In recent years, perhaps due to work, and also due to the realisation that V-Day can be very commercialised, we have veered towards simpler meals to celebrate.
After all, some people would say that every day is a V-Day if two persons are really in love, and while that may be true, there is always something about 14th February that elicits an additional thought and emotion.
It is perhaps a day that we remind ourselves that we are celebrating the need to cherish the ones that mean the most to you, not just the romantic ones, but also family and close friends.
As for me, I always like to make the extra effort to surprise Pauline whenever this occasion arises, and up till now, she has always been caught off guard. And I thought, hmmm, how was I going to pull this one off this year?
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| A Silver Valentine Rose |
So I thought of a Silver themed Valentine's for 2011, and appropriate since I started my alter ego as the Silver Chef and finding immense joy in writing and maintaining this blog.
And what better way to celebrate silver than to actually buy silver for her. You see, she has always bugged me to bring her to Tiffany's for the longest time, and for some reason, we never did. Well, the time has come to bring some Tiffany love to her.
So my plan was to surprise her with a Tiffany's heart shaped pendant and place it on our bed with a rose when she comes back from work. In the meantime, I decided on tonight's menu. A mushroom cappuccino for appetiser and for the main event, crispy salmon with butter poached apples and chive hollandaise.
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| Valentine's Dinner |
Granted, all these were from my previous repertoire, but it has been awhile since I did these, and these were her favorites and she had not have them for quite some time. This would be the ideal time to revisit these recipes.
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| Mushroom Cappuccino |
The mushroom cappuccino came out perfectly, and she came home just in time to help me strain the blended mixture. And all this while, she was apparently oblivious to the Tiffany's surprise laid out on our bed, even whilst she was changing inside!
I had myself rush home from a last minute meeting with a client, and had barely time to shop for groceries and managed to come home just under an hour before she got back, so it was indeed quite a rush to get everything chopped and prepped in time for cooking.
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| Crispy Salmon With Butter Poached Apples and Chive Hollandaise |
The crispy salmon came out just right too, not too overcooked, and just nicely pink in the center. Pauline adored it as she devoured every mouthful. The mashed potatoes did get an assist from her and I myself added a chive hollandaise on top this time as I had felt it was rather dry in my original recipe.
All in all, dinner was a success as judging from her satisfied look. We had a nice Chardonnay from Australia to go with the meal and the wine was paired beautifully with the salmon. Personally, I would rather do this food at home on V-Day than to go out these days. It means so much more when you can cook for your loved one.
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| Calvin Klein Bracelet |
Pauline herself pulled out her Valentine gift for me, and it was a beautiful silver CK bracelet. Silver, wow, she read my mind! This certainly went very well with my silver planned theme for the night, and yet, she had no idea of her own surprise, as she had thought my gift for the night was the dinner I cooked.
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| The Tiffany Surprise |
I decided that I had to initiate something, or else we would go through the entire evening and she would not even come close to her surprise. So I decided to take my shower and asked her to keep me company in the bedroom in an attempt to get her closer to our bed.
I went in the bathroom, and pretended to take my time in the bathroom. Oh dear, she still had no clue. And even complained about the weather! And then finally, she had a glance to the bed, and in a flash, she moved like a leopard and was on the bed in an instant! She beamed from cheek to cheek as she unraveled her surprise and read the card.
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| The Heart Pendant |
She had no idea this was coming, and after months of prodding me to go Tiffany's, Pauline finally had a Tiffany's of her own. And what better way to celebrate a Silver Valentine, than to receive a silver pendant from the Silver Chef on Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's to all the lovers in the world! :)
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