How Can You Make Valentine's Day Fun Without Pressure?
Ever since I had my say about my dislike of Valentine's Day, I've been thinking about ways to ratchet down the pressure and the expectations and ratchet up the pleasure and enjoyment we derive from spending Valentine's Day with people we really care about.
If you have a significant other, find a way to actually talk to each other on Thursday night. My wife says that that is more likely to occur with me (a guy) when we sit side by side, so sometimes we search for a bar or counter to eat at. Other people without significant others at the moment can hang out in a communal celebration of friendship. But what kinds of communal things can you do for Valentine's Day without spending much money?
1. Have dinner at a casual, inexpensive neighborhood restaurant that basically doesn't acknowledge it's Valentine's Day. In our case, we hit our local Cuban-Chinese restaurant.
2. Inexpensive flowers are always good, even if they don't last much longer than one evening. By the time they droop, it's no longer Valentine's Day.
3. Split a pizza, but make sure it's the best pizza you can find where you live. Sharing a pizza is a serious bonding experience.
4. Buy a small (quarter-pound or smaller) box or bar of the best chocolate you can find. Nobody needs a pound of chocolate hanging around the house.
5. Eating fondue with other people is the ultimate communal eating experience. Whip up a batch of cheese, and if you were unlucky enough to get two fondue kits for your wedding, a batch of chocolate as well. If you have small children who you are celebrating Valentine's Day with, fondue is something they really relate to and enjoy.
Other ideas for casual, no-pressure Valentine's Day celebrations? Do tell.
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15 Comments:
Whole artichokes, each leaf stuffed with a savory mixture - served for dinner. They have a heart-like shape and the activity of pulling the leaves off to eat, scraping the leaves with teeth to get all the good parts is always fun and a lovely mess.
Karen Resta at 8:35AM on 02/13/08
stay at home, open a bottle of wine, and cook together... something involved yet relaxing, like paella =) then retreat to the couch with a good movie and aforementioned chocolates...
onedaylingers at 8:44AM on 02/13/08
We're going out for the rare night of sushi. It makes for a very low-presure evening because it's about quality over quantity. And if it isn't very good, there's a local Candyland store down the block where we can grab some yummy popcorn!
Sarajahii at 8:55AM on 02/13/08
my boyfriend and i share a pizza together every year, it's nice to hear others do that too!
britmill at 9:47AM on 02/13/08
We always stay in for Valentine's Day, and cook a delicious meal. We splurge on a few fancy things since we're not going to pay ridiculous prices at a restaurant. He loves to tickle my chocolate-craving palate with a few well-selected pieces of excellent chocolate (usually from La Maison du Chocolat), a bunch of pretty flowers from a neighborhood bodega -- and sometimes pretty/naughty lingerie. I like to make him some sort of fabulous apple dessert (his favorite thing, way above chocolate). This year we're having loin lamb chops, smashed fingerling potato cakes, broccoli gratin, and what he likes to call The Best. Apple. Pie. Ever.
But diamonds and hyped-up expensive restaurant meals, where you're being overcharged for what's become a Hallmark holiday? It's just not us. When you love your spouse/partner like crazy, it should be fun, not pressure-filled, to celebrate days devoted to love, knowing that you have and will have many of them...
Julie at 10:03AM on 02/13/08
Last year, I cooked my boyfriend penne alla vodka. It's so simple and inexpensive to make, but it doesn't fail to impress. This year, though, we opted for an indoor picnic, including some good, but inexpensive wine, some cheese and prosciutto, grapes or strawberries, bread and chocolate. My biggest splurge was on the chocolate ($16) and the wine ($19.99) but it's still way less expensive than the $300 per couple dinners in Miami, which you have to share with tens of other couples (mango&lime.net has the anatomy of my picnic). What'll make it more casual this year is that my boyfriend is moving to a new house, so the picnic will take place in an empty house filled with boxes. No pressure there, just a laid-back night at home drinking wine and eating with our fingers.
miachef at 10:12AM on 02/13/08
Cooking at home is the way to go! Even if it's not cooking and just a bunch of cheeses, meats, and olives. The biggest thing about Valentine's Day for us is being able to set the evening aside for just us - no tv, computers, or phones, or anyone else. No matter how much people say that if you love someone you should be able to do that anytime - doing this is hard for busy people and it's nice to have a day where it's a given.
mayam at 11:14AM on 02/13/08
I think I'll bake a devils' food cake with chocolate cream frosting, and replace the current batch of tulips (which I've just noticed have become very dead) with some nice fresh ones. Plus, we have several seasons of ''Allo 'Allo' and 'Little Britain' to get on with...
mongoose at 11:29AM on 02/13/08
I've done an indoor crab boil/picnic before with great sucess.
I boil up some crab legs, shrimp, potatoes, some sausage and a little old bay & some beer in there. I set out a bucket of mexican beer salt &limes on our big picnic blanket and the feast is on. We can almost fool ourselves we are at the beach.
bisbee at 11:37AM on 02/13/08
I definitely vote for staying in. As a waitress dating a cook, I am so excited about us both being off this Valentine's - it's never happened before! That being said, we're not doing anything over the top, spending the afternoon in bed with books, cheese and champagne, making dinner and maybe having a game night or watching a movie.
Charcuterista at 1:47PM on 02/13/08
After so many years of expensive (not unappreciated, though!) dinners out on Valentine's Day, the decision for this years' celebration was simple. Since we moved to a new city last year, we determined that Friday evenings would be our date night out to experience and enjoy our new environment. We haven't run out of new places to dine yet, but we do eat out on a weekly basis.
Another resolution was to be more spontaneous and to take advantage of the many events and activities available to us now. Our Valentine's Day night out will be so much more casual and we're really looking forward to it. We will be heading uptown to one of our favorite microbreweries to sample a new batch of Chocolate Chili Stout and some of their wonderful nibbles. Just so happens that there is a Schokolad store right next to the pub. Might have to stop in for a minute. Then home to curl up in front of the fire with some port and maybe a game of Foodie Fight or a movie.
Just for a little something extra special, I'm making him some chocolate almond bark and peppermint patties, two of the few sweets that he likes.
frederika at 2:24PM on 02/13/08
Our VDay dinner is always at home and is simple and planned around something that goes with heart shaped biscuits. This year I'm branching out to heart shaped cornbread muffins using those heart-shaped foil cupcake liners from Reynolds.
PattiA at 5:57PM on 02/13/08
My Partner and I have a tradition of eating Popeye's Chicken and really nice chocolate truffles on Vday.
Gayngry at 6:30PM on 02/13/08
We go the fondue route every year -- mixing up the cheese & alcohol, with as many different cured meats, veggies, and breads we can fit on our table. I just got a great goat milk sharp cheddar from the Farmer's Market and some vegetables to go with it... Not sure what alcohol for it yet -- could be either beer or wine, I think. Last year, we made a red wine fondue with manchego and another cheese to make it more fluid. Purple, but yummy!
NinaMW at 7:49PM on 02/13/08
I'm in night-school and working full time but that won't stop us from having a great night. Homemade pasta with a 10-minute puttanesca sauce (seems appropriate given its, um, amorous origins), sparkling wine from Trader Joes and chocolate mousse from Cooks Illustrated. Inexpensive, delicious and special foods either prepped in advance or assembled in minutes after getting home. Peaceful, simple dinners from our kitchen inspire more romance than white tablecloths at a crowded restaurant, I say.
fancypants at 4:29PM on 02/14/08