So, yesterday was a good day. We actually got up early and helped some friends move into their first house. It went quickly and it was fun to see their place. They are really excited to get settled in and I’m really happy for them.

Neal and I aren’t big celebrators (is that a word?) of Valentine’s Day, but to me, it was an excuse to make a fun dinner. We were excited for a night in, and I was excited to cook/bake up a storm.

First thing I made was French onion soup. Neal and I both LOVE baked French onion soup. I bought little crocks a couple of years ago and made it, but I wasn’t thrilled about the flavor. When I saw that one of my favorite food blogs had a recipe posted for French onion soup, in perfect time for Valentine’s Day, I knew it was fate.

Other than the fact that I had to use mozzerella cheese instead of gruyere (grocery store was out of gruyere), this was seriously amazing French onion soup. I mean, one of the best I’ve ever had. I owe that to the recipe, not my cooking, haha.

I got a thumbs up from Neal.

We totally dressed up for each other, can’t ya tell? HAHA. Hey, it was a gourment dinner and we got to wear sweat pants. How much better can it get?

Main course was seasoned scallops, on a bed of fettuccine in a tomato cream sauce, with a side of roasted asparagus. I didn’t use a recipe for the scallops, just seasoned them and seared them in a pan. I used this tomato cream sauce recipe, but added fresh tomatoes, and used low-fat cream.

Seriously. YUM. This plate probably would have cost $22 or more at a nice restaurant, and we made it for much less than that. I was so happy with this meal. Neal didn’t utter a word throughout dinner, haha, which is a good sign. He wiped his plate clean and then finished up mine.

Hey, I’m still an amateur photographer, so I can say these pictures do not do this dish justice. This was sooooo good.

Last, but certainly not least, was Chocolate Idiot Cake, so named because it’s easy to make, HAHA. I wouldn’t say it’s idiot-proof, but it’s pretty simple. The recipe calls for the highest quality chocolate. I don’t know where to get ScharffenBerger chocolate, so we settled for Ghiradelli. The chocolate flavor is EXTREMELY pronounced, so I understand the need for good chocolate. It’s flourless, and incredibly, INCREDIBLY rich and decadent. I loved it.

So anyway, we were both pretty happy with the meal. And it was much nicer to just be by ourselves, with Ferris and Simone, in a quiet house.

Neal bought me beautiful lilies and I think my favorite part about them was taking pictures, haha.

See? I went a little overboard with the pictures, haha. And isn’t the vase awesome? I told Neal and I loved it and he said “I paid extra for that.” HAHA!

Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend!