Since moving to NYC, we've hosted a Valentine's dinner with our friends, which has been a really nice tradition. It usually consists of the same suspects assuming they're in town. This year, we had a smaller group due to lots of work travel so we missed Jacqui, Jimmy, Josh, and Michael, but had a small but great dinner with Kara, Stacey, and Jennie.
Earlier in the week, I had to travel to Austin to speak on a panel. My brother actually happened to be in Austin as well for work so we enjoyed an impromptu BBQ lunch before I had to head to the airport.
Earlier in the week, I had to travel to Austin to speak on a panel. My brother actually happened to be in Austin as well for work so we enjoyed an impromptu BBQ lunch before I had to head to the airport.
La Barbeque - really amazing BBQ in Austin!
Supporting the family business by ordering a Mule in the lounge.
Tyler requested buffalo chicken dip as an app and I couldn't resist decorating our wine bottle with some wintery accessories Tyler and I got in Napa years ago.
For dinner I made pot roast, potato pancakes, and homemade apple sauce. It's been so cold lately, so a warm and hearty meal sounded lovely. And boy was it!
I used the same recipe as before, but I made a slight change and put the carrots in first. I cooked them for about 1 hour and then pulled them out. This ensured they weren't too soggy and great as a side veggie.
Here's the finished product - yum!
I went with a simple table decor...I got really pretty roses from our local bodega and then used the heart shape napkin and placeholders my mom sent me last Valentine's Day.
Roses up close
I love these slate napkin rings...I need to use them more often!
For dessert, I decided to try something slightly new. I used our wedding cake recipe and instead of making cake, made red velvet whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. My biggest frustration with cupcakes is that you eat the icing first and almost always don't have any leftover to eat all of the cake part. I am notorious for breaking a cupcake in half and placing the bottom on top to make a sandwich so that you can equal amounts of cake and frosting. This whoopie pie is even better and makes less of a mess! All you need to do is put a dollop of batter on a pan (I put 6 dollops because they spread out when baking) and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. I then let each half cool on a baking rack before assembling them into whoopie pies.
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