Two days ago, Mrs. L and I celebrated Valentine's Day by my holding a 1-person Iron Chef at Casa Gray, with a pesto and seafood theme.  Yep, that's pretty much all I had to do.  Some people have to go to extremes to satisfy their wife, but meanwhile all I have to do is whip up a variety of culinary masterpieces.  How do I get away with this while other poor schmoes have to give the world to their significant others?  The answer, my friends?  Setting low standards.  Sad as this sounds, in the entire time Mrs. L and I have known each other, I had cooked exactly *once* before; when we first started dating.  Therefore, my cooking on the 14th was positively herculean in comparison to every other day for the last several years.  Heck, I think vaccuuming the rug would have come across as herculean.  I am truly blessed to have such a great wife.

Anyway, you didn't come here to hear me gloat - you get that with every other post I write!  Instead, I am here to give *you* the recipes I used on Wednesday, *guaranteed* to melt the pants off of your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, or husband.   Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any injuries you receive from getting action *ALL THE TIME* using recipes like this.

Appetizer: Proscuitto Wrapped Scallops With Lemon Pesto Mayonnaise

12 large scallops, each cut in half
12 paper-thin slices proscuitto, cut in half
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup pesto
1/4 of a lemon, squeezed
pepper + cracked chiles to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 deg. F.  
2. Wrap each scallop with a half piece of proscuitto.  
3. Place on non-stick baking sheet.  
4. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.  
5. Combine pesto, lemon, mayo, pepper and chiles for dipping sauce.  
6. Take sauce and wrapped scallops, throw in a blender and add 1 scoop of PVL Whey Elite Gold Vanilla Protein!!  Blend until smooth!!!

Dinner: Pesto capellini with sauteed giant prawns and scallops

Capellini - a bunch
1 cup pesto
As many large scallops as you think can fit into a pan
1 bag of giant prawns
1 tomato
Liberal amounts of olive oil

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
2. Saute prawns and scallops with oil while pasta is cooking.
3. Drain the pasta once it reaches tenderness, and then mix in the sauce/seafood.
4. Remove from heat and mix in 1 scoop of PVL Whey Elite Gold Vanilla Protein!
5. Pour melted chocolate over the mixture.
6. Freeze!
7. Now you have great-tasting pesto pasta protein bars!!

Take that Geek Tukka!  Donald isn't the only person in EDMUG who needs his own Food Network TV show!