The Red Dinner

We're not really into Valentine's Day. On occasion, we'll buy gifts for each other, but it's not a yearly 'must do' and we don't go out to fancy dinners, either; It's just too cliche for us. Don't get us wrong, however! We DO like to celebrate the fact that we are lucky to have found one another. A few years ago, David had the brilliant and romantic (at least I think so) idea to make a special Valentine's Day meal. The Red Dinner is a yearly occurrence, usually made sometime during the month of February, but not necessarily on the "big day". David conceives a menu of red-colored foods, starting with cocktails and ending with a tasty dessert. While I do not recall each year's menu, I've been served things like: delicious red wines, lobster with drawn butter, red potato salad, tomato, basil and mozzarella, rack of lamb, chocolate covered strawberries, and pound cake with raspberries, blackberries, and fresh whipped cream. I'm usually involved in the cooking process, since we enjoy cooking together but David designs the menu and does the shopping. We both think it's an exceptionally sweet way to celebrate the fact that we love being together, without feeling like we've been sucked into the Hallmark-ness of the day.

Dave's been tossing around a few ideas for this year's Red Dinner, which I think we actually might make on Valentine's Day. He's mentioned trying to use pomegranates in the meal, red velvet cake for dessert, and he's trying to come up with a special non-alcoholic red cocktail besides a shirley temple (since he makes me one of these a few times a week at this point!).

I wonder, what will The Red Dinner of 2010 consist of??

I'll keep you posted , but in the meantime, what would your Red Dinner menu look like?

3 comments:

  1. But remember, no food coloring!

    Two new items I'm considering are pomegranates and red quinoa (but not necessarily together)

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  2. Well, no food coloring knocks out the red velvet cake (which would totally be my dessert of choice)--but maybe you could achieve a pink color with the pomegranate juice? Red quinoa is a great idea. Maybe stuffed red peppers? Borscht? This looks interesting: http://foodgoodtoeat.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-red-foods-beetroot-and-feta.html
    --Courtney

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  3. We have pink pancakes for breakfast made w/ beets!

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