Sunday, February 12, 2006

For the love of Chocolate!


I admit it...I'm a chocoholic. I love it more than any other food! Dark chocolate is the best, followed by milk chocolate. (Not a big fan of white chocolate, though) So Valentine's Day is always a tempting time of year with chocolate in every store, in every form. Ahhh....why can't it be fat-free??? In heaven it will be. :)


One of my favorite movies is ironically, Chocolat. It's a WONDERFUL movie and if you haven't seen it...you should! And yes, have chocolate nearby because you can't watch this movie without eating chocolate.


For Valentine's Day we will be having a nice dinner at home. We've invited my Mom over along with my sister, her husband, and their two boys. It will be fun! I planned a great menu, too, so here's what we are having:

Roasted potatoes with carmelized onions and shallots
Wheat rolls with butter
Iced herbal tea
Chocolate Lover's Cake with fresh whipped cream
Fresh strawberries
Freshly roasted coffee
YUM! :)
And yes, by freshly roasted coffee I mean FRESHLY roasted! My husband has gotten into roasting green coffee beans lately. Actually, it's quite simple. He buys the green coffee beans and puts them in tiny batches in an air popcorn popper. They roast and darken, passing different "crack" stages, until they are the color you want for certain roasts. It's very simple and the coffee is the BEST you've ever had! My sister started doing it, he tried her espresso, and he was hooked. It's hilarious to hear them talk about it....coffee geeks. :)
Gotta get Noah's Valentines together and his teachers' gifts ready. For each of his teachers I am doing something very simple...... I bought each of them one of those HUGE Hershey bars! I'm tying each chocolate bar with this precious red ribbon with white polka dots with a big bow on top and attaching a homemade Valentine tag. Can't beat a hunk of chocolate!
Since I shared recipe links above, I won't share other recipes here. (Note: for the salad, I am substituting dried cranberries in place of the strawberries in the recipe)
Have a wonderful week and remember to say I LOVE YOU to the people in your life!
-Jennifer
"Open your hearts to the love God instills... God loves you tenderly. What He gives you is not to be kept under lock and key but to be shared." - Mother Teresa

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the movie Chocolat! I went to buy that last week and Best Buy was out! Your meal sounds great! We go out tomorrow night for me and I cook for Doug on Tuesday. can't wait for both! Great Entry, as always, Jen! HEY! You're posting on my blog while I'm typing here! LOL

Have a great day!

Sophia

corinne5 said...

now I am coming to eat with you tomorrow! deck the table!

corinne5xxx

Anonymous said...

I'm a huge dark chocolate fan too. Enjoy your Valentine's dinner. Sounds delish!

Anonymous said...

It is 7:30 in the AM and I am hungry. Sounds yummy

Anonymous said...

Yummmm....chocolate...:)
and my brain can't remember any of the rest of what i was going to comment on, since it is now firmly fixated on chocolate...hee hee...:)

Mackey said...

Your dinner sounds wonderful! I could discuss coffee all day and all night! Thanks for the link to the recipes and Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family!

justem said...

That chocolate picture looks great at the top :)

Michelle W. said...

wow. I got to try your trick about the coffee beans! TFS

Michelle

Anonymous said...

I'm not a huge chocolate fan but I don't seem to have a problem eating it when we have it in the house... that's not always a good thing! lol!

Heather said...

Love, love, love Dark Chocolate! Sounds like dinner was YUMMY last night! Me, I had a photography class, so dh had to cook.

Stella said...

Your Valentine's Day dinner sounded great! I am so jealous (and hungry too)!

staceykingman said...

I just love coming to your blog. It makes me smile...:)