Hello hello, welcome to another jam-packed blog post that has been created in collaboration with the Ottawa Valley Tourist Association. Recently, I polled my audience on Instagram to see if people celebrated Valentine’s Day and if they did, who did they celebrate with (spouse/kids/friends). Close to 60% of respondents stated that they do celebrate, with the vast majority celebrating with their spouse/partner.
This year, I am taking the approach of “let’s celebrate everything.” Life is way too darn short to not celebrate the small stuff. This includes celebrating Valentine’s Day this year! While I understand it is a completely manufactured holiday, I’m going to seize the moment to celebrate love!
Here are a few ideas of ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year in the Ottawa Valley.
Valentine’s Day Menus
The Kitchen at White Lake is offering a curated Valentine’s Day meal that is available for pick-up on Saturday, February 12 or Sunday, February 13. The meal is four courses plus an amuse-bouche. The meal consists of creamy sweet potato & fennel soup; roasted beet and arugula salad with maple toasted walnuts, goat cheese and lemon basil vinaigrette; stuffed French onion chicken with mushroom leek risotto and vegetables; and chocolate tiramisu for dessert. Dinner for two is $78.00 plus tax. This meal is only available through pre-ordering by sending an email to chef@kitchenatwhitelake.ca
Little Things Canning Company has a Valentine’s Day menu and Valentine’s Day charcuterie. The charcuterie grazing box includes a variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies, pickles, olives, dips, crackers, nuts and chocolate. The small grazing box is $50.00 and the large grazing box is $90.00. The full meal menu is three courses and includes either Italian antipasto salad or pickled beet, goat cheese & pecan salad; either chicken cordon bleu with rice and vegetables or lemon basil shrimp fettuccine or gnocchi with mushroom and sage cream sauce; and either strawberry rhubarb white chocolate cheesecake or caramel apple crisp. This dinner is available through pre-order and is $45.00 per person.
Deep River Dine Around is a unique event taking place in Deep River on February 12. There are three restaurants that are taking place in the dine around: Maven’s Catering; Santa Fe Bar & Grill; and Long Shot’s Sports Cafe. You get one course at each restaurant and you travel to each restaurant like you would a pub crawl (goodness, remember those?!? It feels like it has been years). Pre-registration is required by February 8th and if you are dining in you are required to show your vaccination QR code. The cost of this event for one person is $50.00 and $90.00 for two people. Seating time can be reserved through the link here. I absolutely love it when businesses join together for an event like this one!
Treat Boxes
Hyska’s Your Independent Grocer has a scrumptious Valentine’s Day Treat box available for pre-order by calling 613-687-5000 and asking for the bakery. Each box includes a heart sugar cookie made by Sweetened by Shelly; a cinnamon-sugar candle made by Irish Daisy Candle Co; a fudge brownie; a cream horn; TWO cannolis; a cupcake; a mousse; a cheesecake; and chocolate covered pretzels. This box of heaven is $25.00 and is available for pre-order until February 5. Pick-up will be between February 10th and 14th.
7th Heaven Sweets is relatively new to downtown Pembroke. They have put together a most scrumptious box in honour of Valentine’s Day. Each box contains two mini cupcakes, two mini cookies; two macarons; two brownies; two truffles from 2 Tarts and a Truffle; and two chocolate-dipped strawberries from 2 Tarts and a Truffle. These boxes are $18.00 plus tax and can be picked up either February 12th or February 14th. I actually ordered one of these boxes and cannot wait to dig in!
Adventure Ideas
Frosty picnic – While I completely understand that it is still indeed winter, that does not mean that we are unable to make the most of the day. One of the ways that you can make the most of the day, either with your partner; kids; or by yourself, is by getting outside. A way to make outside even more exciting is by combining it with food. Here is where the frosty picnic idea comes into play. Ordering take-out and eating it at your favourite park. Example: ordering food through Valley Eats and having it delivered to Pembroke’s Waterfront Park. You can eat your food while taking in the frozen Ottawa River, which in and of itself is pretty magical.
Snowshoe scavenger hunt – I will always be a fan of active dates. I love being able to connect with my husband while we are outside, free from technology. Something about being active outside always puts me in a good mood, so it is always nice to share that with my husband. To kick it up another level, I have come up with an idea to make it more of a cooperative adventure. I present a snowshoe scavenger hunt.
For this adventure, you need to go to your favourite snowshoe trail (some examples of snowshoe trails are the snowshoe trail at the Alice & Fraser Recreation Centre; the Old Growth Trail at Shaw Woods Outdoor Education Centre; or the Cheaters Trail in Algonquin Park) and see how many animal tracks you can identify. Some examples include wild canine (coyote, wolf, fox); deer; rabbit; partridge/grouse and mouse. There is something about actively looking for animal tracks that forces you to slow down and really take in your surroundings. For this activity it is not about how far you snowshoe or how long you are outside for, it is about slowing down and really connecting with your partner and nature. If you do go for a snowshoe scavenger hunt, be sure to tag @timeinthevalley and @ottawavalleytravel on Instagram. We would love to see your adventure photos.
Tap & Cork Route
Tap & Cork Route adventure – Have you heard of the Tap and Cork Route? It is a self-guided route that has a large variety of breweries, wineries, cideries and distilleries on both sides of the Ottawa River. Of course, it goes without saying that this route is meant for those people who are of legal drinking age. Why not make a day and check out a few of the stops along the route? There are so many unique spots along the route like Two Hawks Brewing Company and Little Red Wagon Winery, to name just a few. I would be remiss if I didn’t also add in to please drink responsibly.
If I were doing this option to celebrate Valentine’s day, I would check out a few of the stops on the route and pick up some goodies to enjoy at home. Get a couple of different items and set up our own little tasting room in the comfort of our own home. I would put on one of those fireplace channels and maybe play a board game or two. Side note, if you are on the hunt for a new board game, there is an awesome store in Petawawa called Looking Glass Toys & Games.
Home Activities
Favourite Things (formerly Local.) in Pembroke always has some pretty unique take-home kits. For Valentine’s Day, they have curated two different Valentine’s Day-themed packages. The first one is for adults. This package includes two stemless glasses; a J.P. Waxington candle; a sign to paint (all things needed to paint included); cookies from Pretty Little Treats; and a mystery surprise from For Your Eyes Only. This package is $115.00 plus tax and is available to be picked up on February 10th.
The second Valentine’s Day package is for the kids. This package includes a cookie; a Valentine I spy game; a word search; chocolate treats; and a heart frame that can be decorated in however their little heart’s desire. This package is $20.00 plus tax and is available for pre-order with pick-up on February 10th.
A Side Note
Lastly, I wanted to give a little shout-out to my fellow military spouses who are not able to be with their partners during Valentine’s Day this year. Please know that I see you and I hope you are still able to make the most of the day of love whether it be getting outside for a snowshoe adventure or doing something else that fills your cup.
With that, I hope you are able to find some inspiration in this blog post so that you can have a most wonderful Valentine’s Day.