• Two Valentine’s Days ago, Our Boyfriend surprised us with an extravagant tasting menu at a jacket-required. Last year, we put the kibosh on that and insisted that we cook dinner, together, in order to avoid both financial asymmetry and our unattractive habit of falling asleep at the table after three hours of wine pairings. The Trib’s Renee Enna is speaking our language with a love-themed menu to prepare at home. Heart-shaped meatloaf is an inspired pairing of kitsch and kitsch, and the beet salad comes with plenty of puns.
• JeanMarie Brownson suggests that we make honest-to-goodness pudding, the from-scratch kind — not that jank-ass Jell-O bullshit. Our language, not hers.
• Short ribs are on the menu practically everywhere these days, and Bill Daley rounds up suggestions for the best pairings for the rich, unctuous meat. Most of the suggestions are mid-bodied reds with a hint of acidity &mdsah; though one freewheeling iconoclast suggests that it’s a cut of meat best served by a rich, round white. That’s crazy talk!
[Photo: pengrin/Flickr]
