The Write Ingredients

Mushrooms, Truffle Oil, Strawberries and Chocolate. Must Be Valentines Day!

Going out to dinner on Valentine's Day is overrated. Restaurants are crowded, expensive and the staff would rather be home with their sweeties instead of bringing me plates of overpriced goods. So, this year, we stayed at home and cooked. And man, it was good. (Oh, and the photo? That's Dog, with his V-day gift. Stuffed chocolate-covered strawberries. Woof!)


We started with Crab-stuffed mushrooms. Yes, I found them in the produce department at Lund's, but still, they were darn good. The cashier at the store jumped out of her skin when he rang them up, demanding to know exactly where in the store I was able to find them. They were good, especially with some of the Ginger-Habanero hot sauce from St. John Spice.

Then we moved on to the main dish. The Truffled Shrimp and Crab Risotto from Cooking Light. The only change I made was to add just a bit of Parmesan cheese at the end. But I have to admit the reviewers were right and that the crab was barely noticeable in the dish. Next time we'll scrap the crab and add more shrimp. And for those that think Risotto is intimidating, it's not. It's tedious. but really easy, and really hard to mess up. Just keep stirring. With it, we sliced up a tasty baguette from the Birchwood Cafe. I started my day with one of the special Strawberry, Banana, Chocolate Chip muffins and grabbed the bread while I was there. Can you imagine a better muffin to start Valentines Day with?

And then there was dessert. Almost as good as chocolate-covered strawberries, I made these great little (light) cakes from Cooking Light. The batter is made on the stove-top and was really easy. It calls for some chocolate chips, but I couldn't help imaging how it would have been with cinnamon chips and a dash of cayenne. They're so different, and so light, I think we'll be trying that next time. Regardless, there are two more in the kitchen, waiting for tomorrow night. Hello Friday!!