This Valentine’s Day, skip the hard-to-get restaurant reservations and overpriced fixed menus and create a candlelit dinner for two in the warmth and intimacy of your own home. There’s nothing more romantic than carving out quality time with the one you love.

I’ve created an easy, seductive, yet oh-so-satisfying experience for the senses—in fact it’s the very menu I’m going to surprise my fiancé with—so don’t tell. Most of the dishes can be made in advance so you have more time to cuddle with your significant other. Feel free to mix and match courses and make substitutions to tailor to your tastes. But of course, be sure to leave room for a sexy and decadent dessert.

Drink: Festive champagne cocktail

A toast to your love calls for a special champagne cocktail that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Appetizer: Oven Baked Oysters

Why not kick off the evening with a dish that will warrant a breathless “Ooh la la”? By blending classic French flavors with nature’s aphrodisiac, these hot, creamy, oven baked oysters will please the eyes with their elegant presentation and the delight nose with a luscious aroma—before seducing the palette.

First Course: Pumpkin Bisque Soup With Spicy Shrimp

Add a little kick of spice to heat up the evening with a classic winter soup. The silky consistency provides a sexy and surprising contrast the tasty bites of shrimp.

Main Course: Aromatic Salmon

For the main course, offer your lover a pretty and fragrant “gift” of salmon in parchment. You can prep the dish a few hours before cooking and pop it in the oven as you serve the soup. Although effortless to make, the interactive reveal is an impressive surprise.

Side Dish: Oven roasted baby potatoes and carrots

This earthy dish features a wonderful “marriage” of vegetables roasted together. A refined take on classic comfort food, it’s sure to warm your hearts. The addition of dill compliments the salmon perfectly. It can also be made in advance and re-heated with ease.

Dessert: Chocolate dipped strawberries

For a sweet and sensuous ending, indulge in an elegant yet simple dessert that can be made up to a couple of days in advance. Best of all, you and your beloved can have the pleasure of feeding one another as a flirty finale to your Valentine’s meal.

To read more pieces like this and get exclusive content, download your free issue of LOVE& Magazine HERE