I made Risotto (my family lived to tell)

How could Perla have been sitting on my shelf all this time and I didn't know about making Risotto?

The thing is I am sure that some of my vegetarian cookbooks had risotto recipes but I was that sure that I did not like white rice. Risotto is NOTHING like the rice that comes with Chinese takeout. Loaded with cream, butter and cheese, so it isn't a happy artery dish. But what it does for the mouth, my oh my.

I wouldn't have made it tonight except that I needed something to go on the platter beside Perla's Chicken with Broccoli. Risotto seasoned with lemon juice was recommended. What a pretty platter that made! Chicken and broccoli on a bed of creamy goodness. And then there was dessert.

A sweet little chocolate thing called, Demel's Chocolate Torte. It was almost the same as the Chocolate Almond Pave except that there were three times as many eggs and it was actually baked. Not really as wonderful as the Pave, but the Pave was so over the top incredible that I can safely say that the Torte is highly recommended. I still think that I'll choose the Pave with strawberries for Valentine's Day.

You do know that there are only 32 days and 2 hours 12 minutes until Valentine's Day. But, who's counting?