What Makes a Romantic Date?
Oooh. I love romance and Valentine’s Day. I’ve only ever had one true Valentine. Our time together totals over 25 years if you add the years of dating to the wedding anniversaries. (Don’t ask, that subject could be a blog post all its own.)
The simple, totally mushy answer to the question above is “Whatever I’m doing with him.”
But, the more in-depth answer is, a home cooked Italian themed dinner, candlelight and something decadent for dessert. Decadence isn’t limited to chocolate, but warm chocolate lava cake is divine. Sighs.
I hate crowds and he loves my cooking. So, we usually do our “on the town” Valentine’s dinner the week before or the week after. But on the special day itself, we’re home with the lights down low, our phones and the television turned off, soft music in the background, and dinner by candlelight served on our fancy dishes.
We treat it as a true date with me with my hair done and full make up in a pretty outfit and him in a nice polo and Dockers. No shoes, unless we opt for dancing–then I want heels since I’m 5’2″.
I’ve prepared stuffed shells in meat sauce or lasagna. This year we’re going more simplistic with spaghetti with meat sauce accompanied by salad, garlic bread, and maybe some other veggie. Then, dessert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A truly rich and sexy dessert I’ve used in place of chocolate is super simple.
Pineapple and warm caramel sauce. The flavors are a smooth mix of sharp and sweet.
hint: if you feed them to each other by hand, the warmed caramel doesn’t always stay on the fruit and a napkin may not be the way you want to capture the excess yumminess. 
But really, Valentine’s Day is romantic because you’re with the one you love. So, however you celebrate, do it with a heart full of love for your date and it will be the best time ever. Guaranteed.
Enjoy your evening of romance. Happy Valentine’s Day.
And, who better to help you set the mood if you haven’t finalized your plans for the big hearted day than some awesome romance authors. Here are a few who write in an array of genres that are sure to help you find inspiration. Click on their names to visit their sites.
Contemporary Romance Tamra Baumann* Priscilla Oliveras * Shelly Alexander
Paranormal Romance Kay Hudson
Romantic Suspense Sharon Wray
Novels with Romantic Elements Jean Willett
Historical Romance Wendy LaCapra
Diana Belchase (What I Really Want for Valentine’s Day)
Feel free to share some of your ideas or memories of your most romantic Valentine’s Day in the comments.
Posted on February 10, 2016, in Uncategorized, Writer Wednesdays and tagged Caramel, Chocolate, Couples, Dancing, Italian dinner, Pineapple, Romance, Valentine's Day. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
KD Fleming 
“So, however you celebrate, do it with a heart full of love for your date and it will be the best time ever. Guaranteed.”
This, Karen, says it all! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Aww. Thanks, Tamra. Same to you.
What a lovely tribute to your Valentine and the special day you celebrate together. And those desserts sound divine! I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Thanks Sharon. I like yours too. We live in Florida, but my hubs loves cold weather. He’d be offering to haul firewood for them just to hang out in front of the fire. 😉
Awwww…”whatever I am doing with him”
Best answer ever!
Have a lovely Valentine’s Day!
Thanks Wendy. And you too.
KD, it sounds like you’re going to have some delicious leftovers– wish I lived close by to help you enjoy them! 😉
Your mushy answer– “whatever I’m doing with him”– works for me! Cuz you’re right, almost anything you’re doing with the one you love is special or memorable or just what you need.
Now, since you said you’re cooking, I’m wondering if you’ll share your chocolate lava cake and your pineapple with caramel sauce recipes. They sound delish!!!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hugs
Thanks, Pris.
The pineapple and caramel sauce is just what it sounds like. I buy the already peeled pineapple at the local grocery store and cut it into chunks and spread it around on a plate with a small bowl in the center filled with warmed caramel sauce (I pour Smucker’s ice cream topping into a bowl and warm it in the microwave on low power just before serving). We use kabob skewers or forks or our fingers to feed each other. The pineapple is juicy and the caramel sauce thins from heating so there’s lots of smudges and drops to sample for each other.
I will have to find the lava cake recipe, but I promise to share when I do.
What a lovely post. And I want to come eat dinner at your house.
Awww, Kay. Anytime you want to hop across to the east side of the Gulf, you can join us for dinner. We’d love to have you.
😁