Chocolatey Love

Ah, Valentine's Day...the holiday Joe & I don't really make a big deal out of. Every year, I do try to think of something special to do, but I just sit there feeling kind of confused because wasn't it just yesterday that I was trying to think of something special to do for today? When you spend every waking moment showering each other with affection, trying to outdo one another in little kindnesses, and generally being disgustingly happy together, Show-Your-Partner-How-Much-You-Care Day is kind of pointless.

(How long have we been married? Three and a half years. Yeah, I know this mushy madly-in-love stuff will wear off soon. A few people have already warned me. Four years ago. And three years ago. And two. I'm sure it'll happen soon. Yep. Aaaany day now.)

Anyway, we actually do have V-Day traditions, because it just doesn't make sense to ignore a holiday where I get candy. So what we do is: Joe, instead of buying candy for me, makes it, usually while I'm still in bed. For Joe, I make a special dinner (something that goes on a plate and that you actually eat with a fork,) then I serve a dessert I've never made before. If you're thinking the dessert experimentation thing sounds like a recipe for failure, you're right: the year Joe liked blood oranges, I thought it'd be awesome to make an egg-yolk-based custard which included freshly squeezed blood orange juice.

You can't win 'em all.

We had our Valentine's Day thing on Sunday this year, since V-Day's Monday. Joe made peanut butter cups, white chocolate and milk chocolate candy filled with homemade raspberry glaze, chocolate-covered strawberries, and chocolate-drizzled raspberries. I made molten chocolate cake.

Eye candy:

Everything turned out splendidly, even the experimental cakes.

And the special, elaborate, fancy dinner (which, actually, Joe made,) was exactly what I wanted. It took me a while to decide on the perfect meal, but once I decided, nothing else would've been as good.

Cheeseburgers.

Yeah. Valentine's Day rocked.