austin to be a bit weird, but loved it. We are already anxious to return, just not in the summer time!

Powerberry Green Smoothie

If you haven't heard, juicing and smoothies are all the rage right now. Several of the food blogs I follow have mentioned either a juice fast or smoothie craze since the New Year. Why shouldn't they? Juicing and smoothies are a great way to sneak in raw vegetables that are essential for a daily diet. I am usually not one of those "jump, how high" kind of girls, but I had to give it a shot.

Plain Ole' Blender

Since we don't have an $800 Vitamix or juicer, I had to experiment with my Cuisinart blender that we received as a wedding gift (thank you, Becky)!! I have to say, it is pretty dang powerful and does the job perfectly. I wanted a smoothie that contained a good amount of raw vegetables, but hidden under a mask of sweet fruit taste. After many attempts, and a few rough breakfast smoothies to take down, I resulted with the below recipe. 

I first experimented with frozen fruits and refrigerated raw vegetables. By using frozen fruit, there is no need for ice cubes which can water down the taste. A frozen banana is a great secret tip for a creamy, smooth texture. We usually buy a bulk of bananas at the store since we eat them a lot. Freezing bananas are a great alternative for keeping almost too-ripen bananas. Simply peel, wrap and freeze for future smoothies!

30-Day Shred

This smoothie, along with some of my other healthy habits, have all come at a great time. Today, is the start of a 30-day shred with my friend, Virginia! 

I have not been running or exercising like my normal self since the marathon. Something about running 26.2 miles just makes your body want to stop for a while. But my dear friend Virginia is starting Jillian Michael's infamous 30-day Shred today! Every day of February, we are going to do one of Jillian's 30 minute workouts. Day 1 successfully completed!

Powerberry Green Smoothie

Serves: 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes

1 organic banana (preferably frozen)

1 cup frozen whole organic blueberries

1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)

1 organic pear, quartered

small handful of fresh spinach (optional)

1/2 medium cucumber or 1 small one, halve

1 Medjool date, pit removed (or 1 tsp honey)

1 tsp chia seeds

Place the banana and blueberries into a blender and pulse until it starts to break down. Add in the milk, pear, spinach, cucumber and date and blend until well combined and smooth. Quickly add in the chia seeds, pulse 2 times and serve immediately.

Additional Notes:
 - Honey or maple syrup (Grade B) is a great substitute for the Medjool date. I usually always have dates in my kitchen for the Raw Brownies.
 - This smoothie can easily accommodate any type of frozen fruit or vegetables, depending on the power of your blender. Since I don't have a super, subsonic speed one, I tend to stick with softer fruits and vegetables.