THE PANTRY V-DAY GUIDE 💌🫶🏻
Celebrate Valentine's Day Pantry Style
Valentine’s Day is next Friday. Yes, it’s a silly cliché holiday, but it’s also a good excuse to show your loved ones just how much they mean to you 💕. So this week, celebrate love with these heartfelt recipes and gifts for your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, parents, siblings, kids, pets, friends, and even yourself (who couldn’t use a little more of that right now?).
IF YOU’RE A GIFT-GIVER 🙌🏻
The days of Valentine’s boxes at school are long gone but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be treated to a little something nice. This year, we are featuring hostess items for a fun “Galentine’s Day” get-together, simple luxuries to buy yourself, and gifts you’ll want your Valentine to get you 🥰.
IF BREAKFAST IN BED IS YOUR VIBE 🥞
Growing up, our Dad always made Bisquick pancakes in the skillet and let us choose the shape. He tried his best with palm trees and puppies, but more often than not we got Mickey Mouse. This was our Saturday morning tradition. As adults, we still have plenty of love for pancakes even if we’ve grown out of the funny shapes (well sorta lol).
These heart pancakes are a sophisticated take on our old tradition and are made with heart-healthy ingredients (whole wheat and oat flour) and bananas instead of the pancake mix.
The heart shape is easy to make with a spoon and is a fun little surprise for your Valentine.
Check out more breakfast recipes here.
IF YOU WANT TO IMPRESS THE BEST 🥰
Going out to eat on Valentine’s Day is so basic. Instead, impress those you love with a candlelit home-cooked meal followed by a night of TV binging in your comfy sweats.
Start off strong with a cocktail 🍸
Champagne cocktails are always such a chic throwback. I love ordering a French 75 whenever I see it on the menu. This light and bubbly cocktail is typically made from gin, champagne, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
This strawberry version of a French 75 is my favorite drink for Valentine’s Day. It uses strawberry simple syrup and sparkling rosé for a fun and tasty twist on the classic.
We’re not big whiskey fans, but we still love this Italian Cherry Whiskey Sour. So if you’re Valentine is a whiskey drinker, compromise with this cocktail. Plus, the cherries add a nice heart-shaped garnish 🍒🍒
And if you want something lighter and pinker, start with a bottle of our favorite sparkling rosés instead (including a n/a one we heard was delicious).
Buon appetito 🍝
For the main event, we’re going with an Italian theme (it is the language of love after all). But we’re still keeping it simple, so feel free to forward this Digest to the significant other who doesn’t usually do the cooking 😉
The Bacco Italian Chopped Salad has the best ingredient list of any salad (hearts of palm, egg, tomato, cucumber, onion, fontina, ceci beans, prosciutto di Parma) making it more interesting than just a boring side with your entree.
Each ingredient is chopped into bite-sized pieces (so you won’t have to worry about the awkwardness of eating big chunks of lettuce on your date night) then lightly tossed in a lemon dijon dressing, and topped with a piece of prosciutto.
Pasta is the ultimate date night dish. This simple five-ingredient angel hair pasta recipe is perfect as a dinner for two, but also great for kids if you’re celebrating a family Valentine’s meal (it was highly requested when we were growing up). The delicateness of angel hair is perfectly paired with the freshness of the tomato-based sauce. The recipe includes an arugula salad, so you can also use that instead of the Bacco Italian Chopped Salad if you prefer.
IF YOUR SWEET LIKES SWEETS 🍪
Jackson and my dad (*and me*) LOVE cookies. They are total cookie monsters. So, of course, I have a few different cookie recipes in my repertoire, and I usually make a batch every Valentine’s Day. However, this year, I wanted to try a new recipe and was very intrigued by the viral “Jacque Torres Cookie Recipe” published in New York Times Cooking with over 17k positive reviews! The recipe calls for almost 2.5 cups of sugar, which I found surprising since my recipes typically use a 1/2 cup less. And the result was….honestly TOO SWEET!? But to each their own I guess… The next time I make these, I will definitely reduce the sugar, and I think they’ll turn out perfect.
If you prefer a less sweet option check out my original cookie recipes here, here, and here.
Last year, I made the English version of Rocky Road (not to be confused with the American ice cream flavor) after seeing tons of videos on TikTok. These no-bake chocolate bars are made with cookies, candies, and marshmallows covered in melted chocolate and cut into squares.
I used heart-themed candy and marshmallows for a Valentine’s Day theme. It’s a perfect recipe to make with kids too!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 💗 XOXO
THANKS FOR READING!
Cheers 🥂
Hil & Nat
Don’t forget you can access the entire recipe library with all your favs here.