VALENTINES LUNCH.
Jesse and I went a little bit over the top last year, for our first Valentines Day together. We were still living with my parents, going through a kind of rough time with the first farm - in fact, we were so stressed about it, the next morning we randomly hopped in the car and drove off to New York City! ANYWAY - we are in a much, much different place this year. And since both of us had to work last night, we decided to have a simple little lunch date. We have become rather fond of doing a "lunch" for special occasions, because it is usually much cheaper, there is less pressure to go somewhere fancy, and we end up having a lot more fun. We went to Woodlands, probably our favorite restaurant in Nashville if we are being honest. Indian vegetarian buffet. What could be better? We are hoping to do a lot more Indian cooking this year, especially when we have our wood stove up and running....sounds perfect for lots of lentils and rice and curries. We are on the lookout for a good Indian food cookbook - any recommendations?- Hannah.
A DAY IN PHOTOS - OUR VALENTINES DAY.
Greetings from New York City! Yep, Jesse and I hopped in the car yesterday and headed north. It was COMPLETELY spontaneous! I am writing this from Park Slope in Brooklyn, just having devoured my first authentic New York bagel. This is Jesse's old stomping ground, so I am excited to be here with him, meeting all his friends and learning about this part of his past. But more on that later.First, some photos of our Valentine's dinner. It was very simple and homemade. Jesse surprised me by making potato gnocchi, which is my favorite! I wanted to bake a Red Velvet cake, as I have never had one and it seemed appropriate for the holiday. I am highly allergic to red food coloring, so I used beets! We also each made gifts for each other, which was pretty sweet. What did you guys do for Valentines?- Hannah.
VALENTINE-ING.
I have been doing some serious crafting, sewing, and painting lately. Valentines Day is a wonderful excuse to pull out all the stops: hearts, sequins, glitter, the works. Since Jesse and I are trying to have a low-budget dinner at home this year, I have gone a bit overboard with the homemade decorations. A lot of what I have been working on is a surprise for our dinner, but this garland I made was so easy and so adorable I had to share. A great project for the upcoming holiday.I made my garland using different colors of construction paper, but you could just as easily use felt or fabric. Using the construction paper was the easiest and fastest...it probably took me about 15 minutes!
Cut out a one good heart. I just sketched one, but you could find a pattern and print it out or use some random heart-shaped object if you want it to be just so.
Use the pattern to trace out as many hearts as you like. I made two garlands, each about 5 feet long, with 15 hearts each.
Sew the hearts together into a long strip. Seriously. It is that easy!
Such a simple project. You could make the hearts into different shapes and colors to suit the occasion. But as for Valentines Day, I'd say this is pretty perfect.- Hannah.
