Valentine's Day

Warning: if you are diabetic or find sweet things nauseating, reading any further is not recommended.
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way... as many of you are aware, yesterday was Valentine's Day. Rather than going out and getting ripped off by restaurants that promise romance (Yeah, Slocum House, I'm talking about you!) we decided to stay in and make our own dinner, together.
I personally love cooking together, I think it's very romantic. Although when Kevin and I cook together it's mostly just me telling him to grab me an onion or open a bottle of wine. Since steak was on the menu last night he got to be a bit more involved, which made me happy.
Let me first say that dinner was pretty late in the evening. We had put off addressing our invitations for a long time, but finally we got it finished yesterday. Go us!
I won't post the photo of the invitation opened so it's still new and exciting when people receive them in the mail.
To begin I made clams in a garlicky white wine sauce which I served with nice crusty bread. I paired this with one of our favorite whites, the Little Penguin Pinot Grigio (2007). Yum, Clams bring back faint memories of living on the ocean and playing in little tidepools for me. I will admit that I ate more than Kevin, but we both thought these little beauties were wonderful
Oooooh yummy. The sauce that the recipe made was delicious with the french bread I toasted. There was a lot left over. This recipe for clams would also be delicious served over pasta.
I digress. Now onto the main course. Steak with Parmesean Butter, Balsamic Glaze, and Arugala , and Roasted Sweet Potato Slices. Kevin made the Parmesean Butter and grilled the steaks. He also picked out the wine to go with- Tormaresca 2007 Neprica. It's from Italy and a blend of three grapes. It was pretty dry, which was kinda nice since the balsamic glaze was very sweet.
It was really delicious. All of it. I wish I had a mandolin slicers so that the sweet potatoes would have been thinner and therefore crispier, but they were still tasty. Probably most surprisingly of all- Kevin ate the arugula. Not all of it, but he ate it. In my opinion, it was a wonderful contrast between the sweetness of the glaze and the buttery topping. Yum yum yum. Recipes for the steak and sweet potatoes can be found here and here. I love Epicurious.
Before dessert it was card time! Here's where the sweetness comes in:
That's right folks. We got each other the same card. We both love penguins, so it makes sense how that could happen. Here's what it says:

"People always say when you find 'the one' you'll just know" "I knew. (Still do.) Happy Valentine's Day."

Awwww. *Sniffles* Yes, it made me cry a bit. I don't think we'll be able to top this Valentine's Day for a long time.
Dessert was mixed berry brulees which I borrowed from my friend Becky's blog. I added a bit of sugar to the filling, but kept the rest of the recipe the same. We ate our brulees with Teixidor Cava Brut. I know nothing about sparkling wines, so when the little sign said it was one of Italy's best I was swayed. I still enjoyed it but it didn't go well with super sweet brulees.
Doesn't it look yummy? I'm debating whether or not to eat my second one for breakfast.
It was a very good Valentine's Day, one that will be hard to top, but I'm sure Kevin can think of something romantic for next year.
In unrelated news, my pictures of food will soon look a lot better thanks to this baby:
I'm so excited! My friend Wendy is going to help me learn how to use an SLR camera. I can't wait until it gets in.
I hope you're all having a great three day weekend!