Valentine Snapshots

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Ours was pretty low key, but after a series of long days and late nights it was great to take a night off and enjoy some quality time with my Valentine.

We agreed not to buy each other any gifts this year, but I did cheat and spend a few bucks on some valentine versions of his favorite candy (he's sort of a candy monster). He did give me the cutest valentine ever though: "You Bacon Me Crazy!"

I also came home from work that night to find an adorable homemade valentine treat from my mom in the mail:

We celebrated with dinner at Davanti Enoteca in Chicago's Little Italy.  I have been wanting to try this restaurant for a long time, but when they first opened they didn't accept reservations.  Here's a little peek into my crazy: I hate dining out without a reservation.  I am incredibly impatient so the idea of showing up at a restaurant and waiting an hour for a table makes me crazy!

Well, they take reservations now and I am so glad that we made one because our dinner was amazing!  It's an enoteca so all the food is made for sharing, which I love since it means I get to sample a few different things.

To start, we tried a fresh apple, escarole, and hazelnut salad and my favorite part of the whole night: Italian toasts served with fresh ricotta and honeycomb.  So delicious!  I could have eaten only this all night and been totally content.

Then we shared a ricotta gnudi with pork cheek and a pizza with prosciutto and arugula.  We knew we'd want dessert-- and we split a chocolate hazelnut mousse tart-- so we had them wrap up half of the pizza.  This was also a highlight of the night: when the waiter brought our check and I reminded him that we didn't have our pizza leftovers, he went back to check only to find out they had been thrown away.  So they made a fresh whole pizza for us to take home which I will be enjoying for lunch today.  That's good customer service.  And I can't wait to go back again!

 How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?  Do you go all out or do you prefer to keep it simple?