Happy Valentines Day to All

I had my family over last night for dinner and we celebrated Valentines. My way of showing my love for my family is of course, preparing a wonderful meal for them. With four grand children running around I failed to get any photos but my menu went something like this.

Savannah Seafood Gumbo

served over rice

A Greek Salad

Chicken Fingers for the children

For Dessert

Coeur a la Creme

Red Velvet Cupcakes for the children

I have roots in New Orleans, my first ancestor to this country was a Spanish Conquistador and he took a French wife from New Orleans. I grew up eating all kinds of gumbos, jambalya's and crawfish pie. I also grew up with both of my parents loving to cook. My Dad loved to prepare typical New Orleans cuisine and my mother favored preparing French cuisine. A very dear friend has a post on her blog today that made me think of lots of wonderful memories, Random Musings of a Deco Lady.

My favorite Valentines dessert is Coeur a la Creme and I always use Ina Garten's recipe. The mere presentation of it always gets lots of ooooh's and aaaah's whether it be for a dinner party as the one I did recently or for a family dinner. The best part is that it is so very easy to prepare but it is necessary to have one piece of special equipment. Easy to find online or at Amazon, William Sonoma or Sur La Table. You would also need some cheesecloth.

This is a favorite dessert of mine.

Ina Garten's Coeur a la Creme with Raspberries
serves 6 to 8

12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Raspberry Sauce  (recipe follows)
1 pint fresh raspberries


Place the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the beater and bowl with a rubber spatula and change the beater for the whisk attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the heavy cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and vanilla seeds and beat on high speed until the mixture is very thick, like whipped cream.

Line a heart shaped mold with cheesecloth leaving extra to drape over the sides and place it on a plate, making sure that there is space between the bottom of the mold and the plate for the liquid to drain. Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth, fold the ends over the top, and refrigerate overnight.
 To serve, discard the liquid and unmold the cream onto a plate, and drizzle raspberry  sauce around the base.  Serve with fresh raspberries abd extra sauce.


Raspberry Sauce

1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (12 ounces) seedless raspberry jam
1 tablespoon framboise Liqueur

Bring the raspberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup water to a boil. Simmer 4 minutes and pour into bowl of food processor. Add the jam and liqueur. Process till smooth and chill.

Today I am joining Mary at Little Red House for her blogging party Mosaic Monday.