I would have to day that yesterday was the best Valentine’s Day I have ever had! And true to the sprit of the “holiday”, it had nothing to do with gifts received!
The started off decently, with me working with Lisa all day. We had fun, laughed a lot, and got everything we could accomplish done. After work, I went out and bought Jess a nice card that fit our relationship perfectly and a dozen red roses. I had considered a few days earlier to have some flowers delivered to her office to surprise her, but given that she has to walk a few blocks from her office to her car and it has been windy here for the past few days, I decided against that option. Also, having her come home and just handing her flowers is extremely lame. So, I came home, and grabbed her extra set of car keys. I went to where her car was parked in the city, and positioned the flowers on top of her steering wheel. I placed the card I got her across her dashboard gages, to which I taped the “Save Mr. Peanut” black wrist band that I bought her. (long story) I locked her car back up, and went home to prepare dinner for her.
Since money is in short supply this year, we decided not to exchange gifts this year, and instead of going out to dinner, I told her I would make her dinner. So, the first ingredient of dinner was good old fashioned hot-as-hell chili! As soon as I got home I threw on a Phil Collins DVD concert, and got right to work. After about a good 30 minutes, the chili was assembled, and I let it simmer for about the next hour and a half. The next step was the main course – southwestern chicken. I looked online until I found a recipe that looked really good. After finding one, I noticed it was already 4:20pm. She was leaving work around 5pm, which would put her here at about 5:20pm. So, I decided to clean up a bit before I start the chicken. So, I headed to the bathroom to shave and shower. After getting dressed, I proceeded to make the chicken. I needed to pound the chicken flat, but quickly found out that we have no meat mallet. So, an ice-cream scooper had to substitute. And let me tell you, it did one hell of a job!! Once the chicken had been flattened, I rubbed all of the pieces with garlic cloves, and then rubbed them lightly with some lemon juice. I put them in the microwave to keep them away from the cats, and then went and started the grill. While I waited for the grill to heat, I needed to grate some Monterrey Jack cheese. It was then that Jess walked through the door. She was early coming home since it was only 5:05pm, but it was cool. She love the flowers and card and even said she was so surprised by them that she started to cry in the car when she read the card.
Twevman: 01 Disappointment: 00
So, while she put her roses in a vase, I finished up the cheese. She wanted to know what she could do to help, so I asked her if she would mind giving me a hand with the appetizers since she came home early. She agreed, so her task was not to pick out some of the best nacho chips she could find in the bag. She did that and arranged them on a pizza tray for me. She asked was in the pot and I told her come chili. She tasted the chili and said it was the best chili she had ever tasted in her life!
Twevman: 02 Disappointment: 00
So, then I proceeded to make the appetizers. I spooned out some chili onto each chip, and then covered the chip with grated Monterrey Jack cheese. After they were covered in cheese, I topped each one with a piece of sliced jalapeño pepper. Now they were complete and ready for the broiler. I put them into the over and checked on the grill. By the time I came back inside, they were done. I took them out of the oven, and grabbed the chicken out of the microwave. I they the fillets on the grill, and cooked then through. (about 4 minutes) While I was cooking them, Jess came out and said she had one of the appetizers and said that they were absolutely amazing!
Twevman: 03 Disappointment: 00
When the chicken was cooked through, I topped off each piece with come grated Monterrey Jack cheese, and put them on the top rack to melt. After about 2 minutes, the cheese was melted to perfection. I brought them inside, put them on each plate, and topped them off with some black bean and corn salsa. I them spooned out some chili into 2 bowls, and topped that off with some Monterrey Jack cheese as well. With that, dinner was served. We each sat down and finally tried the chicken. To our mutual delight, the chicken was absolutely amazing. Everything was perfect!!!
Twevman: 04 Disappointment: 00
It was then that Jess handed me this bag. She has left work early and went and got me a little present even though we agreed not to get each other anything. She got me a very nice card, a small bag of peanut M&Ms, and a cool shirt. It was the perfect meal.
After dinner, I told her to go relax as I did the dishes. I was rinsing off the plates, and she came in and said she wanted some chocolate. I told her that I kept to her rule of no chocolate this year, and she told me she very much appreciated it. But, she wanted chocolate. So, I grabbed my coat, and we headed to the car. I took her to her Michael Mootz’s, her favorite candy shop. There, she picked out a nice box of 6 truffles and she was happy. We went back to the house and I finished up the dishes while she wrote her sister an email.
Twevman: 05 Disappointment: 00
After the dishes were done, we watched 2 episode of Millennium, and then watched House on TV. After all of that, we just spent the rest of the night relaxing together, and then went to bed early.
It really was the perfect Valentine’s Day!!
