Be my Valentine

We had Valentine's day early because of family commitments later in the week.

It's been hard to choose a sexy, indulgent meal and keep to the diet, and frankly just at the moment my heart is not in losing weight, so I've decided to abandon the regime and allow free rein to my imagination. However, I might just calorie count it as I go, to quantify the potential damage.

We've recently become enamoured of Cosmopolitan Cocktails. Never having paid much more attention to them than as a prop on "Sex and the City" I finally read a recipe and discovered that they are really just a girly version of my all time favourite; the Margarita. Just not as salty, sour or made with Tequila. Ideal for Mr. SC who dislikes most of those things. Oh and they're pink.

Wikipedia gives the full story but the simple recipe for Cosmopolitans is thus;



For one person:
2 measures vodka
1 measure Triple Sec
juice of half a lime (but we used lemon)
just enough cranberry juice (or in our case elderberry) to tint it pink.

Shake over ice, strain into a Martini glass and admire that rosy glow. We prefer to share the juice of the half lemon (so 1/4 per portion, yes?) and use our own elderberry cordial which gives the most beautiful colour. Very sexy, very plush and romantic.

Starter:

Compote of Love Apples with Asparagus and Pomegranate dressing.

Main:

Coeur aux Noix on a bed of Spinach with crushed Saffron and Black Pepper Potatoes

Pudding:

Sweetheart Tiffin
This was much more subtle than it appeared, filled with Amaretto soaked golden raisins and a delicious spicy undertone of cinnamon from the Speculoos biscuits I used in the mix. The hundreds and thousands are Mr. Stripey Cat's favourite.



served with Pink Fizz