2nd Annual Valentine Bake Off!

Valentines Day was sweet.  Although not as warm as last weekend, we enjoyed sun and temperatures in the high 50's.

We stuck with our new Saturday tradition of running on the Beltline and eating at the Krog Street Market.  

The boys kept to tradition by falling asleep in the stroller and letting mami y papi have a beer and lunch -as we did in pre-parent days- in PEACE!!  

One IPA at HOP CITY and I felt a buzz refreshed after my run. 

               Last year Ernesto and I had a perfect Valentines night just cooking dinner at home and competing in our bake-off, we knew it was a repeater for this year.  (it also had to be perfect because we did not have a babysitter!)

 

The Spotted Trotter is a regular at our farmers market (which is closed for a couple months) so we've bought (and sampled!) their meat.  It's not cheap, but it good stuff.  We each picked out a steak-me a tenderloin, and Neto a ribeye.  We bought a couple pretzel breads for the kids' [good] hot dogs, a baguette and a little snack for on the spot.

This little sandwich was crazy good!  It wasn't on a menu, they just threw it together for us.  Some cured meat, cheese, arugula and sweet jam on ciabatta.   Oh my!  

Desserts for that night were a surprise, but we discovered that both of our recipes called for RAW eggs.  While Spotted Trotter was packing our meat, I saw they had fresh eggs.  The most beautiful eggs.  

And they should be!  They were $8 for a dozen!!!  I have never paid that much for eggs, but when eating them raw, I would say that is a good time to do so! 

We were ready to go and the kids were still sleeping!?  They even continued sleeping during the stroller to car transfer.  YEAH, I KNOW.

Once they were awake, it was project valentine.  Painting!  We paint a lot at Casa Espinoza, so these guys are pretty good at making a mess masterpieces. 

I traced some hearts (very artistic!) and let them go to town.  

After it was dry, I added the red and helped them sign their names.  With a sweet little note penned to my lover, papi's card was ready!!

 

I received a very cute valentine too.

 

Next task:  helping papi with the mixer.  Ernesto's dessert needed to chill for 8 hours.  Needless to say, it was not ready...even for our [late] dinner. 

  The pretzel bread hot dogs and broccolli, or "trees," as they like to call them, were a big hit for dinner. 

SOOOOOOO, Im sure you are all dying to know what our no-bake desserts were in the contest.  Mine?  

I saw this mousse on Food Network and it seemed easy enough and I knew with the ingredients it called for, I could not go wrong.  Dark chocolate, eggs, sugar and heavy cream!!  Yeah, muy muy rico!!!  However, admitedly, my presentation was lacking.  I was supposed to make whipped cream for the topping.

My competition?

You had me at tiramisu mi amor?  It was phenomenal!!!  And it was for breakfast!  The vanilla bean custard, fresh eggs, kahlua, espresso soaked ladyfingers, and the cocoa sprinkled on top.  Omg, this is a repeater!  My mouth is watering just writing this.

We agreed that the tiramisu was the winner, but this is not to say that my mousse was not a winner. If you love dark chocolate, this is worth your time to whip up.  So rich and creamy!  Knowing that my husband prefers milk over dark chocolate (and me vis a versa) may have been my downfall, seeing that he held half the vote. 

Still, two delicious desserts made it a SWEET night! 

Did you guys do anything special?