A day off the diet

I know, it's been a while... I've been really, really tired this week. So tired that I can hardly function - time to take some vitamins, me thinks!

It's actually been a great week. Wednesday was a holiday, and we were invited over to spend the afternoon with some friends from church. We haven't seen much of each other of late due to illness (my goodness, it's been a long haul for dear K and her little one!), but praise the Lord that all were well for our get-together! We had such a good time, the children played together wonderfully (there was a real hug-fest going on!), and we enjoyed each others' company well into the evening. Our hostess roasted a chicken (it was huge!) and a yummy pinenut loaf for me, we had roast potatoes, salad, and pavlova for dessert... mmmmmm...

Today is Valentine's Day. The boys are sooo excited, having been told by K that they will be inundated with chocolate (in Japan, on Valentine's Day girls give chocolate to boys, and then on White Day (14th March) the boys give cookies to the girls who gave them chocolate)! In fact, a girl from kindergarten had some choccies for W, and this morning we had a delivery for J, so they are feeling pretty pleased with themselves. K isn't naturally romantic, but he is working on that - he did give me some chocolate this morning, albeit a family-size bag of Hi-Chocolat presented in a plastic carrier bag. It's a good start - he'll get there, eventually. I've decided to make the day special by making a fuss of all my Valentines:



The children were served these pancakes as their mid-morning snack (filled with sliced banana and chocolate), and this afternoon they will help to transform the dining area into a romantic restaurant setting for our special dinner. I've made some posh burgers that I spied on NQN's blog earlier this month, and I would write about this myself but just wouldn't be able to do NQN justice, so please do have a look at her version:

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/02/02/wagyu-burger-a-la-plan-b-with-brioche/

(Sorry, can't seem to get the link to work, but believe me you will thank me for pointing you in her direction)

I confess, I didn't make the brioche (I was all up for doing so, but then I read what it entails and don't own a mixer!), and actually was unable to buy any either, so they will have to make do with some toasted english muffins. Dessert is under wraps, but will tell you all about it in due time. Suffice to say that it contains chocolate, loads in fact:



Oink, oink!

Right, off to caramelize my onions...