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The Official Whole Foods Market® Blog
Tell Us Your Recipe for Romance
| Meet the Blogger | More Posts by Elizabeth BealThey say the way to a lover’s heart is through the stomach, and while that looks unappetizing in print, we know it’s true. Would your sweetheart be by your side if you’d plunked down a frozen burrito on your first let’s-do-dinner-at-my-place? Didn't think so.
Looking to sway cupid in the kitchen? We recommend this gorgeous Peppered Steak with Mushrooms, Seafood Risotto, Chicken Marengo or Romantic Rice Bowl, finished off with our ever-popular Flourless Chocolate Cake or Red Wine Strawberries and Cream. Warning: the aforementioned recipes could all lead to swooning — or spooning.
Tell us: Have you ever cooked for love? Did someone make you a meal so romantic it made your heart sing (and did it sing Al Green)? What did you cook to win the love of your life — or the love of last month?
Let us know in the comments below by Wednesday, February 13. One winner will be chosen at random to receive a $100 Whole Foods Market® gift card. Use it to buy the ingredients for your next luscious feast! UPDATE: Thank you to everyone that entered. Congratulations to our randomly chosen winner, Rachelle W. from Oakland!
The fine print: No purchase necessary. Promotion ends February 13, 2013, 11:59 PM CDT. Must be a legal resident of the US or Canada (except in Quebec, where it is void) age 18 or older to participate. Taxes on prize, if applicable, are the responsibility of the winner. Employees of Whole Foods Market, Inc., are not eligible. Void where prohibited.
841 Comments
Comments
My (now) husband invited me over to his place early in our relationship to cook me his "famous" spaghetti. Upon arrival I saw a jar of ragu on the counter and chuckled to myself a little bit! To his credit, he did doctor it up quite a bit with fresh garlic, italian sausage, ground beef, etc.
The cutest thing was when he offered to make me a "to-go" portion at the end of the meal to take to work for lunch the following day. It was pretty tasty, so I took him up on it!
I learned shortly thereafter that upon inviting me over for dinner he made an emergency trip to Ikea (I should mention that the closest location is in a different state!) to buy all of the necessities for hosting a dinner date including plates, silverware, wine glasses, candles, and even a dining table and chairs!
He went to a lot of effort for that dinner date, and it meant a lot to me! Turns out, it was worth it. We've been married for a year and a half now!
01/30/2013 10:37:08 AM CST
I made him a lasagna and cheesecake
01/30/2013 10:37:26 AM CST
I just open a can of cat food. Forever alone.
01/30/2013 10:37:36 AM CST
It was his birthday and only our 2nd date! The pressure was on to knock his socks off! I prepared a filet mignon, lobster tail and asparagus. For dessert he requested banana cream pie instead of birthday cake. Unfortunately, the pie didn't set but that banana cream pie soup was to die for!
01/30/2013 10:37:38 AM CST
On our first valentines day together I made a fluffy cheesecake. It took about 24 hours to make but was totally worth it. This will be our 3rd valentine's day, and our second together!
01/30/2013 10:39:20 AM CST
Six months after we started dating, I made my boyfriend beef wellington and chocolate souflle for his birthday.
01/30/2013 10:40:09 AM CST
I feel like any expression of my love for my husband has involved baked goods. Now that we're doing the 28 day whole foods challenge, that has not been the case for the past 10 days, but I'm hoping after its over we can indulge in the occasional sweet. The first gift I ever gave him was homemade chocolate chip cookies. He grew up on packaged food and eating out so he was beyond impressed. Our first Valentine's day I made a strawberry cream pie and he still hasn't stopped talking about it 7 years later. Most recently I made him a cake from scratch, it was simple and easy, but his appreciate made it so much more!
01/30/2013 10:40:11 AM CST
On our 1-month wedding anniversary (yes, it was new, so we celebrated every month!) my husband cooked a meal that replicated the meal we served at our wedding reception! Tarragon chicken, risotto and green beans! The meal was even complete with the wine we had at our table and a cupcake for dessert.
01/30/2013 10:40:14 AM CST
I made Chicken piccatta for my boy friend and it was so delicious! I would make that for my valentines day dinner along with a great chocolate mousse for desert!
01/30/2013 10:40:22 AM CST
Beer battered shrimp, green chili/serrano mac and cheese, and a mint chocolate chip cake was last year's birthday dinner. Let's see if I can top it for Valentines Day!
01/30/2013 10:40:45 AM CST
I cooked chicken fajitas and tex-mex rice from scratch my second date with my now-fiancé. BAM! GOT HER! :)
01/30/2013 10:42:05 AM CST
Picadillo
01/30/2013 10:44:17 AM CST
I made gnocchi from scratch with a truffle fonduta sauce for my fiance on our 6 month engagement celebration. That, along with chocolate dipped cheesecake, made for a great meal with the best company!
01/30/2013 10:45:33 AM CST
My new man is a salt addict like me! So when we first started dating, the first meal I ever cooked him was Chicken Saltimbocca, peas & prosciutto & homemade mashed potatoes. The only thing to cut the salt was sweet tea! We ate dinner on my back porch that night and He LOVED it! Can't remember what we had for dessert. ;)
01/30/2013 10:46:04 AM CST
I really enjoy and love to cook. I've made several wonderful dinner's for my love my sweet husband Gary. I cooked chicken soup out of love ,with fresh chicken breast from Whole foods,and in that pot I put all kinds of fresh organic vegetable's . carrot's , potato's ,kale,tomato's , Corn,oh and pasta. Very simple ,yet so colorful and healthy, I'm sure I won his heart . . My Chicken n fresh vegetable soup was so delicious we had to share. Brenda
01/30/2013 10:48:17 AM CST
The first time I met my significant other was actually on his birthday! A set of our mutual friends were hosting his birthday/welcome to the city party as he just moved back to Georgia. As the resident cook of the group I threw together a quick meal of BBQ chicken -- he had just moved from Texas. I showed up with beer, chicken, and a home made cake. We started dating a month later, and now live in Austin. He always said he knew I was the one since that first meal.
01/30/2013 10:51:44 AM CST
I painstakingly injected fresh organic strawberries with Grand Marnier then dipped them in dark chocolate and rolled some in finely diced candied orange. It was a lot of messing around - but oh, the things we do for love!!!
01/30/2013 10:57:06 AM CST
I was made pork tenderloin with a Port Wine Fig sauce that was to DIE for! That was served with goat cheese mashed potatoes and asparagus. YUM!
01/30/2013 10:57:23 AM CST
Hearty and Filling Pot Roast
01/30/2013 10:57:52 AM CST
Fried okra:)
01/30/2013 11:05:11 AM CST
On the very first evening we decided to rekindle our relationship 25 years ago (too young in high school, got through 2 years of college before we reconnected) Marco cooked Veal Marsala and his mother's secret Tortellini recipe for our first dinner back together!
01/30/2013 11:05:37 AM CST
I made a roasted eggplant and carrot lasagna served with an arugula and herb salad, followed with a chocolate cupcake. It was a hit!
01/30/2013 11:06:42 AM CST
When my now husband and I were newly engaged and started living together I quickly learned pork chops and sausage, peppers, and onions were his favorites. I quickly mastered them. We went through a period of living with his parents and I didn't get the chance to cook. We were married and moved to our own apartment I felt like I could try to up my culinary skills(equipment and food budget pending). Chicken parmesan I mastered again quickly another favorite. But by far the greatest meal I feel I've made my husband is Red Wine Braised Short Ribs by Food Network's Claire Robinson. I made these for Valentine's Day last year and they were absolutely delicious and came out perfect! My side dishes were not as great but those short ribs were perfection. A couple weeks ago as Valentine's Day is quickly approaching I mentioned needing a bottle of wine for a recipe and my husband figured it out, and said you have to make those again just with different sides. :).
01/30/2013 11:12:15 AM CST
My husband had me totally smittened by him the day he made my favorite dish from scratch. Fettuccine Alfredo. I couldn't believe he had somehow mastered the taste which mimicked "Olive Garden".
01/30/2013 11:14:31 AM CST
I once made a homemade ice cream cake for my husband's birthday, which took a ton of work. It was definitely a labor of love!
01/30/2013 11:14:51 AM CST