The first year that Prince Charming and I started dating, I wanted to do something special for him for Valentines Day. I was a senior in high school at the time so with a little help from my mom, I made a nice dinner of spaghetti and multiple side dishes the Saturday before Valentines Day that year. Side note: my family now is lucky to get a main course, let alone side dishes. If we have more than 1 side dish, we consider it to be a ‘fancy dinner.’
I think the old adage, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” might just be true…he loved it!
Excuse the horrible picture quality…this was pre-digital photography AND it was scanned. :)
My little sister was 11 at the time and she helped out by making an adorable sign for our restaurant-style dinner, cleverly named “Cupid’s Cafe.” I wish I would have kept the sign…but alas, I have absolutely no clue where it is. I did, however, find this picture of it…
After a horrible experience that year of waiting 2 hours for a table on Valentines Day a few days after my Cupid’s Cafe, we decided from now on we would do Cupid’s Cafe on February 14th and go out on another day.
Valentines Day 2009
Here are a few pictures from last year’s Cupid’s Cafe dinner…
Oops, the tablecloth was lopsided!
This has been such a fun tradition for us over the years and it is a time where we can dress up, eat a yummy meal together, talk about our love for one another and about God’s love for us!
On the menu for tonight (which is typically the same every year):
Steak with sauteed mushrooms
Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Mandarin Spinach Salad
Texas Toast
Cherry Tarts
We’re also in the process of creating a new “Cupid’s Cafe” sign on canvas that we can use year after year!
Happy Valentines Day!
so cute!
LOVE it! My husband and I also met in high school, so I really appreciate the young love picture;) Great story and amazing (and practical) tradition! We were blessed with a daughter on Valentine’s Day, so we end up dividing the day between birthday and love;) Usually, we wake up to a Valentine Breakfast, and save Birthday cake after dinner. Does Cupid’s Cafe serve breakfast? ;)
Ummm….no. “Cupid” doesn’t function well before 9am. :)
Ha, I didn’t say Cupid had to function well;) I planned on making our traditional heart pancakes, but the puppy had me up at 2am. I went with Plan B…heart toast. Kids still happy. Maybe my sign should be “Cupid’s Cafe and Drive Thru” to keep my options open;)
I LOVE this idea! My family LOVES to eat, so most celebrations are centered around food over here. I think this might just have to become OUR tradition, too! And since DD has dance tonight, we will celebrate tomorrow, so we can still do it this year. Thanks for the GREAT idea!!!
i love the picture of you guys when you were younger. y’all were probably the hot couple that everyone admired. cute idea. as all your ideas are amazing.
I’m thinking they’re probably STILL the “Hot Couple” everyone admires! :)
This is so sweet! What a great tradition!!
I love it! So precious! We discussed at our special dinner at home tonight the last time we went out on Vday and neither my hubs or I can remember! A special dinner at home is so much better than going out on this night. I love your pics!
The kissing pics are too cute!
My husband and I have started a similar dinner tradition, but here’s what our Valentine’s meals look like (at least last year and this year–and we hope to make it a tradition):
Breakfast:
~ Cinnamon rolls
OR
~ Chocolate–stuffed crescent rolls
Giada deLaurentis has this breakfast (it’s actually her Christmas breakfast):
~ Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Mimosa
~ Panattone french toast
~ Creamy Polenta with bacon and cranberries
Lunch:
~ Parmesan (crusted) Baked chicken breasts (from http://www.prevention.com)
~ Panzanella Salad (from http://gourmetmomma.blogspot.com/search/label/LightAndHealthy)
Dinner:
~ Ribeye Steak with a Spicy, Smoky, and Cacao Nibs Rub (from http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2008/06/08/carnivore-heaven-dry-aged-ribeyes-with-a-spicy-smoky-cacao-nibs-rub
and
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bbq-with-bobby-flay/cacao-nibs-rub-on-trip-tip-or-skirt-steak-recipe/index.html
~ Twice baked potatoes
~ broccoli and cheese
And for dessert, either
~ chocolate fondue with strawberries, cheesecake, bananas, and crusted bread
OR
~ Chili’s Chocolate Lava Cake (223 calories) (from http://kimbenson.com/recipes/chocolate-lava-cake)
I really enjoy your blog! I especially like the Bible lessons you do with your kids. I’m always trying to find creative ideas of how to teach the Bible to toddlers/ preschoolers in my daycare.
Thank you!
Stacey
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Hi,
I hope you don’t mind but I took your post idea and ran with it. It’s such a good one! I wrote all about it here: http://glitteringmuffins.com/2012/02/15/valentines-day-2012/ and I credited you of course :)
Thanks again for sharing!
Val
I just ordered the DVD, thank you for sharing. Also, LOVE your Cupid’s Cafe idea/tradition! What a fun tradition and I think as my kids get older (they are 5.5 and 4) we could even include friends or (gasp!!) girlfriends to join in our special meal. Love your BLOG!!
When my husband and I started dating he cooked for our first Valentine’s because I had a night class in college. So it has become our tradition ever since and we are going on 17 years. We still usually stick with traditon and have Chicken Fajitas. We have added a view items to the menu to make all the kiddos happy and they love the fancy dessert after dinner.