Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day Menu

We are going out on Saturday night, but on Friday night we are planning our own private dinner. It is a simple menu but as good as any expensive restaurant -- even better in my opinion. We are having: 5 oz. Omaha Steak bacon-wrapped fillet, baked potato and salad with greens, cucumber, tomato and croutons and Ken's lite Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing. Oh. and a glass or two of red wine (Merlot). This is our special go-to dinner since he made it for me when we were dating a few years ago. All our dinners are special. Like having a date every night. But this dinner is the best.

For dessert, I may make a great cheesecake I found in a little cookbook called "Sunday Suppers -- Classic Recipes." This recipe is so simple I have committed it to memory and have made several variations already. This is so easy it makes you wonder why there are so many "no bake" cheesecake recipes and mixes that don't really taste like cheesecake or why people (including me in the past) pay a fortune for a store-bought cheesecake. Here is the recipe. It is called "Philadelphia 3-Step Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake."

2 packages (8 ounces each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese softened (I use light cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar (Splenda or 1/2 Splenda works fine)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavoring)
2 eggs
prepared graham cracker crust (or homemade)
3 tablespoons red raspberry preserves (or other flavor)

1. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until well blended. Add eggs until well-blended. (The book suggests an electric mixer, but I have done this by hand with good results - not as fluffy.)

2. Pour filling into crust. Dot top with preserves and cut through batter with a knife to create a marble effect.

3. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes or until center is almost set.

The book says there are more recipes like this at http://www.fbnr.com/. I plan to check out this web site myself. Happy Valentine's Day!