Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. Keith and I arranged to have a babysitter come over at 9 a.m. We decided that it would be too busy out at night and we really wanted to do something different. Our plan was to go to Kailua Beach Park and go kayaking. We can't do this with the children and we have wanted to do it for a while now. So off we headed. Our first stop was breakfast at Brent's. It is one of our faves over there thanks to our good friends Nick and Minnie! It was a relatively quiet breakfast with no children. Then we headed to the beach. Turns out they were not renting kayaks because the winds were 30 mph. So, that was out. Instead we decided to just lay on the beach and do NOTHING! The idea sounded SO great! No putting sunscreen on children or unloading 2 tons of beach toys. We got about 30 minutes in and then a storm came. It was kind of cold anyway. The temp was around 78, but the winds were crazy. So, we packed up and headed out. Because of the wind we got to see lots of kite surfing. It was a nice time out. We headed home to the kids around 2:15. We gave the kids their valentines that afternoon. We tried to stay away from the candy this year and have more substantial gifts. They were appreciative. In the meantime I was preparing Keith and I a special dinner. We put the kids down and had Brie en croute. I highly recommend this if you care for Brie. Recipe follows. The picture of this is the one with a pastry with a heart on it with crackers.

Dried Cherries, Pecans and Rosemary Brie en Croute

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1/2 (17.3 ounce) package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon water
* 1/3 cup dried cherries, softened*
* 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
* 1 (13.2 ounce) round Brie cheese
* 1 (26 ounce) package Pepperidge Farm® Entertaining Cracker Quartet Collection


DIRECTIONS

1. Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14-inch square. Stir the cherries, pecans, honey and rosemary in a small bowl. Spread the cherry mixture into the center of the pastry square. Top with the cheese round. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg mixture. Fold two opposite sides of the pastry over the cheese. Trim the remaining two sides of the pastry square to 2-inches from the edge of the cheese. Fold the sides up onto the cheese and press the edges to seal. Place the pastry-wrapped cheese seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture.
3. Decorate the top with pastry scraps or additional rosemary, if desired. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is deep golden brown. Let stand for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with the crackers.

FOOTNOTE

*
*To soften cherries, mix the cherries and1/2 cup hot water in a small bowl. Let stand for 1 minute. Drain and pat the cherries dry.

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com. It turned out yummy.


Then we moved on to Veal Mozarella over angel hair pasta along with Cheese Loaf. The veal recipe is as follows. I have made this before for Valentine's Day four years ago when we lived in Memphis. If you like veal you will love this creamy recipe. It is covered with mozarella cheese and a sherry wine butter sauce.

Veal Mozarella

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 2 pounds boneless veal medallions, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
* 1/2 cup sherry wine
* 1/2 cup butter
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons sherry wine
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix together the 1 cup flour, salt and white pepper in a shallow dish. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat veal medallions with the flour mixture and shake off the excess. Fry for about 1 minute on each side, just to brown but not cook through.
3. Arrange the veal in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top. Clean out the pan from the veal, and melt butter with 1/2 cup of sherry over low heat. In a small bowl, mix the 3 tablespoons flour with 3 tablespoons sherry, and whisk into the pan. Continue whisking over low heat until the mixture is thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sherry sauce over the veal and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and gooey. Sauce will be runny. Soak it up with Italian bread!

The cheese loaf I got off of my friend's blog. It is a linkie on the right side of our blog titled recipe blog. Everything off of there I have made has been EXCELLENT! Thanks Holly for sharing!

Last, but certainly not least was the yummy strawberry cake. This was a Paula Dean recipe. Mine is not near as pretty as hers, but it was OH SO YUMMY! Recipe follows. I will never make strawberry cake from a box again. This is a keeper!

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake
Ingredients:

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners’ sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Cook Time 20 min
Level Easy
Yield 8 servings

This was not the best presentation ever, but sufficient considering two children were under our feet! We had TWO QUIET meals in ONE day! Absolutely amazing and a gift from God (just like my husband is!!) Till next time..........