Valentine's Day Special Treat

Hi Boys and Girls!

I hope you all are surviving the cold, snow, sleet and all around winter weather. Here in Central Texas, we have had it all...9" of snow in Weatherford, more than 5" of rain here in Comal County and freezing temps for over two weeks! Mother Nature...give our plants a break!

A special dinner was enjoyed at Cool Mint Cafe in San Marcos, Texas. http://www.coolmintcafe.com/

Our meal started with a glass of bubbly champagne. All the foods are prepared

with organic ingredients and are very fresh. It was a 4-Course meal. After the champagne came our appetizer. Roberto ordered scallops and I ordered Tower of Tejas! This was grapefruit, oranges, jicama, varied greens, avacado and red onion vinaigrette.

 It was mucho delicioso!

Roberto had 3 different roasted beets and raspberries with orange vinaigrette.

Then came the second course. I chose Wild Rice Pancakes stuffed with Butternut Squash & Green Chiles
Tres chiles rojos . It was really a crepe. Oh my gosh...this was so good. It gave me the idea to make this as a dinner but using flour tortillas. The butternut squash was chopped into tiny pieces and the green chiles did not over power the squash. Of course, I gave Roberto a bite. He liked it too.

We each chose a different entree so we could try each one. Roberto's choice:

Vegetable Wellington--Flavorful three layer terrine with mushroom pate, anise carrots & Peruvian potatoes with aji chile wrapped in crusty golden puff pastry. With mole verde & fresh fruit salsa.

This seemed rather bland to me but Roberto said it had a "kick" to it. The crust could have been baked longer. I thought my small bite was a bit mushy. Roberto ate the whole thing!

On the other hand, I chose:

Duck with Mushroom Risotto
Duck breast dusted with juniper & pink peppercorns and cranberry demiglace.
Served over rich wild & exotic mushroom risotto. Oh my gosh...this was flavorful! Juicy and succulent and the risotto was perfect...ok maybe a little mushy, but that is the way risotto is supposed to be cooked. True Italian style. Look at this beautiful dish.

Now, is that beautiful, or what?

We both did not think we had room for dessert but Valentine's Day is only once a year. So, we forced ourselveves!

Roberto's all-time favorite cookie is oatmeal chocolate chip. So he chose for dessert the
Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Cookie Taco Filled with fruit & mascarpone.

Roberto was a real peach and gave me a bite of the chocolate cone. I am a sucker for figs so I had the Figs Stuffed with Marzipan Drizzled with Honey & Mint.

Personally, I think my dessert should have been drizzled HEAVILY in chocolate but I had to make do with the honey and mint. Our wine selections went perfectly with our foods. The atmosphere is very homey. In fact, the room we were in was exactly like our first home. Stone fireplace with glass bookshelves on both sides. Come to think of it, my childhood home in San Diego, CA was the same as this room. So, it must be a pretty old house. If you are in the area, give this restaurant a try. If you like fresh, organic foods, you will like the Cool Mint Cafe. Oh, be sure you like hearing the same song being played over and over again...Seems someone must have hit the "repeat" button on the CD player. Other than that, we had a great time.

Until next time, cook a meal together, eat some fresh veggies, play a game after dinner and don't forget to say "I love you!" Oh, and call your mother!