Valentine's Day at Frog Hollow Farm

Frog Hollow Farm Boy and I will be traveling in a few days, and I wanted to be sure to think ahead and have a delicious Valentine's Day dinner planned for him when we get home.
I'm not usually this organized, and I'm not sure that this will work for us.  We usually like to eat what we feel like eating on any given day, so planning too far ahead may put us in a position of not wanting fish for dinner. 
Does that make sense ? 
I know he'll love the pasta and the chocolate profiterole, but I also know he loves halibut and I wanted to try this very delicious recipe from one of the last few Williams-Sonoma catalogs. 

Don't their recipe photos always look so delicious?  

So, I'm doing some of the grocery shopping this week and freezing the halibut since we can't always find it in the grocery stores around here and I don't want to be running far and wide the day we get home. 

Valentine’s Dinner at Frog Hollow Farm

Appetizers

Goat Cheese and Roasted Tomato Crostini

Dinner

Alaskan Halibut Cioppino

Rigatoni Peperonata

Green Salad

Crusty Italian Bread

Dessert

Double Chocolate Profiteroles

We're continuing to enjoy the beautiful snowfall here in New Jersey and have plans for snowshoeing with our friends Steve and Liz this weekend (hopefully!)

XXXOOO

I'm participating in the The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays!  Come check out the wonderful blogger who participate in this fun meme!

A Lovely Birthday Brunch at the Russian Tea Room

 Last Saturday FHFB and I drove into the city to meet our daughter Katie to begin celebrating her 28th birthday.  She had always wanted to go to the Russian Tea Room, so we reserved a table for brunch at 11:30am.  Parking is very easy, there's a lot right next door - and Carnegie Hall is right around the corner! 

 The inside of the Russian Tea Room is just spectacular - with my favorite colors of red and green accented with gold.  They state on their website that they have Christmas decorations up year-round - I think that they must be referring to the red Christmas decorations adorning the retro light fixtures.

 Katie and FHFB ordered coffee, and it was served in a beautiful silver coffee pitcher along with this pretty set of creamer and sugar bowls. 

 Of course I ordered their bellini, which was fresh tasting and so delicious. 

 Here are some pics of the meals - the menu is pretty diverse for brunch and everything was delicous.

Truffle Quiche 

Bacon, leeks, black truffle, potato and Gruyère.

 Boeuf à la Stroganoff

Red wine braised beef short ribs with house-made buckwheat noodles, wild mushrooms and porcini cream

 RTR Sliders - Tasting of three mini “pojarski” burgers with herb fries

Salmon, avocado, tomato and cucumber with rémoulade and pickled onions.

Veal with Comté cheese, wild mushrooms and melted onions.

Kobe beef with black truffle, Gruyère cheese, caramelized onions and foie gras.

Here's a picture of the main dining room when you first walk into the restaurant.

Other rooms that we didn't get to see on Saturday are the Bear Lounge, the Bear Ballroom and the Hearth Room.  I think I'd like to sit in the Hearth Room the next time we go.

And here's the Birthday Girl~~

I hope that if it's snowing by you, like it is here, that you are able to stay indoors and enjoy it or maybe head outside for some winter fun as well!  FHFB and I need to do some snowshoeing soon!

I'm watching the cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays and other tiny birds enjoying our suet cakes and feeders set outside my office windows.

I'm taking part in Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper!  Please stop by - she's just posted about that wonderful store in Manhattan - Eataly!!

Ciao, bella!

XXXOOO

I've been meaning to blog about my little purchase from Lara Harris through her Etsy store at http://www.studiolara316.etsy.com/. 

Lara is donating the money she makes from her paintings to a family member for medical treatment. 

Lara was really so easy and wonderful to work with - she tweaked the colors of this little nest painting to include some of the green that is in the rest of the room. 

I placed it in our upstairs bathroom, on top of an old medicine cabinet.  For some reason I've established a bird motif in this room so this adorable nest fit perfectly, and it was so nice to know that the purchase was helping someone in need. 

You can see the painting on top of the medicine cabinet on the left.

 

Some good news, my dad is back at home and doing well.  He's on 11 meds each morning and will be seeing his cardiologist more often now.  We're so lucky to have my brother and his wife living with dad. 

 

Here's another picture of Miss Olive making herself comfortable in our daughter's bed.