Bob and I decided a few years ago that dining out on Valentine's Day was an act of insanity. I have an unhappy memory of being in Detroit on February 14th a couple of years before we were married. I was on expenses, so price wasn't too much of an issue. I tried a number of nice restaurants only to be told that the wait was ridiculously long or that they just plain didn't have tables. I tried a number of cheap but tasty restaurants that I figured would be unpopular on that day. I was wrong. I finally ended up eating some really bad Thai food, and quickly realized why that particular restaurant had plenty of space.
As an alternative, we take turns cooking a nice dinner for each other. We feed the kids something simple and then send them to the basement (it's carpeted and heated and has a big-screen TV, so it's not as cruel as it sounds). Then we prepare a nice meal and eat it by candle light, just the two of us.
This year was my turn. We celebrated on Friday, since Saturday and Sunday were looking ridiculously busy. I made a menu of knock off dishes, including this one. I made ice cream balls using premium vanilla ice cream (Dreyer's double vanilla, to be precise). I rolled the balls in toasted coconut (put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes and stir it whenever it starts to look brown on top) and then refroze it. Then we assembled the dessert with the requisite strawberries, whipped cream and the chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce is a recipe I got from my friend Amy. She gave me a batch of this together with some ice cream a couple of years ago for my birthday, and we've been making it ever since. If you were a fan of the SSS (Sydney Sinful Sundae), this is the closest thing we've found to their sauce. If you never tried the dessert, you'll love this anyway.
Amy's Chocolate Sauce
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Melt chocolate and butter in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in remaining ingredients, except vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.
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