Red Dinner
Valentine’s Day is a big deal in our family because February 14th happens to be my husband, Del’s, birthday. Finding a way to celebrate him and Valentine’s Day while including friends and family was always a challenge. Then, one year, when our kids were young, a good friend of ours decided to host a red dinner in honour of both Del’s birthday and Valentine’s Day—and it was wildly fun!
We have carried on the tradition, hosting a night that celebrates love, food, friends, family and, yes, the colour red. We send all our guests a fun invitation with simple instructions: wear red, bring something to contribute to the dinner that is red and be ready to have some fun. The table theme is red, the food is red, and, of course, the wine is red. We also make a non-alcoholic red cranberry punch.
The menu is so much fun to plan. The starter can be a homemade salsa, a tomato bruschetta or sun-dried tomato tapenade. Red peppers, berries and tomatoes make great salad mixings, and even the salad dressing must be red! We often have a tomato-based dish, from a traditional spaghetti to a bolognese with Galloping Goose Italian sausage, to pasta and meatballs and fresh tomatoes. Dessert can be red velvet cupcakes, strawberry shortcake, raspberry sorbet or whatever you are inspired to create with the colour red as the star of the show.
I have so much fun setting the table. I put on some Cole Porter or Diana Krall, pour myself a glass of red wine and have fun tablescaping with many shades of red. I pull out our red Christmas tablecloth and napkins, our vintage red Luminarc glasses (which my mom painstakingly collected for me over the years) and our Fiesta red plates. I put roses in red vintage vases, and sprinkle heart candies or chocolates around the plates.
I also fill the house with touches of red—candles, pillows, flowers and throws. I keep my eyes out all year for fun red items to add to our red dinner tickle trunk. Some of my favourite finds are my ruby-red vintage bowl that I fill with chocolates, a red heart pillow and a heart-shaped plate that I fill with those “conversation heart candies” that taste like chalk but make you smile when you read their cutesy message.
Once we sit down, we take a moment to go around the table and say one thing we love about Del, since it is his birthday. Del is always beaming and admittedly, he may even blush as he receives all the love from friends and family (which is okay, because after all, it’s a red dinner). Then we love to play a fun game after dinner. Valentine’s themed charades is a fun one. If our daughter is home she will sing a few “love songs” as we sip on our red raspberry tea in front of the fire.
The secret to the red dinner’s success is to infuse your own creativity and have fun with it. Many people feel a bit lonely or sad on this day that has been mocked as a Hallmark holiday, but our red dinner has become a welcomed tradition that celebrates relationship and laughter, and a place where we welcome old friends and new to gather around the table to connect and focus on what really matters—love.
