Valentine's Day Dinner

Maybe this post should be called "Confessions of a formerly super picky eater (now just a kind of picky eater).

Instead of cooking at home like we originally planned to do, we decided it would be more fun to let someone else do the cooking for once (of course, this doesn't come without a cost, but it was sooooo worth it). I say this like we never eat out, but we do...a lot. I have learned that having a planned out to eat night every 2 weeks or so really helps keep me on my 'A' game when it comes to eating the other 13 days. Of course, my birthday will mess this plan up this week as it means that we eat out again on Saturday, but that's ok, how many birthdays do I have a year? But I digress. Back to Valentine's Day. I only wish I had thought to take some pictures of what we had for our Valentine's dinner .

Many, many praises to Stables Restaurant at Tubac Golf Resort (http://www.tubacgolfresort.com/ ). They offered a 4-course, prix fixe meal that was absolutely spectacular and worth every penny we paid. The appetizer, salad and dessert were more "samples" of flavor but it was done very well as we didn't have anything left over at the end of the meal and were just the right amount of full. I saw a lot of people leaving with to-go boxes, but we prepared for this feast and only had breakfast (egg, cheese & veggie sausage wraps if you really want to know) and played an hour or so of tennis in the afternoon. So we had plenty of room...and nothing went to waste. I darn near licked the plate clean!

The appetizer was the most...um...interesting part of the meal as it really took a lot of guts for a picky eater like me. The crab cake was easy since I love me some crab cakes and, honestly, I could have eaten an entire plate of these. The aioli was superb and added just enough flavor. The oysters, well, they went directly to hubby's plate. I WAS being adventurous, but there are just somethings I don't like no matter what. Oysters on the half shell is one of them. But he like having 2 extras, so everyone was happy. Then we got to the beef tartare. I debated all day about how brave I would be and whether or not I would try it. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but when I saw it on the plate, it wasn't a large amount and then I reminded myself that if you give me a plate of raw fish, I will be all over it, so I really need to be fair to the cows (yes, it was beef - we are in Arizona, not France!) and give the beef tartar a shot. So I tried it, and it wasn't too bad. Would I specifically order it? Probably not. But if I am in a position where it is part of a set meal, I will have it again. I am so proud of myself. And you would be too if you knew just how picky I have been for most of my life. Seriously. I wouldn't even eat raw tomatoes until a couple of years ago. But around the time I turned 30, I realized I needed to be a little bit more adult in my eating and try things just in case my tastes had changed over the years. And guess what? They did. Yes, it took me until I was 30 to be open minded about eating. Give me a break. I am still working on it, but I AM a lot better than I used to be.

But what I am most proud of is that I, the girl who used to have trouble finishing an 8 oz. prime rib, polished off an entire 12 oz. ribeye. And oh boy was this an awesome steak. The only way I can describe the tenderness was that it was like a steak-flavored marshmallow. Yes, it was that tender. And the potatoes au gratin. Well, anyone who knows me knows that I think anything is better with cheese. Ok, almost anything...

Dessert. Well, how can you go wrong with chocolate. 'Nuff said there.

It's a good thing Valentine's Day only comes once a year...