Tips for Making a Memorable Valentine's Day at Home

Whether you think Valentine’s Day is a bunch of rubbish, the best holiday of the year, or “singles awareness day”, – chances are you’re going to spend the holiday inside this year. Fret not! We’re here to help keep your Valentine’s Day from turning blue with some ideas to keep the day interesting. So grab a friend, your partner, your kids, or your pets and let’s embrace the love.

It’s no surprise that Valentine’s Day revolves around food, so first we’ll dive into the traditional Valentine’s dinner date.

Decide on your menu

• If the kitchen is your comfort zone, plan a special dinner with multiple courses, and make it together! Include some appetizers (like stuffed dates), an extraordinary dinner (like this filet mignon with homemade hollandaise sauce), and a dessert (or several mini-desserts) to satisfy that sweet tooth.
• Maybe you like to cook but don’t want to get too fancy. Focus on a simple, tasty entrée with a side or two (like roast chicken or French onion soup with salad and a baguette), and buy a pre-made dessert from the bakery or make an ice cream sundae!
• Perhaps you don’t want to cook at all – try an indoor picnic! Charcuterie boards are all the rage these days. Fill your cart with vegetables likes carrots and radishes, fruits like grapes and berries, your favorite cured meats, cheeses, crackers, olives, pickles, and dips or spreads and get ready to nosh all night. Alternatively, sandwiches, pizza, or your favorite take-out would suffice. But don’t forget the chocolate.

Now that you’ve settled on how much effort to put in for dinner, think about how to round out date night…

Ambiance

• What does your favorite date night restaurant feel like? Try to mimic that… candles, incense, twinkling lights, flowers, table cloths or picnic blankets, place settings… get creative!

Unplug

• Leave phones and computers in another room, and turn off the TV (unless you need any of those for music, then hide them or make the screen as dark as possible).
• Music

• Spotify and Apple Music likely have some playlists ready to choose from but you might go the extra mile and make your own. Include songs your date loves, traditional love songs, mix up the genres so you don’t miss any classics. Whatever you do, don’t forget Sade! 

Ensure intimacy

• Have kids? Plan two dinner “seatings” – Have the kids “call” to make dinner reservations, seat them for a “special” dinner about two hours before yours, then put them to bed so your dinner date can be more intimate. 
• My mom used to had us help her make English muffin pizzas, then we got to eat them by candle light - which we thought was sooooo special!
• You might enroll the kids’ help making their dinner, or have them be guests and play restaurant. Even let them “pay” using your credit card and leave a “tip” for their waiter!

How about some family-friendly ideas for staying inside all Valentine’s weekend?

• Set up a scavenger hunt using riddles and clues to lead towards a prize. Choose something that will keep the kids further entertained as a bonus: a book, coloring book, board game, video game, etc.
• Arts 'n Crafts time: Make Valentine’s cards, paper flowers, or paper heart wreaths
• Pick a new houseplant! Visit the floral department at your grocery store to choose a potted plant to adorn your home for longer than a bouquet of red roses. Have the kids spend some time choosing the best place for the plant to go.
• Bake! From cookies to cakes - get the kids to help with mixing batters, using cookie cutters, spreading icing, sprinkles, and decorating. Baked goods will keep in the freezer for up to six months, so bake away and fill your freezer with treats good until the 4th of July!
• Call or Facetime a family member – be it grandparents, aunts, god-fathers, cousins, or a technically un-related favorite person, remember that Valentine’s Day is for everyone and be sure to spread the love. 

And for the singles out there?

• Treat yourself to at-home spa day with a face mask, cucumbers on the eyes, bubble bath, mani-pedi, sugar scrub; the list could go on, but choose your favorite way to feel pampered and recreate the feeling DIY!
• Cozy up with a warm mug of tea, or your favorite glass of wine, and a good book
• Host a game night with a couple closest friends in person, or several more friends virtually (murder-mystery dinners are now offered in on-line format!)
• Indulge in a marathon of your favorite movie genre – maybe you like sci-fi or horror films. Or choose several films with your favorite actor. Just because it’s Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean you have to watch rom-coms! Don’t forget your favorite movie theatre treats like popcorn or chocolate covered raisins.
• Buy flowers for your favorite single girlfriend!
• Splurge on making, or ordering, a nice dinner for yourself. You deserve it.  

My favorite Valentine’s Days memory is from 2012 when some girlfriends and I spent the afternoon making fresh spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce and meatballs all from scratch. While enjoying our spectacular dinner, we turned on Lady and the Tramp and shared a nice bottle of Barolo. For dessert there was tiramisu purchased from a local Italian shop. Truly a Bella Notte.