I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day – in fact, I only realized that today was Valentine’s Day after my sister’s boyfriend invited her out for dinner, reminding her that it was. I’ve always consider today to be one of those made up holidays, designed to benefit the coffers of greeting card and candy manufacturers. That cynicism is probably why I’ve been dumped a couple of times, but I’d like to think that I did nice, sweet things for my mates during our time together that were outside the bounds of some scheduled holiday.

That said, since I did realize it was the holiday, and since I do have loved ones for whom to cook – platonic and familial though that love may be – I thought a dressed-up menu would be in order. With the exception of my vegetarian sister, we all love seafood. Here’s tonight’s plan.

Classic shrimp cocktail
Boiled shrimp with Old Bay
Asian-flavored sauteed shrimp (marinated in soy, honey, mirin, ginger)
Broiled lobster tails with a ginger dipping sauce on the side
Asparagus with a mustard nappe
Sundried tomato and almond rice pilaf

And, as I mentioned to Stacy, a rather bourgeois dessert to follow up that menu: doughnuts, by request.

There will be pictures, oh yes. But now, it’s time to start getting things going.