Friday, February 16, 2007

Valentine's Day

Jim & I have never really celebrated Valentine's Day. But as luck would have it, I ended up having a day off on Wednesday which was ideal, because we got our biggest snowstorm of the year, so far, on Tuesday night. No digging out for me. I stayed cozy inside. I decided that I would actually do a little something to celebrate the day. I had to work with what I had, and this is what we ended up with.





We started out with some bubbly! This sparkling wine is from a fantastic Ontario winery, 13th Street. This wine is made in the traditional method or Methode Champenoise, basically meaning they make it like they do in Champagne with the second fermentation happening in the bottle. Some sparkling wines are made in huge tanks with the second fermentation taking place in those tanks. Those wines would be called Charmat Method. At 13th Street they make all of their sparkling wines in the traditional method.
This particular one is a blend of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay and was aged in this bottle for 3 years. It had a wonderful toasty, nutty flavour with a hint of apple. Very delicious!


For dinner, we had Oh Naturel! Chick'n Cordon Melts which I had blogged about a few months ago. They seemed like a sort of romantic food - fitting for Valentine's Day. I served that with some garlicy brown rice and Quick Roast Green Beans and Peppers from The Everyday Vegan.



For dessert, I made chocolate cupcakes using a tried & true recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook.






I iced them with buttercream frosting and decorated with little heart-shaped gumdrops.






My other sweetheart also got a Valentine's treat. Here's Simon obviously enjoying a Greenie. At our house, everyday is Valentine's Day for Simon!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

For a second I almost thought Simon was going to be scarfing down a cupcake! They look adorable. Your whole feast sounds like a delicious way to celebrate.

Candi said...

Whoa, the dinner, dessert and wine look beautiful!! I have to take your tips on really good wine! (I never seem to make the splurge though, but I will!!)

The cupcakes are adorable!! You did lots of piping to get those so darn cute!!

I'm glad you got to stay snowed in and happy you had a nice and romantic Valentine's Day!!

*pets Simon*

Unknown said...

Where do you get those chikn cordon bleu things? I am allergic to chicken and am always looking for cool fake chicken. I love all the morning star stuff, but have not seen this. mmm. looks tastey.

Also, thank you for the sweet comment. Every good thought counts :-)

urban vegan said...

You are quite the artiste with those beautifully decorated cuppers. Bubbly for V Day--what could be better?

Harmonia said...

Glad to hear Simon had a nice treat as well!

theONLYtania said...

Well I don't really know too much about champagne.. but your dinner looks delicious! And the cupcakes are so cute :-) Looks like a great evening.

MeloMeals said...

wow, those cupckaes look amazing!

It's great you got to chill out and enjoy the night!

Simon looks very happy.

Catherine Weber said...

Carrie, your cupcakes are little works of art! (Note to self: buy pastry bag, coupler, and tip(s).)

bazu said...

What a fantastic V-day feast! Bubbly wine is one of my all-time favorites to have with food. Those cupcakes look divine! And you're so lucky you got to stay home! Daiku got to do that too, but I was trudging through snow and getting sprayed by cars!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Simon, the cutie, looks smitten with his treat. Carrie, those cupcakes are so pretty, the icing looks like lace. & you "made" me make the seitan stew (thanks for that!) Cool label on the bubbly! :o)

KleoPatra said...

Oh, girl, totally sweet in every way!!

"13th Street Funk" - great name!!

CUTE cupcakes.

I <3 Simon big time...

Anonymous said...

So cool that you found the cordon blue's....i must have missed your original post. I wish they were vegan...it's like they wen 80% of the way...and I wish they would have gone 100%. But, it's still very cool that they make theses.

karen said...

Hi Carrie! Penny loves greenies too :) Your cupcakes ook so adorable, like you bought them from a shop... We were snowed in here Wednesday with over a foot of it... The wine and dinner sound like a great way to make the day special...

Dr. Melissa West said...

Happy Valentines day Carrie. Those cupcakes are beautiful.
I'm just starting to get into red wine again. I bet you could recommend a good one. I like a full bodied red wine.

Harmonia said...

http://harmonia.bloggoing.com/2007/02/23/sabressenators-game-last-night/

Hockey Post!

Anonymous said...

I responded to your comment in comments on my blog..swing by when you can!

HARMONIA

funwithyourfood said...

aw sounds like everyong had a great day

:)

Teddy

Tanya Kristine said...

hi carrie...where aaaare yoooou?

Simon, come here boy! go get mommy!!!