Sweet Valentine (with recipes!)

So what do a bunch of Army wives do on St. Valentine's day when their husbands are gone? Have a party!!
I have to say, I haven't had this much fun in a looong time. It took me a good hour to fall asleep because I was just so happy. I have met some amazing women here and am constantly impressed with how beautiful they are: physically, they're gorgeous, but more importantly, they have exquisite souls and spirits full of life and strength. I love being around them and I feel like I got to know them so much better Saturday night. Who knew all it would take was some chocolate and strawberry buttercream?

I suppose I kind of went overboard on the food, but planning really helped keep me sane during the last month of dreary cold winter and snowy days. I had hoped to have everything set up and perfect by the time the party started but the baby had other plans. In the end, it was more fun working with my friends to get it all set up than it would have been to be greeting everyone with a glass of wine in hand and my makeup perfect. Christa put together the mini-BLTs, Diane did my dishes, Wendy got the chocolate fountain going (that my wonderful neighbor let us borrow for the night). The spread was lovely and tasted just as good (even though I broke Ina Garten's cardinal rule of entertaining which is to never try out a new recipe on one's guests...several times..)

I promised to post the recipes so here they are:

Mini-BLTs with the most amazing sun-dried tomato mayo (a staple at Erin's parties and if you make them, you'll understand why)

Chicken meatballs served with Emeril's Roasted Red pepper sauce (found in the pasta sauce section of the grocery store). These were a new recipe and thankfully turned out amazing. I used bacon instead of Pancetta since it was cheaper...worked beautifully.

Vanilla cupcakes with fresh Strawberry Buttercream. The cupcakes are entirely gluten free and are from my favorite food blog, Tartelette. I could eat them unfrosted all day long...BUT...Erin's strawberry buttercream takes them to entirely new levels. I'm telling you, this frosting is out of this world. You'll eat it straight out of the bowl. 

Homemade vanilla bean marshmallows. So simple and so tasty. Light, fluffy speckled pillows of scrumptiousness. Love.

Chocolate dessert cups filled with chocolate raspberry mousse. I originally made a mousse from scratch but it failed horribly. I ended up using a boxed mix that tasted just as good and piped beautifully. No real recipes here, just sinful chocolaty goodness.

Chocolate truffles, courtesy of Pioneer Woman. I spiked mine with Cognac and dusted them in cocoa powder that I picked up in a lovely little shop in Paris.

So even though we all would definitely have been happier spending this past weekend with our dear husbands, this was just what we needed. Or at least, it was just what I needed :).

 

(And the delightful Lisa Marie took a fabulous shot of one of my crowns so I could give you a preview of my shop!)