Would you like to eat dinner with fragrant lilies in the room?

Valentine's Day is one of my absolute favorite holidays--second only to Christmas.  I love that we have a holiday based on love.  It was my favorite holiday even when I was single.  I'll have you know that I never had a boyfriend for Valentine's Day before Jeremy, so I spent many Valentine's Days alone, and I still loved it.  My job also makes the holiday extra splendid.  For example, this was what one of my students wrote on his valentine:

It's true.  Kissing is good.  Many people asked me what Jeremy and I were doing for our first Valentine's Day as a married couple.  It's kind of funny to think of last Valentine's Day.  Jeremy and I had just started dating.  It was so fresh that I remember thinking Do I get him something for Valentine's Day?  Is it too soon?  This year I knew I needed to get him something, but I had a hard time coming up with something good.  This is what I came up with:

I typed up 100 reasons why I love him (which was quite easy), and bought a few gifts that went along with some of the reasons I came up with.

He seemed to really like it. :)  Jeremy gave me four of my favorite things: flowers, Reese's peanut butter cups, dinner, and a sweet note.  He always picks out the prettiest flowers.

We were going to go to Thai Evergreen for dinner as a tradition because that's where we went last year, and it was dead slow.  If I remember right we were the only customers there, but their food was DELICIOUS!  When we got there, though, they were packed, so went to Fusion, a Korean restaurant, instead.  The food was really good there.  The best part was that while we were looking at the pictures of customers on their wall by us (like every hole in the wall Asian restaurant has) we saw a picture of Jeremy with a date on the wall!  It was hilarious!  What are the odds that you see a picture of yourself on the wall of a restaurant?  Well, that basically sums up the Nicholls family Day of Love.  Cheers!

We could order some pizza, or Chinese food, or perhaps one of those hoagies that you cut into a million pieces

I have a confession.  I love pizza.  When I say "love" I really  mean it.  I think my love totem pole goes like this: Jeremy, sunshine, pizza.  I'm dead serious.  I could eat pizza any day of the week, and all day long.  I feel bad getting take out all the time though, so I have started to make homemade pizza.  Bless Pinterest because I have been able to find the best concoction of a pizza.   I decided to share the recipe with you.

Yeah, I made that pizza. ^

Homemade Pizza Crust (found at http://elizabethbryant.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-best-pizza.html)

3/4 T dry-active yeast
3/4 T Salt
1 1/2 cup warm water
3 1/4 cup flour

Mix ingredients in order in a bowl.  Dough will be sticky.  Do NOT add more flour.  Cover bowl with towel, and let rise for 2 hours.  Lightly dust pizza pan with flour. Spread dough on pizza pan (dusting with flour when needed to make it easier to spread out), top with sauce, toppings, and mozzarella cheese, and cook in a preheat oven at 500 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes before you cut and serve it.

Marinara Sauce (found at http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/01/easy-pizza-sauce-simple-recipe.html)

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2 t oregano
2 t basil
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t onion powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix together in a bowl, and spread on pizza dough.

Alfredo Sauce (found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-alfredo-sauce-i/)

1 pint whipping cream
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 cups fresh Parmesan cheese (I just use the shredded kind in a bag)
2 t Italian seasoning

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Whisk in whipping cream.  When whipping cream and butter are well combined, add Parmesan cheese and seasoning.  Stir until cheese has melted and blended with sauce.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.  Spread on pizza dough.

When I make a Chicken Alfredo Pizza I grill 2 chicken breasts on my George Foreman with some salt and pepper. Then I slice them, and put them on the pizza.  I also have Mozzarella cheese always on hand in my freezer.  Did you know that you can freeze shredded cheese?  I do it all the time, and it works perfectly in any recipe I need it in.  Enjoy a pizza night on me!