So how was it for you?

How was your Valentine's Day?

Were you pampered, or were you doing the pampering? Did you switch off and wish it would all go away and that people would stop going on about it?

I just thought I'd share my Valentine's Day efforts with you. I decided my Valentines Day gift would be to cook a meal for my wife.

Starters was Sophisticated Salmon Ceviche



Did it look like the photo? No. Did it look like layers of squidge in the bottom of the glass? Yes.
But, the leeks were melt in the mouth and the combination of smoked salmon, leek and orange juice vinaigrette was very tasty.

verdict **** (Sure I'm biased :D)

Main course was Beef Stroganoff


Did my Stroganoff look like the fabulous picture on the left courtesy of Jamie Oliver? No. Did it look like the extremely suspect pile on the right? If only it had looked that appetizing!

Big mistake - I had three different recipes and I blended the "best" bits from them. In hindsight - why would anyone do that? One recipe suggested using hot paprika for a "subtle heat". That sounded good. I put in half the amount suggested to be safe and it still made the eyes water! I also put some Worcestershire sauce in it, but I think it would have been better without it. On the plus side, it certainly wasn't bland!

verdict ** (I'm not making it onto masterchef any time soon)

Dessert was home made lemon mousse.



Courtesy of Sophie Dahl and the BBC

2 people recommended it, but they were obviously haute cuisine trained. My efforts? A wonderfully sharp lemon syrup on the bottom with a rich creamy topping suffused through with jelly-like lemony blobs. *sigh* (Yes we still ate them, and yes they tasted awesome once you got past the weird texture!)

verdict * (Anytime Ms Dahl wants to pop round and show me how it should be done, she will be very welcome!)

Disaster? No, actually it was perfect. As we laughed over the lumpy mousse, I realized that despite trying really hard, and being really fancy, I could not manage anything as good as my wife cooks. In the end, for a Valentine's Day gift, perhaps that's what really mattered.

Just Kiss Already Blogfest

If you are looking for today's Microfiction Monday it's HERE

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY everyone!

To celebrate I am entering the Just Kiss Already Blogfest



Back in January I shared a moment when Mikel and Krissa so nearly kissed. (If you want to know more - read it here). Well many adventures befell them before they were finally re-united at a mother of all magical showdowns with the great evil. We join them in the moments after the evil is banished ....



The great cavern was plunged into utter darkness as the impossible light faded to nothing. Mikel lay gasping; pain wracked his abused body, blood oozed from dozens of cuts and abrasions. A grinding agony in his leg warned him against trying to move. Had anyone survived the conflagration? He thought of his companions, those who had stuck with him to the bitter end, who had given their all. Were they all dead?
     “Krissa!” he cried out into the darkness, his heart wrenched with pain deeper than any wound that lacerated his body. He had crossed the world to find her, had faced down a Great Spirit in all his wrath for her; there was nothing he would not have endured for her and he could not bear to lose her now. His breath came in great tearing sobs. “Oh, Krissa.”
     “You were right about one thing,” a soft voice murmured next to him.
     “Krissa!” he exclaimed and tried to sit up, but the excruciating pain forced him to lie still. He felt her cool hand on his face, her thumb stroke the wetness on his cheek, her finger tips brush his lips.
     “You have been a fool, worse than a fool, and I love you,” she whispered, her breath hot upon his cheek.
     Then her soft lips were on his own, and all his longing, his desire, his need welled up from the depths of his soul into the ecstasy of the moment. Everything else was forgotten in that instant when the universe pivoted about the yearning love that fed the passion of their kiss.