Be My Chocolate

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!  John and I celebrated in semi-Japanese style.  Here, girls give chocolates to guys on Valentine's Day and then on March 14 - White Day - guys reciprocate and give candy or small gifts back to the girls who gave them chocolate to begin with.  There are even different types of chocolates you can give on Valentine's: "romantic chocolates" or "obligation/courtesy chocolates".  For example John and his office mate both got some chocolates (which were very pretty) from their secretary, and next month John probably will give her white chocolates back because they signify friendship rather than romance.  I've also read that marshmallows are popular, so I guess we'll see what's for sale that looks nice.

Raku and I had grand plans of making Smitten Kitchen's caramel brownies for John and Leo - complete with homemade caramels.  But after multiple disasters including "melted spatula caramel swirl sauce," "under-cooked brownie batter surprise," and finally "overcooked glue your jaw shut caramel brownies" we were left with giving them each 2 homemade caramels  we had luckily set aside earlier in the day.  (Just as a note, these disasters were a result of substitutions we made, not the recipe - and also my stupidity with the spatula)

Since Valentine's Day is all about the guy here I made John's favorite grilled cheese sandwiches (with pepper jack, tomatoes, and bacon) for dinner and then we went to see the perfect Valentine's movie.

So Romantic...

At the theater we saw some weird statue which I thought nothing of, and John thought was a chocolate man.  Later we learned it was a chocolate Bruce Willis statue for Die Hard 5!  I don't know who came up with that, but the only thing better was Cold Stone's Valentine's Day marketing.

John did agree to be my chocolate

Of course with marketing like this we had to get ice cream before the movie.  John selected Chocolate Devotion - the most appropriate flavor.  It was one of our more fun Valentine's Days, and I'll be sure to let you know how we celebrate White Day next month.

Oh, and just because it's funny, earlier this week we went to an electronics store so John could buy a new graphics card.  Look at this hilarious folder he got as a free gift - the heart says Happy Valentine's Day.

John says she looks just like me