I'm sorry, but is it -18 degrees outside? (Oysters Rockefeller-ish)

Umm--yes it is.  But it's also St. Valentine's Day so we can't let that stop us.  I feel sorry for St. Valentine.  His feast day totally usurped by Hallmark for the purposes of profit.  We don't usually acknowledge the day much (crazy to go out to dinner on St. Valentine's Day) but for some reason this year we decided to.  Maybe because we're past 50 and worry that we're not allowed access any more .  So what do two 50-something year old dudes do on a -18 degree Valentine's Day.

A cozy fire to start. Oysters sound like a good idea--half a dozen (no, I did't harvest them myself this time) prepared in a quickie Rockefeller-ish preparation with whatever we had on hand.  Some Billecart Salmon we found rolling around in the back of the ice box to go with.  Steak Diane, a romantic classic (thanks for the idea Mark Bittman), with a side of Brussels spouts with bacon and blue cheese (which we had at Vee-Vee in JP--love Vee-Vee).  It all made for a tasty, cozy, romantic evening.

Oysters Rockefeller-ish

6 oysters, shucked
1 bunch of kale, cleaned, stemmed and blanched.  then chopped on the small side
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minded
Some bacon or smoked sausage (we used some of our home-smoked andouille)
1 tablespoon-ish of Penod
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
some cream

set up the oysters on the half shell.  fry the bacon or sausage.  add and saute the shallot and garlic in the fat.  if there's not enough, add a little butter.  you know, enough.  add the kale.  saute.  add the Pernod, parsley and about 1/4 cup of cream.  cook a little.  Spoon the kale mixture into the oysters and broil until the oysters are just cooked through.  Not too much!  a little Aleppo pepper on top is nice.  Very tasty.

We also test-drove the Jalapeno-Mezcal Margaritas we had at the Mulberry Project in Tulum with the Mezcal we carted back.  The honey-jalapeno syrup was a snap and the margaritas were G-R-E-A-T.  See below post for the recipe.  And we also stumbled the most recent Walking Dead.  Does Glenn have 9 lives, or what?!  And Carl shot again--go figure.  That boy just seems to stumble into the path of all oncoming bullets.