Happy Valentines Day

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines day this year. When this date comes up, every year I find myself scrolling through dozens of Pinterest posts and ideas as well as recipes through Tumblr. Taylor and I usually go out to eat a day or two before February 14th in order to avoid all the crowds and reservation hassles. However, we decided to keep it simple this year in an effort to save more money for our big move to our first apartment in Seattle this summer! When I came across Cooking Classy's Strawberry Breakfast Pastry recipe, I just had to make it for us to enjoy.

As you can see I wasn't able to go with the sheet puff pastry because it was completely sold out for the occasion! I decided to substitute with the 24 pack mini cup puff pastry box and was pleasantly surprised. My first concern was that they would be too small because the scored hole is only about an inch in diameter. But fear not, they worked wonderfully and turned this recipe into the perfect bite size treat. I'm definitely saving this recipe and so should you!

 The most important thing about any holiday, especially a day so focused on love, is to be with those most important to you. Taylor planned a cute little park picnic for the three of us to have fun, that being me, him and our furbaby Zelda the Corgi. You can always tell that she knows we're going somewhere important just by the look on her face. We picked up some local Hawaiian Poke from Tamura's. Poke is raw Ahi tuna fish mixed with sesame oil, sesame seeds, onions, salt, and other toppings depending on what you get. It's an extremely popular food to eat here in Hawaii and can be found just about anywhere.

Since we were out and about on a Sunday and it was Valentines day we searched for the least crowded park that allowed dogs and settled down in a quiet school park in Kailua. The poke would have been delicious had we remembered that you need to grab a few shoyu or soy sauce packets to douse it in. Since Tamuras weighs your fish without the sauce inorder to give you the most bang for your buck, you need to grab the sauce on your way out and trust me, it takes more than one packet. Mid lunch, a curious chicken came by to see what was going on. Taylor and Zelda just had to check it out but frankly I think she was scared.

After cruising around the park and getting some exercise running around, we checked out the old run down playground. Although it was missing its bridge in the middle, both sides were still usable.

Zelda hunting Taylor like the lions on National Geographic.

Me trying to leave the park but Zelda refuses to walk if someone is lagging behind *Taylor* Even if it's to take pictures.

All in all it was a sweet Valentines Day idea and didn't leave us with empty pockets. I think it actually ended up being one of my favorites and just goes to show that you don't need elaborate gestures and planning, just someone to show you they care. We ended the night with a small grill and some steak that may or may not have been shared with Zelda. She seemed content with the day as well.

Happy Valentines Day! See you next time.