Valentine's Day isn't just for lovers, you know. This year at The Kitchn, we wanted to celebrate female friendship and throw a delicious party with all our girlfriends. Get ready for a bunch of pink drinks, apple tarts that look just like roses (I swear!), and a few rounds of the 90s classic board game Electronic Dream Phone. Here's our plan and menu for the whole shebang.
The Party Plan: A Cheesy Valentine's Day Party
The key elements for this party are as follows: lots of cheese, lots of music from Mariah Carey, Electronic Dream Phone, and over-the-top Valentine's Day decorations. The party was a little bit goofy, but still beautiful and delicious. It was cheesy, but not cheap. I wanted my friends and colleagues to feel relaxed and entertained. We held the party at Geraldine's apartment in Brooklyn because she has a great space for entertaining people.
The Party Menu: Small Bites and Pink Drinks
I wanted a bunch of small bites for the party — something you could pick up and nibble while playing board games. The big event, of course, had to be the cheese board. We had nuts, fresh fruit, dried fruit, crackers, bread, and six different types of cheese. The drinks were all pink, including a sparkling cocktail with raspberry sorbet and rosé.
A Cheesy Valentine's Day Menu
For 6 to 8 guests
APPETIZERS
- Creamy beet & tahini dip: Served with pita chips, carrot sticks, and sliced raw radishes
- Mini apple rose pies: If you've been on Pinterest the last couple months, I'll bet you've seen a fair share of apple roses. We had to try them out.
- Classic cheese board: This week we'll show you how we put together a classic cheese board, including fruit, nuts, bread, and six kinds of cheese.
- Chocolates: We had two boxes of "The Kissing Game" chocolates from Jacques Torres.
- Sweethearts: What's a Valentine's Day party without this classic candy?
Drinks
- Rosé: Pink wine isn't just for summer, you know. We opened a few great bottles throughout the night.
- Raspberry sorbet & elderflower sparklers: Besides rosé, we wanted something sparkly to sip on all night. Jayme came up with something sweet and balanced for the occasion.
The Party Look: Over-the-Top Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is all about the over-the-top decorations, and I wanted our party to embrace this tradition. I went for a variety of different pink, red, and gold decorations throughout the entertaining space. There were lots of balloons and crepe paper decorations, and I even made a tissue paper garland for the party.
What's Coming Up This Week
- A cheesy 90s playlist: What's a good party without an awesome playlist? Get ready to boogie down to a whole lot of Mariah Carey and Rick Astley. It's the only thing we want to listen to on Valentine's Day.
- Recipes: We have a few new recipes coming at you this week, including a tutorial on how to put together a classic cheese board, a Pinterest-worthy recipe for muffin tin apple rose pies, and a sparkling elderflower cocktail.
- A cheesy Valentine's Day party: On Wednesday we'll show you how the whole party went down.
- Flower ideas: Roses might be the classic thing to have for a Valentine's Day party, but we broke the rules. See what we ended up having at our party instead.
