in the kitchen: Valentine’s Dinner

We’re not exactly Valentine’s Day type folks.  But given that we’re far from home, we used it as an excuse for a nice dinner of comfort food and to try some things from scratch.  On the menu, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dinner rolls and a pie for dessert.

The chicken was a bit labor-intensive, but it’s a good tasty way to dress up chicken.  David took care of the mashed potatoes (for the first time) and the were super tasty.  The green bean casserole (which is my favorite food on the planet) was heavenly — and this time I made some of my own French Fried Onions (so I could hoard the ones that my mother-in-law sent).  The onions were quite easy to make and divine.  Next time I’ll make my own cream of mushroom for the casserole.

The dinner rolls were super good as well AND homemade (which I’m quite proud of). I convinced Melody to share her go-to recipe for whole wheat rolls and while I still have a lot to learn about bread-making, they were really good.  And I’m not sure we’ll ever buy bread again in Romania.

Finally, in one of our recent care packages, we got several boxes of pudding.  So, I whipped together a pudding pie for dessert.  We made a crust from cookie crumbs and topped the pudding with real whip cream.

With a table cloth, candles lit, glasses of wine, a home-cooked meal, and my favorite dinner date, it was indeed a nice low-key Valentine’s Day evening.