Valentine Dinner Party is Over

I have to say  I enjoyed most of the preparations, but it was a lot of work   DH was a big help today. Without him I would never have gotten everything done on time.

Just look at this mess from this morning:

and it's only for the dessert!  I even did some of the dessert prep last night and I still had all of these dishes this morning.
I used Karo syrup to rim the martini-turned-desert-serving glasses

and then rolled the rim in red and white sugar.

The syrup and sugar hardened and gave a fun sweet crunch to the dessert. We were all eating it off the rim!
Just before everyone arrived, I snapped a few pictures. It's a good thing I did because I never even thought of the camera after that.

Here are some shrimp cocktail filled shells that I made for an appetizer. There are only two left, so I guess they went over well.

I also made these cheesy biscuits topped with garlic butter and chives:

That's about it for food pics. Unfortunately I never thought to take a picture of the main items:

Chicken Stuffed with ham and Muenster cheese

or

Chicken Florentine
Hearts of Romaine & Strawberry Salad

Oven roasted maple-glazed carrots

Hasselback Potatoes

Everyone but DH chose the Chicken Florentine.  I made two choices so I could have lots of leftovers to freeze for a later meal.

At least I did get some pics of  that mixed berry mousse dessert that nearly did me in.

Everyone raved over it. I thought it was good, but I don't think I want to do that much work again just for dessert.

Here is the centerpiece(s) I decided to use.  I had a problem keeping the diamond floating candles lit. 
They only burned a few minutes and then went out. 

My quick napkin ring--just a piece of  knotted wired ribbon with a heart tied to it.

Look how the dessert matches the table. I could not have done better if I planned it that way....Oh, yeah, I did plan it! :)

And here's the full table with the red glasses.



I am now done entertaining for a while. 

I have already striped the table down and everything has been cleaned up and put away.

Next weekend I am just going to take it easy.