Our valentines was a 2 day event. On Friday I surprised my fiance with the rib recipe posted by Blunt Money as well as a cheese platter. Since I was off on Friday I took on the task of making the 4 hour ribs. I purchased 4 half slabs, all the required spices, and the juices. The total cost came to about $40. The recipe itself wasn’t that difficult and was actually quite fun. The only mistake I made was applying the first stage dry rub. The recipe is meant for 4 full slabs and I manage to use nearly all of the the first stage dry rub on the 4 half slabs. The ribs still tasted amazing even with the added rub. I could really taste all of the ingredients including the grape juice which was actually quite pleasant.

The cheese platter was a last minute addition since I was running late on the ribs. I ran out and purchased some Applewood Smoked Cheddar, an herb Stilton, a Mango Ginger White Stilton, and some dry smokey Hungarian sausage. I laid out the cheeses with some grapes and crackers. I had to slice the sausage really thin because the Cheesemonger wasn’t joking when he said it was dry. The flavor of sausage really came out when sliced thin and complimented the cheese well. The total cost for the platter was $28.

Since I was working on the Saturday we had decided to go Astoria, a Greek restaurant we frequent. Their tzatziki has a really strong garlic taste which I love. We both ordered the deep fried calamari with extra tzatziki! The dinner cost $47. After the meal we went for some gourmet coffee that cost about $11 and was well worth it. We had a wonderful night and it didn’t break the bank.

The total cost to celebrate this valentines was $126 over 2 days. Some may see that as a lot but as a frugal foodie this was a good price for 2 great days.

-mfd-