Love is in the air. Love for your significant other, love for family and love of food. What better way to show your family how much you love them than by preparing a beautiful home-cooked meal this Valentine’s Day!

 

I love to cook. To me, cooking is a soothing escape from an otherwise crazy life. So, selfishly, cooking for Valentine’s Day is not only showing my family I love them, but is also showing me it’s okay to do something for myself as well. Sure, we could go to a restaurant and let someone else do the work, but there is something wonderful about taking the time to plan a somewhat elegant, yet family friendly meal. Choosing something to please everyone’s picky palette. Setting a table with beautiful dishes that rarely see the light of day, replacing the usual paper plates, that allow for quick and easy clean-up on busy week night evenings.

 

So often, meals are thrown together without thought, whatever is quickest and gets everyone on their way to the next big event, or hours of homework. We don’t necessarily put love into every meal we make, so the opportunity to make something special should be enjoyed.

 

In my house, we love seafood. We may not always agree on a specific variety, but shrimp is a family favorite. My children love pasta, so my natural choice this Valentine’s Day was Shrimp Scampi with Fettuccini Alfredo. A bit of freshness is added with a garden salad topped with Italian dressing. And no Valentine’s Day meal is complete without a bottle of wine, and my favorite is always a sweet red.

 

Fettuccini Alfredo

8 ounces uncooked fettuccini

½ cup butter

½ cup heavy cream

2 cloves garlic

¾ grated Parmesan cheese

Dash of pepper

Chopped fresh parsley

 

Cook fettuccini as directed on package. Heat butter and heavy cream in pot over medium heat, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and mixture starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low, simmer 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese and pepper.

 

Shrimp Scampi

1-½ pounds uncooked medium-large peeled, deveined shimp

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

2 medium green onions, thinly sliced (2 tbsp)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

grated parmesan cheese, if desired

 

Remove tails from shrimp. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook shrimp and remaining ingredients, except cheese, in oil for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until shrimp are pink and firm. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese.