Chic vs. Geek: Bringing Love Home!

Do you have any fun ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day with your special someone during the pandemic?

CHIC (PEARL)

With so many small businesses struggling during the COVID shutdown, I recommend ordering a nice dinner from your favorite restaurant. No need to prepare, cook, or clean-up means more time for exchanging love notes with your shelter-in-place pod partner. And you’ll have the satisfaction of supporting the local economy!

If you’re looking for recommendations, here are a few of our favorite spots:

Chez TJ (Mountain View)

10 Butchers Korean BBQ (Sunnyvale)

The Table (Willow Glen - San José)

Restaurant Gish (Santa Clara)

LV Mar (Redwood City)

Want more ideas for SIP date night?

One of my favorite websites The Spruce has some ideas.

GEEK (KEVIN)

Since Pearl’s ordering dinner, I’ll share my recipe for the ultimate frosted sugar cookies:

Cookie ingredients: 2 cups sugar; 1 cup sour cream; 1 cup butter (softened); 4 eggs; 1 tsp almond extract (or vanilla extract); 6 cups flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 3 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp salt | Frosting ingredients: 1 cup butter (softened); 4 cups powdered sugar; ¼ tsp salt; 1 tsp almond extract; ¼ cup milk

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat sugar, sour cream, butter & eggs for 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Mixture will still be sticky. Cover and chill for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle flour on your work surface and roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick. (Note: The less flour, the softer the cookies.) Bake for 8-10 min. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting by creaming your butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and beat on high until frosting is fluffy.