Will you be my Valentine?

I've decided that going out to dinner on Valentine's Day is overrated. I hate crowds and waiting. This year we did our Valentine's date early, and didn't brave the restaurants and let me tell you it turned out amazing!

We were joined by 5 other couples this year at a party at our house. On the invite we asked that the couples email us a couple songs that they either loved or were totally "them". Then when they arrived we ate our dinner while playing a game with the songs. We played a minute or so of each song and had each person guess which couple they thought had submitted each. Hilarious. We got everything from cheesy wedding country like 'Keeper of the Stars' by Tracy Byrd to totally rockin' rock like 'Papercut' by Linkin Park. Some submitted songs from their wedding videos, others sent songs they used to make out to when they were dating, etc. It was so funny.

Our dinner consisted of food brought by each couple and every single thing was delicious! We handled the meat, so that's the only recipe I'll be able to supply today, sorry, I don't have anyone else's recipes! For the chicken we marinated it in SoyVay's Very Very Teriyaki sauce for 3 hours. The steak marinade can be found at the end of this post.
We grilled chicken and steak, had boiled red potatoes, a bleu cheese spinach salad, an amazing strawberry drink, Parmesan encrusted french bread loaves, and a german chocolate cake for dessert. It was a serious feast.

After dinner we split up into two teams and headed out on the road for a valentine's road rally. We were to find and photograph as many of the destinations on the list as we could in 45 minutes. At least 4 members of each team of 6 had to be in each photograph and we were to make the pics as creative as possible. One team had someone doing the backwards hug yourself pretend make-out in every photo. The other team was kissing in every one. We were to find destinations like: A place to propose, a place to go to dinner, a place to buy lingerie, a place to have a reception, etc. Team one got back first with every item checked off their list having combined one or two in a couple photos. Team two arrived last, but their photos were the best by far! It was a blast.

When we got back we watched the pictures while eating our dessert and chatted or played games for whoever wanted to stay after that. A CD of all the "songs" served as the perfect party favor. Awesome. This may be the making of a new tradition!

Steak Marinade:
Soy Sauce (I used Braggs Liquid Aminos)
Lemon Juice
Italian Seasoning
Fresh pressed garlic (2 cloves)

Combine in a gallon ziploc bag and add meat, refrigerate for 3-4 hours

Sorry, no amounts again, just play with it, it's very forgiving. I think I ended up with about a cup and a half of the soy sauce, and nearly the same with the lemon juice. I would guess a couple tablespoons of the italian seasoning. Delicious!