I am not the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day.  It could be the years of working for one of the companies that made it up.  It could be that I despise all commercialism.  Or it could be that I don’t need an excuse to tell my sweetie I love him.  Whatever it is, we don’t do Valentine’s in this house.

So when some good friends asked us to join them for dinner on Valentine’s Day (at one of Tacoma’s most expensive restaurants) it wasn’t just the price that made me say no.  Instead we elected to invite their whole family to our house for a nice dinner (and a just a little kitsch).

For the meal I served:

Avocado Seafood Cocktail with Chipotle Adobo Dressing

Cabbage Slaw with Orange and Pumpkin Seed Dressing

Black Pepper Honey Steak

Melting Greens

All of the recipes were out of the Splendid Table cookbook and I settled on them because of their (somewhat) seasonal nature.  Granted, the seafood cocktail did include grape tomatoes and bibb lettuce (avocados are never in season here) and Cabbage isn’t 100% in season, but close enough.

Just the thought of spending a nice evening with good friends and sharing a meal is what makes the day special.