Family Valentines Dinner at Home

I love love. I love spending time with my main man. I love our kids. I love making ordinary moments special. I love making holidays special. What I do not love are overly gooey Valentine's Day themed price-hiked meals surrounded by couples I don't know who likely feel the same but feel obligated to participate. The last couple of years, and since the kids are old enough to appreciate it, we have made a new family tradition. We have a "fancy" Valentines Day Brinner (breakfast for dinner). We dress up. We set the table with our best dishes. We light candles. And we make heart shaped breakfast. I mean, what's not to love here?

Today I am sharing our tradition with you, photographed beautifully by the amazing Cati Teague Photography. First, the table.

We love flowers at our house. We always have fresh flowers in the middle of our kitchen table. When it comes to setting mood, candles are a must. We dim the overhead pendant, light votives around the table and giggle at each other through candlelight. It's pretty awesome.

The dinner plate is from Anthropologie, charger and napkins (tea towels, actually) were found at HomeGoods and the rest (silver, dishes and vase) are vintage, found at antique stores and flea markets.

You may remember that arrows are among my favorite things. Since that post, I have received an arrow tote, bracelet and t-shirt from readers. You people are my favorite. I made these arrows and will post a DIY about them in the next few days! Stay tuned...are. they. not. the. cutest?!

And now for our Valentine's Day Brinner Menu. It is a crowd pleaser and could not be easier.

We have milk and orange juice in champagne and wine glasses because that's fancy. Bacon is baked on a sheet pan in the form of a heart and sprinkled with maple syrup and cracked pepper. Toast is cut into heart shapes and spread with fruit preserves. Eggs are usually scrambled but I stepped it up here by simply placing a cookie cutter sprayed with cooking spray on a skillet and cracking an egg into it. Beautiful heart-shaped egg! To top it off we have a side dish of Red Hot applesauce. It is exactly what it sounds like and it is amazing. Pour applesauce from a jar (or make your own, but really now) in a sauce pan, sprinkle a handful of Red Hots to taste, chill or bring to room temperature, and you get a red applesauce with a bit of spice and cinnamon that you will love. My grandma taught me this trick in Idaho decades ago. She was genius.

And because you should always have dessert, even with breakfast, French Macarons. French macarons are like edible little trinket boxes. They are beautiful with their candy colors and smooth tops, crunchy outer shell and creamy delicate centers. Oh dear lord, they are my top 5 foods of all time. Buy them fresh from the bakery or frozen from Trader Joe's or equivalent, but please do end your Valentines Day Brinner with French Macarons.

Avoid crowds and cost this year and celebrate love with the little and big ones you love best. Steal our family tradition and please take the time to tell me all about it!

PHOTO CRED:  Cati Teague Photography