Romantic food
Okay, time to get over the hangovers and consider Valentine's Day. Always a little difficult, because while chocolate seems to be the default food, some folks are still trying to stick to the New Year's diet.
So what's the deal? What romantic foods would you like to make for your sweetie, and what sorts of food gifts -- bought or home made -- would you like sent your way?
Is there some "let's cook it together" meal that you think would be fun and romantic?
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48 Comments:
the 2 of us dressed in aprons and a lb of bacon. cooked slowly then placed on each other in a enjoyable way. then nibbled off in a revealing way. i think he would like it.
dearrie at 7:37PM on 01/01/09
The retailers haven't forgotten that's coming up! I went out shopping yesterday and saw the Valentine's stuff being put up.
I'm not sure why, but I find fondue is a fun, casual, and romantic, but only at a restaurant. The set up at home for 3-4 different fondue courses would drive me insane. Then there's the clean-up. I'd end up going ballistic.
I know what's not romantic...ribs. Although clean up could be interesting, in a carnal way. Just not in front of me, please.
Cassaendra at 7:54PM on 01/01/09
I find that I enjoy going out for a REALLY nice steak dinner for romantic occasions. We each get a steak prepared in a different way, and then a really decadent side like potatoes au gratin to share. The richness of the creamy cheesy potatoes goes nice with the depth of the nice beef. There's also feeding each other bites of the other's steak to taste it. This works especially well since we both like our steaks medium rare (though he'll get his rare on occasion, and I USED to get mine medium well).
Then, of course, nice steak places generally have good desserts to split, like creme brulee. Or I'll take him home and he can feed me his homemade white chocolate creme brulee.... *swoon*
nightowl at 8:00PM on 01/01/09
Romance? Bah Humbug. Anybody see where I left the arsenic? Is it in the box with the Scharffen Berger and old lace?
PerkyMac at 8:07PM on 01/01/09
Jennifer Beals eating lobster.... I think I'll go with Lobster being romantic... or at the very least... Lustlicious!!!!
Pavlov at 8:09PM on 01/01/09
Ah yes. Would someone please peel another grape for me? This champagne has gone right to my head. *giggle*
izatryt at 8:22PM on 01/01/09
If you truly love someone, make Rose Levy Beranbaum's Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte. It's a flourless cake. Make sure you're sitting next to someone you love because spontaneous orgies have been known to break out where this cake is served.
therealchiffonade at 9:17PM on 01/01/09
A meal that I fall in love with is King crab legs, lobster tails, and steamed mussels eaten with a fresh made loaf of sourdough bread and 4 or 5 pounds of melted butter...ok, I exaggerate about the butter...but I try to do this at least once a year at home. My husband melts into a pool of...not butter...but he loves it, too.
lamora at 10:44PM on 01/01/09
I think it's romantic to make something that the person you are cooking for will really enjoy .. so the real question is, what will make your sweetie's socks go up & down?
For me .. romantic is pepperoni pizza and champagne. Fond memories. For my husband, roasted beef or lamb makes him swoony.
kjgibson at 10:44PM on 01/01/09
@kjgibson - I agree! For me, it's canapés (caviar, foie gras and lox are preferred toppings), champagne and chocolate truffles. For my OH - definitely a nice steak dinner! This may well be our Valentine's day menu, now that I think of it...
brooke29 at 11:35PM on 01/01/09
Whoa there Nellie......First is superbowl lol. I could make oatmeal and make a blast out of it (know what I mean?) Feed each other with bite size things. Have fondue in a bubble bath with lots of candles and of course champagne. As far as what I want....him!! As far as cooking together?......Eh.......nothing but a aprons..
pjracz10 at 11:39PM on 01/01/09
Anything that can be eaten with your fingers. I think this is very seductive (to feed your sweetie with your fingers). Strawberries dipped in chocolate, a nice warm crusty bread dipped in a gooey hot cheese/wine fondue, fruit tidbits ran through a smooth sweet fruit dip, bites of a very tender filet (cut before bringing to the table.. bed..wherever). You get the idea. Remember that on Valentines Day, you really don't want to over-indulge the ol' gut. Nothing sexy about a big old blown up gassy gut. I speak from experience. Yeah, not a pretty picture, but hey, it is the truth. Have fun with whatever you decide to do, and remember that the most romantic evening is really just about being thankful for one another. The most romantic Valentines dinner I ever had, I couldn't even tell you what the food was. My husband just told me that I was his soul mate and that he thanked God for me everyday. He the went on to tell me five reasons that he loved me so much. No food in the world could compare to that. Well, maybe a juicy.... Naw! just kiddin'. That really was the best.
floridagirl at 11:41PM on 01/01/09
Sorry pjracz.... It took me so long to write my response, that I kind of said the same thing as you. Great minds... :)
floridagirl at 11:43PM on 01/01/09
My honey loves carpaccio and he knows I love a cheese and olive platter with a nice bottle of champagne. And he always makes sure that I have those so that we don't have to go out.
Ain't marriage grand?
No, really. We really enjoy spending valentine's at home and eating special things that require a little more effort than we would normally expend on a regular meal. But not all the way to Thanksgiving.
And the kids have pizza.
Of course, now that Iz has him hooked on Scrapple, I'm pretty sure that's all I need to do. He just asked me to make him some before he went to bed.
I said no.
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 11:47PM on 01/01/09
at a women's college with many dateless friends on a saturday night i'll probably make a big pasta dish and gooey chocolate cookies we can eat with cocoa while watching lifetime movies and crying that we are lonely enough to do all of the above.
unless someone here needs a date?
veggieout at 11:54PM on 01/01/09
Last year when I had GF for Valentines day (I guess there's still time for this year though), I booked a nice hotel room check in early and sprinkled rose petals all over, had a bottle of champagne on ice, placed the presents on a table, and bought some of the finest chocolate truffles I could find. For dinner we at at the high end steakhouse in the hotel and let them worry about cleaning while we worried about more important things ;). But when I did feel like cooking on our anniversary I prepared an asian style salmon with a shoyu, orange glaze paired with simple roasted asparagus and a salad with a peanut balsamic dressing. I paired it with am Oregon Pinot Noir that was out of this world. The food was great but it would have been better if she came on time and the food wasn't getting cold. But thats what I get for expecting her to be on time. Hopefully Ill have another romantic occasion to cook for soon because as you can all see, I am a deeply hopeless romantic.
twoojoe at 11:57PM on 01/01/09
Making it for someone, though, is different than with them. With them, I would tend to go with finger foods. Cheese fondue at home only takes one pot. You can do bread squares and veggies in cheese fondue. If you do that you are missing the meat element. I like messy fingers so I think a saucy thing like chicken wings or ribs is perfect. If thats not your thing, maybe an aphrodisiac like oysters or mussels.
If I was making it for my husband, I think I would make him rosemary garlic roasted leg of lamb. Its an act of giving, though, so I dont know what I would eat.
Prepare a chocolate-coffee mousse of some sort ahead of time.
blizcheetah at 11:58PM on 01/01/09
@floridagirl Hey.... 2 minds work better then one and we are the same wave length. Happy New Year.
pjracz10 at 2:54AM on 01/02/09
If the boyfriend and I end up staying in town, I'm planning on making a really good beef stroganoff...recipe from the old classic Betty Crocker cookbook but using quality sirloin, portobello mushrooms and all the good stuff. Spice cake for dessert -- gonna put my cheesy heart-shaped cake pan to use, heh...
criseyde at 9:20AM on 01/02/09
Shrimp scampi because of the warm memories...
My college boyfriend (NOT a cook...triscuit nachos anyone?) made me a multi course feast and enlisted his roomates to act as hilarious waiters: champagne, caviar, I don't know what else, and tough, cold Shrimp Scampi....he had to keep leaving the table to run across the street to ask the cute couple (Steve and Jeff) what to do next....
It really wasn't good, but it still after all these years pulls at the old heart strings when I see Shrimp Scampi on the menu.....
Cary at 10:05AM on 01/02/09
@dearrie: you almost made me pee my pants!
@twoojoe: w/cooking skills like that, you'll find a lady in no time!
i will be flying to san francisco on v-day to see NOFX's 25th anniversary show!!!
(i may be turning 30 this year, but i'm still a punk girl at heart)
anyway, i'll DEF-initely be chowing down some dim-sum that night.
still not sure what i'll make for my boyfriend the night before tho...
i kind of like the fondue idea-in fact, the nye party i attended had an herb broth instead of cheese, which was really light and lovely.
glad you posted this thread-i need to start considering it, since i'll be leaving my boy back home for the rest of the weekend. perhaps i'll take dearrie's advice-lol!
gastronomeg at 10:47AM on 01/02/09
I've always wanted to recreate the pasta carbonara scene in the movie Heartburn. Essentially they're eating pasta carbonara in bed together and the woman says "I don't usually cook on a first date".
ag3208 at 10:51AM on 01/02/09
When we were dating, Mr Tomato said he was a chocoholic. So for Valentine's day I went and got a good bar of chocolate (about 9 ounces) and I made some truffles. I seperated the truffle filling into 3 bowls and flavored each differently. Chambord/Grand Marnier/Frangelico
I finished them with different roll ins. Crushed nuts, cookie crumbs, cocoa.
I stuck them in a small red tin and gave them to him.
He sat and ate and said you made these? you made these?
He said it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him.
One bar of chocolate can produce a lot of love.
JerzeeTomato at 11:11AM on 01/02/09
@gastronomeg~ never fry bacon naked. oooouuuch
dearrie at 11:36AM on 01/02/09
@ dearrie: ha ha-yeah, v-day in the burn unit is probably not fun. particularly, if it's the unit that's burned! ha ha!
gastronomeg at 11:51AM on 01/02/09
@ gastronomeg~i just peed my pants. i better buy some balm just in case.
dearrie at 12:01PM on 01/02/09
gastronomeg- rotflmao. Wicked wicked humor. I like!
floridagirl at 12:03PM on 01/02/09
me to.
dearrie at 12:04PM on 01/02/09
haha my boyfriend is particularly fond of the whipped-cream bikini--
works every time ;)
hungrychristel at 1:39PM on 01/02/09
You guys are embarrassing me.......
izatryt at 2:47PM on 01/02/09
@ia~ i find that hard to swallow.
dearrie at 4:01PM on 01/02/09
not @ ia -who the hell is that.
@ iz- that's better.
dearrie at 4:03PM on 01/02/09
Oh my. I can see that this could be a run away train to dirty town... How 'bout some more?
floridagirl at 5:18PM on 01/02/09
Yikes, I'd hate to see where you minds would have gone if If had said "sexy food" or "kinky food."
Well, with the kinky stuff, I probably would had everyone talking about fusilli pasta or something.
dbcurrie at 5:29PM on 01/02/09
I'll add that I like to do a [what we call] 'Mantic Meal (like a date-night but food-focused) once a month to keep things spicy;
I try to keep in mind: finger/playful foods that make you flirt, foods that don't make your breath bad, once again the whipped cream, and a little liquor can loosen anyone up LOL (wine, baileys, amaretto)
I've also learned to take home a 6-pack and 2 steaks if my ideas run dry...he's happy with that ;)
hungrychristel at 5:54PM on 01/02/09
Sangria Saturday, this can only happen in the summer.
Shelleyanne at 6:15PM on 01/02/09
Any food that you can eat with another person where you each start at a different end and end up in the middle! Spaghetti, pocky, or really long subs. Altho with pocky, one person gets the short end of the stick.. so to speak.
tinabeans at 11:11PM on 01/02/09
All right, I'll give it up for the (men, women) if you want to have a meal where you may or may not get lucky, give her/him/it a written invitation to celebrate your friendship/year of nasty sex/love/estrangement. hand written, with hearts.
Shelleyanne at 8:46AM on 01/03/09
I like to make heart shaped individual red velvet cakes...chocolate dipped strawberries work well on the side.
beano at 10:41AM on 01/03/09
Gimmicky food isn't romantic food. Romance is about excitement and mystery. So, what really makes food "romantic" is the entire context that it's served in. Cater to the other person's tastes, spend time preparing a well-made meal, get the ambiance right, and get the timing right (planning ahead is always great, but a romantic meal is especially meaningful at the end of a tough work week or something else of that nature).
Eaterino at 4:19AM on 01/04/09
Honestly, to me the most romantic meals are the ones you cook together, no matter what you're making.
If I'm being cooked for, I think what counts is the effort more than the food itself. If some guy who can't cook a lick proudly presents his mom's meatloaf, I'm toast.
If I'm cooking I go for food I know the guy will really like, not too heavy, with a creamy dessert (like creme brulee or chocolate pudding). If I can, I totally go with the eat with your fingers school.
chisai at 4:44AM on 01/04/09
I love a nice spread of cheeses, good olive oil, red wine, French bread and red grapes. That alone is perfect!
gammypie at 10:08AM on 01/04/09
i think finger foods... so you can feed each other is very romantic. Small bites so you can sneak in kisses in between.
I did some research last year, and apparently foods containing basil, almonds, avocados, bananas, strawberries and butmeg have aphrodisiac properties. So making a menu with all those ingredients might get you reeeeeeeeeeeally lucky.
MadelynRodriguez at 11:19PM on 01/04/09
I'm with Perky...
machellebelle at 8:27AM on 01/05/09
madelyn: ha ha ha...butmeg!
annaliesenc at 10:46AM on 01/05/09
@madelyn -- butmeg!!! ROTFL!!!!!
the tears are streaming....
Whenever DH and I feel like being romantic and splurging a bit, we like to have King Crab legs with lots and lots of garlic butter....even though the garlic makes us both stink.
juliebugsmama at 3:43PM on 01/05/09
as long as you both stink the same, it's all good. Double morning breath, good. Double garlic breath, good.
jumpyfroggy at 10:12AM on 01/06/09
...garlic breath IS good! Am I the only one?
hungrychristel at 1:48PM on 01/06/09