Valentine's Day

The holiday this year falls on a Tuesday and a mid-week  celebration can be hard to pull off.  Most likely, it will be dinner at home but we can certainly make a party of that.  Nothing elaborate but with a few heartfelt touches.  Chicken breasts with artichoke hearts and spinach in an alfredo sauce atop fettucine is easy.  (Think Lady and the Tramp while eating the pasta!)  In keeping with the theme, cut heart shapes out of bread and top with goat cheese or butter and parmesan cheese and broil.  A salad of crisp greens, hearts of palm, and slivered almonds with a balsamic vinaigrette goes well.  The salad will be garnished with sliced strawberries which naturally form a heart shape.  Dessert is as simple as using the same cookie cutter for the bread to make the heart shape out of a pan of home baked brownies (a mix is fine and fast!)  These can be adorned with ice cream and a sauce.  Try dulce de leche for a change of pace.  A few heart shaped chocolates placed  on the plate (or later on the pillow) completes the theme.