Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day, well really, any day that I can bake, cook and generally care for others. This Valentine's Day was pretty fun..... it's the first year I made truffles....... I usually buy Dennis some sort of chocolate candy, usually at See's or at this good chocolatier in Folsom, called Snooks. This year I thought, nay, I want to make something special, so I got two good recipes for truffles and went for it. They are so easy to make!! I ended up with ones that were dark chocolate with a cognac base and the others were white chocolate with almond extract and almonds. YUMMY! I usually don't eat candy, but these were so good, I found myself dipping into them more than once!

So, (there's that pesky so again)......... I always like to do special things for the people I care about, including those I work with. This year, I put together little "truffle" packages, came into work early so their surprise would be waiting for them as they arrived. I usually don't leave a note, as it's more fun for them to wonder who left it.......

This year I also wanted to do something extra special for Dennis. I decided to make a beef tenderloin with chocolate/merlot sauce. I'd never made the recipe before but it really turned out great! The beef was so tender and good.........I'll have to keep that recipe for other special occassions......... Dennis is always full of surprises......... he gets me every time. Every year, he really plays down the whole celebrating thing and acts like he's totally forgotten or could care less........ even though I've know him for as long as I have, I fall for it every time......... but to my pleasant surprise, when I got up this morning and went down stairs to make our lunches for the day, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers (later to find out he did himself) and the sweetest card and note I'd ever seen. It was really special - so special I got tears in my eyes. My husband is really a big ole marshmellow, but unless you knew him well, you would never know. He's got a heart of gold and the demeanor to never let you in on it. I love him with all my heart and feel very blessed to have found such a wonderful man.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Valentine's Day!