This year, I wanted to focus on a couple of serve at home Valentine’s Day meal options that give you mega luxurious choices that won’t cost and arm and a leg like eating out will! You might notice that there is no such thing as a Valentine’s Day prix fixe dinner that is less that $80 per head in these “inflated” times, so here are a couple of options that will give you a lot more food for a lot less money. Even better, you can Google codes that will get you a discount—and both sites offer free shipping after reaching a certain dollar amount on your order.
I recently discovered mackenzielimited.com quite accidentally. I did a search of “holiday sweets” right after Christmas because I wanted to “clean up” on holiday candy that had been discounted—and one of the top results was MacKenzie Limited, with photos of their amazing cakes showing. I clicked on the link and got an amazing array of frozen luxury foods that you just heat and eat, as well as more photos of their gorgeous cakes that you just let defrost in your fridge for five or six hours. This was one of my best discoveries of the year because despite the quality of the food, the prices were reasonable—and the four and five course meals for two that they sell for various holidays range from $70 to $120.
You can see the meal that I sampled on the top of this post. It is called the Maryland Style Surf & Turf Dinner for in its finished form and it was amazing! It took next to no effort to cook up! In the package (which is filled with dried ice) you get 12 Caramelized Onion & Feta Pastry Blossoms that have the freshest tasting feta cheese that you will ever have, 2 three-ounce Perfect Crab Cakes that have hand-picked jumbo lump crab meat with the perfect blend of seasonings,two 5-ounce filet mignon that has been wet-aged to make them super juicy, 2 five-ounce Twice Baked Potatoes with the sour cream and chives already added, and two 3.5-ounce Molten Lava Cakes made with high end bittersweet chocolate. There is no shame in me saying that I managed to eat everything here by myself! There are many meals for two on mackenzieltd.com and they are worth checking out but here is the link to order the meal that I just described: MARYLAND STYLE SURF & TURF.
Okay, now let me add that even though this meal has Chocolate Molten Cakes, it’s hard not to order one of their absolutely stunning cakes available in every flavor you can imagine and then some! The Chocolate Nostalgia Cake is probably every baby boomer’s dream because it is basically a giant Hostess Cupcake deconstructed into a layer cake and made with only the finest baking ingredients! This cake is adorable, too as you can see from the photo. The moist devil’s food cake and fondant are amazing and the buttercream is the stuff that dreams are made of! Leisurely eating this after dinner with a couple of glasses of champagne and a great movie on your big screen TV is the ultimate conclusion to having a romantic at-home Valentine’s Day dinner! You can order this remarkable dessert that yields eight generous slices for $64.95 here: CHOCOLATE NOSTALGIA CAKE.
Here is what the items look like when you get them. There is no wasted large cardboard boxes and all of this is sealed tight to keep the freshness in. I just cut them open with a scissors although you could easily open them by hand. MacKenzie Limited has a $10 off $99 code that lasts through 4/30/2023 and it’s MCPA99.
Another gourmet food site that I recently discovered is realgourmetfood.com which brings today top flight brands from around the world. You want a steak from New Zealand or some homemade marzipan candy from Germany? They have it and a whole lot more. I tried two items that are perfect for an at-home Valentine’s Day meal—some fabulous imported macarons and a world class large steak. Just fill in with a veggie and baked potatoes you’ve got a super romantic and easy V-Day dinner.
I am a huge macaron lover so I had to try the House Of Marky’s Macarons Gift Box, which is luxurious quality but quite the bargain for 12 macarons as they usually cost at least $4.00 each in NYC. You get a beautiful red presentation box (that also makes this a great gift that you do not have to wrap for just $34.99. They are so soft and fresh and taste equally great frozen solid or thawed. If you or your loved one adore pistachio desserts, the green macarons will blow you away! I am such a person! You can order on this link: MACARONS IN GIFT BOX.
I am a fussy person when it comes to steak and the one that I ordered from realgourmetfood.com blew me away. It was my first experience with beef from New Zealand and its gorgeous marbling and deep, rich flavor made it one of the great steak lover experiences of my life! This divine piece of beef’s official name on the site if Tomahawk “Cowboy” Steak Angus Beef and right now you can get a 1.2 pound portion that is perfect for two people to share for only $31.99! I don’t have to say that when you order a steak of this quality in a fine NYC restaurant, the prices start at $125! If you cannot barbecue this stunning piece of marbled beef from NZ’s Silver Fern Farm, use a cast iron grill pan. Your mind will be blown! This website loves NYC, so they are offering 10 per cent off with the code LoveNYC10. (This is combinable with other offers that you might find on the web and will last until 2/20/23). Order the steak on this link: TOMAHAWK COWBOY STEAK.
That romantic Valentine’s meal needs some romantic cocktails—and nothing whips up a great drink faster or better than the Bartesian Duet. With this gorgeous, sleekly designed mixed drink maker you can bring the craft cocktail experience to your home—and your drinks will be as good as the ones served at New York’s hottest bars and lounges of the moment. Simply fill the Bartesian Duet cocktail maker with your favorite type of alcohol and water. Refillable spirit reservoirs allow you to craft premium mixologist-crafted cocktails with up to two spirits at a time. Then insert one of your favorite Bartesian capsules—you can choose from more than 50+ cocktail varieties containing all the premium bitters, extracts, juices, and mixers for a perfectly balanced cocktail. With this unbelievably clever device, you can customize the pour strength of your drink from “mocktail” to strong, then simply press the mix button to enjoy a perfectly crafted cocktail . With the Bartesian Duet, there is no need to measure or pour individual ingredients! Order here for $268.99: BARTESIAN DUET.
