Tips and Solutions Detail
Who Loves Ya Baby?
. . . . . .
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and love is in the air! If you've risked frostbite decorating a loved one's car, burnt your fingers baking heart-shaped cookies, and spent hours stringing up paper hearts with cute little sayings, try something new this year. Celebrate it with a party for all of your special valentines! Follow these steps for the perfect Valentine's celebration for family, friends, church group, or community organization.
Checklist
- Lifetime round tables
- Lifetime folding chairs
- red and pink felt cut into hearts (see downloads for templates)
- pink or white plates
- miniature red, pink, and white roses
- little silver cups
- napkins
- long stems of ivy small, handwritten love notes
- thin satin ribbon (red, pink, or white)
Steps
- Decorate the top of a round table with BIG red and pink felt hearts placed on top of a white or pink cloth that goes to the floor.
- Use pink plates (or white plates with a pink heart cut out of felt at the top of the plate.
- Place miniature red, pink, and white roses in little silver cups.
- Tie napkins with long stems of ivy secured with a "love note" written on beautiful paper and tied with a thin satin ribbon.
- Put folding chairs around the table.
- Wrap the chairs in pink tulle or a lightweight pink fabric and tie the back with a length of ivy and a tiny bouquet of roses.
- Prepare delicious Lobster Shooters to make the evening extra special.
Tips
- Add embellishments and involve the kids! Put out bowls of decorations such as sequins, jewels, rhinestones, pearls, ribbons, lace, etc. along with some glue. Make a heart template before you begin to cut hearts to insure uniformity in size. Pre-cut the felt into big hearts in sizes 6 inch, 7 inch, and 10 inches across (see downloads). Supervise the kids while they glue the decorations onto the hearts. You will need about 12 hearts to cover a Round Lifetime Table top.
- You can purchase felt at any fabric store and most department stores.
- You can purchase pink plates at any department or party supply store.
- Everyone looks better in candlelight. Sprinkle the table with votive candles, being sure to put one at each place setting.
- For an extra romantic "Dinner aux Deux," place your table in front of the fireplace, put on some soft music, and enjoy the evening.
Lobster Shooters
- 1 lb. Lobster, cleaned
- 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
- olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 1/4 sweet onion (Vidalia or Maui) diced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
- zest of 1/2 lemon
Dressing
- 4 T. seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 6 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. Sweet mustard
- 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
- Split the lobster and clean it. Marinate in grapefruit juice for 1/2 hour. Drain and brush with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Grill the lobster over hot coals until just done, brushing with grapefruit juice. Do not overcook!
- Remove the meat from the shell and cut the meat into small chunks. Place in a small juice or shot glass.
- Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, cilantro, and zest. Mix well.
- Whisk together the rice wine vinegar, olive oil, ginger, and mustard. Pour over vegetables and mix well. Spoon the vegetable mixture over the lobster and serve with a sprinkling of cilantro.Serves 8 as an appetizer.