Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope that everyone has had a day filled with love. Is it just me or is V Day not as fun when its on a weekday? I kept forgetting what day it was. If I wasn’t a teacher, I would probably have forgotten all together.

One reason I wasn’t thinking “Day o’ lub” is because bf and I did our Valentine’s last night. We went out for a great sushi dinner at one of my favorite sushi places (conveniently located in my ‘hood) called Shoya. I love this place because they are traditional Japanese, nothing too fancy, just good food. We sat at the bar and had a great time just being around each other That’s what its all about anyway right? Uh, I sound so dorky.

We ordered up a bevy of treats:

I realized how long it has been since I have had sushi! I need spring to hurry up so I can get my groove back! I had chicken hearts (my favorite), some yellowtail, some uni and salmon roe, and some toro.

I love to just sit and order sushi as we go. Then we got some Sweet Shrimp. I only like the fried heads. I think this is a classic example of “Anything is good fried.”

(*On a side note: Dang, I got the Verizon iPhone last week and it takes AMAZING pictures. I was shocked!)

We got this fish called Scorpion fish, apparently its poisonous, this one must not have been…. let’s hope.

So that was the bulk of my V Day. We exchanged cards in the morning and that was that. Simple sweet and not too fussy. Just how I like Valentine’s.

When I got home from work there were flowers for me from John. He never gets me flowers anymore. I was thrilled.

So to show him just how much I like flowers (and that he should get them for me more often) I made him his favorite stew right when I got home.

We have 2 boxes of oysters left over from Andrew’s 30th Birthday party this past weekend, so we had to put them to good use anyway. I made oyster stew for the first time last year and… I thought it was awful. It tasted like milk and oysters. Those are not 2 flavors that I like to mix. I am still not a huge fan of this stew, but its bf’s favorite and it is Valentines’s Day.

Luckily bf had been busy shucking oysters so I didn’t have to do any.

I got out my dutch oven, Jules, and slapped some butter in that baby. I was determined to make it more than just milk and oysters. Butter was a great way to start.

Then I diced up some celery and onions and added them to the mix.

I threw in a pack of pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms after the veggies had cooked for about 8 minutes. I let the mushrooms cook for about 5.

I added in a tablespoon of flour and made sure that everything was coated.

Then I slowly poured in (in 3 batches) 2 cups of milk.

Then I brought the whole thang to a boil to let the milk thicken up a little bit.

I turned the heat down and added in a can of Cream of Potato soup.

I added in a shake of Hot sauce and a sprinkle of salt…

…and a turn of the peppermill.

Now it was time for the main ingredient. The oysters. I love a good oyster.

The recipe that I was referencing called for 12 oz of oysters…. we used 48 oz. This was an oystery stew!!!! Like I said, we have 2 boxes to go through.

I poured in the 48 oz. of oysters and turned my stove up to high. I cooked the stew long enough to let the edges curl on the oysters.

Then, I was ready to serve it up! Look how many oysters are in that one scoop. Jeez…

I never seem to cook in the daylight, so I took advantage of the perks of the sunshine.

So, this was my Valentine’s Day gift to John. Happy oyster stew. He devoured it. It made me happy. Then he got a second bowl. I was overjoyed. Gift enough for me.

Happy Valentine’s bf.

Love,

Me, Stellar, Chum…. and Oinky (even though he hates you)