What do lemon bars and mussels have in common?

Ahh yes, Valentine's Day. Lovers everywhere hurry out to book reservations at their beloveds favorite spot. Not in my book! This past Val-Day, we stayed in and made a delicious bowl of mussels of fettucine with bruschetta and lemon bars for dessert! Sure I'm biased, but these mussels rival the best of the best. They are THAT good!

We start with chopped onions, garlic, parsley, shallot, some thyme, and as much wine as you like.. whatever you don't use for cooking, you get to drink while your broths boils up.

Mussels require timing. It pays to take the time to prep ingredients so when your broth is aromatic, you pop the mussels in and they are done as soon as they open.
A good crusty loaf of your favorite bread is mandatory. You don't want to leave any broth behind.

And then we dine!


As a treat for my man, I made lemon bars the night before. I also picked up some chocolate covered strawberries from Whole Foods (Not worth the trouble to make my own when I only wanted 2.) Lemon Bar recipe here, courtesy of Joan's on Third. These are heavenly!


Great dinner! Last year's v-day menu was a really good burger. No pics of that, so I guess I'll need to make it again. Includes a chipotle mayo, balsamic tomatoes, arugula, gruyere and blue cheeses, ground chuck on onion rolls. It's not the Father's Office burger, but it's a good one!