Chocolate Ganache Cake

"It tastes as good as any top-tier restaurant cake." -Liz Edmunds

The finale to Valentine's Menu (Option #1)! It tastes even better than it looks. The cake part itself is insanely moist, dense but still smooth, and has a wonderfully full flavor all its own. And the ganache... Well, it's rich chocolate mixed with heavy cream, vanilla, and a teeny bit of cinnamon, so, you use your imagination on that one.

Basic Italian Salad and a BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Yes, this photo has chocolate and a cookbook aaaaall in one. If I could, I'd give you pillows and slippers as well, but you'll have to come up with that part on your own. Tomorrow you'll be getting that chocolatey recipe to complete the menu. For now we're going to make this juicy classic "Basic Salad #1" as Liz calls it. You probably know it as a Caprese Salad.

I improvised with the ingredients available at my local market. Just get as close as you can to the right ingredients. Also, don't be afraid to play with your food. Caprese's are easy to style, so go to town!

Food Nanny Valentine's Italian Menu (Option #1)

After a wonderful holiday season with my family, and a nice, long vacation to Utah for a wedding this month, I'm back and getting ready for all of our favorite heartsy fartsy holiday. Valentine's Day is the time of glue, chocolate, red construction paper hearts, chocolate, pink love notes, chocolate, and white doilies that would be heinously tacky at any other time of year.