Love is in the Air

I love Valentine's Day!!! It's right up there with Christmas for me - I guess 'cause it's another time of the year that we get to eat lots of goodies and tell people how much we love them!


For Christmas I made some fabric brithday banners as gifts. They turned out great but I have been fussing with my design and I came up with this cutie for Valentine's. It's just what my dining room needed to get into the holiday spirit. I am not one big on decorating but I thought if I had some of these handy banners for holidays or special occasions, it would be just enough to make me feel festive.



While we are talking about getting into the mood for LOVE - I had a fun luncheon with the ladies I Visit Teach this week with my VT partner. We had the best time chatting and eating and of course we used the Valentine's theme. I tried a new recipe and ended up with a killer Muffuletta sandwich (courtesy of Giada). All 5 of us wolfed it down man! I was in charge of dessert too so, I had to go with the classic creme puff but I added a naughty Nutella/cream cheese filling. YUMMMMMMM! We couldn't keep our hands off of them.

So if you need a little reason to get some girls together for lunch, do it for Valentine's Day. For the Love of food, just do it!


Creme Puffs

1 C water
1/2 C butter
1 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs
Combine the flour and salt together and set aside. Put the water and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir while still on the heat until it forms a ball of dough. Remove from heat and add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each (this is where you get your workout for the day). Drop by small teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack. Fill or freeze for later use. Just before serving, pile up the creme puffs and dust with powdered sugar or skip that and drizzle them with melted chocolate. Yields 35-40 small creme puffs.

Note: You can add a Tbsp. or two of sugar to the flour mixture for sweet-filled puffs if you desire. You can also make these larger and slice open, fill with a big scoop of ice cream, replace the top and drizzle with chocolate sauce!


Crazy Nutella Filling

6 oz. soft cream cheese
2 Tbsp. sugar
2/3 C Nutella
1 C heavy cream, whipped
1/2 C toasted hazelnuts (if you can find them - it was still good without)

Beat the cream cheese and the sugar together. Add the Nutella and little at a time. Fold in the whipped cream. Stir in hazelnuts and chill for later use.

Note: This is a thick and rich filling. You can add more whipped cream for a lighter flavor.



Traditional Vanilla Custard Filling

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 C cold milk
1 C heavy cream, whipped

Combine the pudding mix and the milk. Fold in the whipped cream and chill.


Giada's Muffuletta

1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/3 C olive oil
10 large pitted green olives
1/3 C chopped kalamata olives
1/4 C chopped roasted red pepper
salt and pepper
1 round bread loaf
ham
salami
turkey
provolone
thinly sliced red onion
arugula leaves

Whisk the red wine vinegar, garlic and oregano together. Gradually blend in the oil. Stir in the chopped olives and peppers. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Cut the top 1-inch off the bread loaf and set aside. Hollow out the bottom and top halves of the bread (not too much though). Spread some of the olive salad on the bread bottom and up the sides. Layer the meats and cheese in the bread bottom. Top with the onions and arugula. Spread the remaining olive salad on the top of the sandwich. Replace the bread top. Serve immediately or cover tightly with Saran wrap and refrigerate up to a day ahead.


Notes: The olive salad is tasty! Make use of the olive bar at your grocery store to cut down on cost here. I ended up using two red peppers which was more than the 1/4 C called for and I liked it that way. I used the large Cibatta Loaf from Wildflower Bread Co. instead of a round loaf and it was incredible. You could also use the Cibattas from Costco. With my loaf of bread I got 6 very large sandwiches, which could have been cut in half but we all decided to scarf them down. But if you tried this for a potluck sometime, you could easily get 12 good sandwiches out of it. And go for the arugula - it's the best! Enjoy!