Like the rest of the world, we also had our share for the Valentine's Day celebrations. Since moving to the UK, hubby and I had the tradition of having dinner at home, usually eating our home-cooked meals as Valentine's Day would often fall on a weekday. We usually have our 'date' aka dinner at a restaurant the following month for our wedding anniversary or we may eat out the weekend following Valentine's Day. This year, it was still at home but instead of cooking dinner, I decided to have a break and order Chinese food. It's been a long time anyway since I ate at a Chinese buffet. I ideally wanted Thai but it wasn't available (resto under renovation; another one had no take-away available). But of course, the dessert part will always be for me (as always, I baked a cake). So here's our simple celebration as well as our traditional V-day gifts.
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| Isla & I's gifts to Daddy...thanks for Pinterest for the free printable card (last minute) |
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| Tulips & chocolates from hubby |
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THE SET-UP
No rice for me, just the noodles (but loads of the prawn toast & crackers),
so I ate using chopsticks (with just a little difficulty) |
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| STARTERS - my favorite Sesame Prawn Toast & complimentary Prawn Crackers |
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| MAIN - Roast Duck & Pork in Noodles |
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| MAIN - Stir Fried Beef with Veggies |
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The star or rather the heart (literally) of the Vdate (with credits again to Pinterest for the topper)
DESSERT - Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting |
Now to explain the cake's orangey color (haha). I was so in the mood for the VDay theme that I decided to make a heart-shaped cake. Thanks I still have the pan for it (just need to cover it with baking paper as the non-stick covering is starting to come off). To lessen the guilt, I made banana cake and then decided again on the gutsy rose cake design (sorry I don't have the instructions on how to make it but there are lots of how-to videos in YouTube). Everything was fine as I used buttercream frosting this time except that I ran out of butter (never realised that I'll be needing more) so to fill in the gaps and the sides, I had some left-over double cream and made cream frosting instead (which don't hold the rose shapes that much). And since I've used peanut butter frosting, no matter how much I put on the red food coloring, it just turns into a darker shade of orange. I guess the yellow butter and light brown peanut butter colors are the blame. Nevertheless, it was a yummy cake. Too bad we have to eat it the next day as we were so full with the meal (burp) and also a little tipsy with the champagne (lol).
RATING: Loved the food but my favorite was the roasted duck because it was so tender (and not dry at all). Hubby liked the beef but then he always likes beef when we eat Chinese. More plus points for the free prawn crackers (there were loads; not sure though if it was only for Valentine's). I wanted to order the crackers initially but decided on the prawn toasts instead as I was on a budget. I almost told the delivery guy that I didn't order them only to realise they were complimentary. As for my favorite starter (prawn toasts), they were okay but I've tasted better versions.
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