stories : Entertaining
Valentine’s Day: Love and Hate
One Valentine’s Day menu for the lovers, one for the haters
Here’s a menu filled with garlic, onion, fish, coffee, and other ingredients you can’t enjoy if you’ve got to worry about sharing breath with someone. Everything can be prepped quickly or in advance, and these recipes serve 10 to 12. A cocktail party with food that will keep love at bay.
Death in the P.M.
Anise-flavored liqueur and sparkling wine pair up in this licorice-y cocktail.
Lox Flatbread
Smoked salmon, crisp red onions, and herbed crème fraîche on crisp flatbread.
Caesar Salad
There are no corners cut in this full-flavored salad, loaded with anchovies and garlic.
Garlicky Kale and Spinach Dip
A wintry pestolike dip with just enough garlic to keep unwanted Casanovas away.
Welsh Rarebit Bites
Toasted baguette slathered with a cheesy spread laced with beer, mustard, and paprika.
Chile Hot Chocolate
The holiday isn’t complete without chocolate; here it is in liquid form.
Filthy Martini
Caperberries and their brine give an unexpected twist to the classic cocktail.
- Toasted Pound Cake with Coffee Sauce
Bites of vanilla bean pound cake served with an intense coffee sauce.
iMix compiled by Katrinka Suydam
I think I'll do a nice combo. Sort of a sweet and sour Valentine's Day, just like real life. Have a wonderful dinner and cocktails but play Chet Baker all evening. Sounds sublime!
That's it? Sorta dull. My beloved would be asleep with this sorta unispired typical menu. How about some fire? Some passion? Something exotic or more?
Chet Baker, yes! I agree Diana. Where's the hot 'n' spicy for Valentine's? This menu is something I'm trying to avoid this year.
I am loving the Chet Baker idea!!! However, why doesn't the Valentine's day for haters have any good bite sized food? If I am going to throw a cocktail party for all my single friends on Valentine's day (which I am), then I was some really awe-inspiring food. The kind that makes you forget what the party is for in the first place. :)
How 'bout "Song for the Dumped" by Ben Folds Five. Kind of the ultimate anti-Valentine song. Actually, half of that album (Whatever and Ever Amen) is anti-Valentine.