Why Go Out When You Can Stay Home?

by Sabrina C. Mashburn

Sometimes it is just too cold to leave the house. Usually, February evenings on Long Island fall into this category. If you find yourself shuddering at the idea of leaving your warm cozy haven to celebrate this Valentine’s Day, don’t worry. All you need is right in your home, although a little trip to the grocery store beforehand will make things even better. To set the mood, employ the soap-opera romance favorite, your trusty fireplace. Not only will it set the mood and cast flattering light all over your romantic evening, it will also keep you nice and warm no matter what you decide to wear.

Of course, eating out is usually on every couple’s list for Valentine’s day and just because you are staying home doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on gazing into your lover’s eyes over a delicious meal. You can set up a traditional table right in front of the fire, or you can serve your meal in my favorite fashion, on a picnic blanket on the floor. If you’re serving on the floor, it helps to have a table nearby to set your wine glasses on, since they are so easy to tip on an unsteady surface like a blanket. If you are serving food on a table, you can serve any meal you like. For your picnic, however, you want to serve things that aren’t going to ruin the mood if they happen to spill. Fortunately, most aphrodisiac foods are not messy. For a kick of iron, the amazing energizer, try roasting up some kabobs in the broiler. If you can find them, serve oysters as an appetizer. Remember to keep the meal light, so that your romantic evening doesn’t end abruptly after dinner with a food-induced coma. Focus on dessert, where you can get playful and creative with the ingredients. If you were able to run out to the supermarket, try roasting marshmallows in the fireplace and make s’mores, complete with good bittersweet chocolate and crispy graham crackers. If you can find strawberries that look red and ripe, try setting out bowls of melted chocolate, caramel syrup, Cool Whip or another whipped topping (real whipped cream melts too quickly to serve in bowls) and have some fun getting sticky and sweet while you eat. If dinner has left you too full to contemplate dessert, skip it and opt for a sweet cocktail instead. Try making real hot cocoa using melted chocolate chips and whole milk. For a Mexican-style hot chocolate, add cinnamon and tequila to taste. You can also add Peppermint Schnapps to your hot cocoa for a warm, tingling zinger of a drink. Of course, you can start with hot cocoa from a box, too – it will still taste absolutely delicious.

After dinner, snuggle up by the fire under a blanket. Too many couples spend their nights together watching TV or movies. For Valentine’s Day, just enjoy each other’s company. Listen to some music by the fire and let the warmth and the sweet alcohol take effect. Crack open that bottle of wine or champagne you have been saving and slip into that little something special you bought just for the occasion. If you’re feeling extravagant and you don’t mind whipping out the vacuum cleaner the next morning, try scattering fresh rose petals on a white blanket on the floor or the bed. You can even use rose petals to make a sweet-smelling trail from the dinner table to the bedroom and even on to the bathroom, where a hot tub awaits. Try adding rosewater or rose oil to a hot, steaming bath surrounded by candles and rose petals. It might sound cheesy, but there’s a reason the scenario has become so cliché – a bath of roses tickles the senses and sets the tone for whatever activities you have planned for after the bath.

There’s no need to turn Valentine’s Day into an expensive extravaganza of gifts and lavish restaurant meals. The purpose of a day dedicated to celebrating love is to spend time with the person you are in love with, not to drag yourself out in the cold. As long as you think ahead and gather up some supplies, you can create the perfect Valentine’s Day celebration right in your own home. Best of all, you don’t have to drive, so you can indulge all you want and clothes are completely optional. Happy Valentine’s Day.