How to Cook Your First Valentine’s Day Dinner
So you’ve decided to stay this year and make a nice Valentine’s Day dinner for your sweetheart. There is only one problem: you have absolutely no idea what you are doing. This is fine! We’re here to help.
Most people understand that preparing food for loved ones is a gentle, soulful gesture, but they do not always understand how much work is required. Following the recipe is easy – that’s all you need. Choosing the right recipe, buying the ingredients, planning, preparing, preparing and serving food takes many hours of work, which is then taken for granted because it is completely invisible. This is partly due to the recipe developers: we ignore the secondary part of our work, mainly because we are used to it, but also because deep down we know that talking too frankly about it can completely alienate people from this idea.
In fact, cooking is hard work. It is my job to get you to do it anyway. There is never a bad time to express your love for someone with homemade food, but Valentine’s Day is the only holiday we are encouraged to show people that we love them, simply because it’s perfect. Even if you’ve never cooked a meal in your life, I promise you can handle it. Here are some basics to get you back on track.
Choose a course
If you hardly cook, please do not try to make a multi-course dinner. Time is everything, and if you’re new to the art of scheduling, biting off more than you’re used to chewing is a terrible idea. Choose for dinner or dessert, and for another, get their favorite takeaway or delivery service. Not only does this reduce the stress on you, but it is also a good contingency plan if something goes wrong in the kitchen.
Get personal
Cooking food for your loved one should only involve showing off a little, but it’s much more important to make them feel special. What do they like most about this stupid world? Start there. If it’s not scary enough and / or ripe with the potential for foodborne illness, move down the list. (Lobster is romantic; crap in Sex Party is not.) It doesn’t have to be fantasy – anything tasty, fond of memories is perfect, like re-creating what you ate on your first date or their favorite meal. childhood to heal.
Ask for help
If for some reason you can only follow one piece of advice, do this one. You probably know someone with trustworthy culinary instincts, so reach out to them and ask for help. (An equally important caveat: if your partner comes to mind first, perhaps because he cooks everything, ask someone else! ) Tell him what you want to cook and ask for his favorite recipe and any specific advice. they can share. If you do something from your partner’s childhood and you both get along well with his family, ask for the Secret Family Recipe. Chances are, they’ll be delighted with what you asked, and that makes an already sweet gesture that much more meaningful.
As I said earlier, following a recipe is easy, but there is one way to make any recipe more manageable. When it’s time to really cook a romantic dinner, set yourself up for success with a mise-en-scène , chopping and cooking the ingredients for the day ahead if you can. Oh, and don’t forget to thank everyone who helped you choose the recipe – trust me, we’re just as interested in your success as you are.