Brenda Athanus

To be honest, I haven't been feeling very inspired in the kitchen lately. I've been busy with lots of things including travel, and when I'm home I've been trying to eat the food in the freezer since it is on the verge of overflowing. But yesterday I was at the store and I found local king salmon on sale and some beautiful white corn. I thought about the mango I had and just like that, a plan came together. Sometimes ingredients speak to you and the lightbulb goes off.

Lee's biggest complaint regarding my cooking is that I "never repeat", meaning I never make the same thing twice. Which isn't true of course, but I know what he means. I'm always looking to improve upon recipes and try something new. So for Valentine's Day I let him choose the menu, something new or a repeat of an old favorite. For celebratory meals it seems eating in is at least as romantic as eating out, maybe more.

The perfect lobster roll ? served with homemade bread and butter pickles. ? Picture by Brenda Athanus/Zester DailyNEW YORK, Oct 12 ? Years before the current popularity of lobster rolls my friend, Joel, a food-obsessed antique dealer, proposed we make a personal study of lobster rolls along the coast of Maine.