The week of candy hearts, long stemmed red roses, and fluffy bears holding chocolates, is coming to an end.  Thankfully, my husband knows me well.  While I was finishing cooking for my clients on Tuesday evening, he walked through the door holding stargazer lilies and hot pink alstroemeria,

along with a card – on which he had dotted the “i” in my name with a heart.  All I could think was, “I sooo married the right man.”  It’s the little things that make all the difference.

Since I was working late, and we didn’t want to go out to a crowded restaurant and eat at 10:30 at night, we decided to cook a simple Valentine’s Day meal at home.  Naturally, we went red- red steaks from our local Oakhurst market-

a filet for me and a ribeye for Adam.  Red potatoes, crisp and vibrant,

and green beans from Florida.

Well, we had to have something green, but we dressed them with red pepper flakes for Valentine’s Day’s sake.

Despite a little chill in the air, Adam lit our charcoal grill and got it blazing hot.  Literally, all we did to the steaks was allow them to come to room temperature and season them with salt and pepper.  High quality beef just doesn’t need much to shine.  Four minutes on one side.  Three minutes on the other.  And rest…

The green beans were just as simple.  We boiled some water, salted the water when boiling, added the beans and cooked five minutes.  Crisp and tasty, all they needed was that sprinkling of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

As for the red potatoes, well, I coddled them.  After cutting the red spheres into quarters, I towel-dried them, giving them their best chance to become crisp and brown in the cooking process.  Adam rubbed olive oil onto the bottom of our sheet pan, and cranked the oven to 425 degrees.  Then, we placed the potatoes in a large bowl and tossed them with olive oil, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.  Again, very simple seasonings to let the ingredient show its best self.  The key to creating the luscious final product was turning each little potato quarter by hand every 8 to 10 minutes.  I set my timer and stayed committed.  I didn’t want burnt skin and hard insides.  I wanted browned, tender, sweet perfection.  And since the other two components of the meal were so uncomplicated, I could dote on these lovelies.

Caramelized, beauty.

We shared our straightforward, delectable meal, steak melting in my mouth,

inspired by the color of the day, at our little table in our cozy home.  With big smiles and full, happy hearts.

Some people are anti-Valentine’s Day.  Others go all out and buy fancy, expensive gifts and try to out-do themselves from the year before.  Some are fortunate enough to be able to take a romantic trip and create new memories together.  For us, the important part of February 14th is celebrating our love and enjoying an evening together- and of course, a delicious meal.

I find that a little thoughtfulness goes a long way on a day like this.  The smile on Adam’s face when he opened his Southern Biscuits cookbook and his new wire whisk was enough to warm my heart and fill my soul with gratitude.  Hopefully, we won’t get too fat in the coming months as he works his way through that book…I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s to celebrating love this week and all year long.

Happy cooking and eating to you.

ashli