Garlic Roasted Asparagus, Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day...did it sneak up on anyone besides me?  I will be making our usual candlelight breakfast (see my last post for THAT story)--this year, we are having heart shaped chocolate chip muffins, bacon and fresh fruit--the table is set and ready, there are cards for Mark and the kids made with love by me, and  heart shaped boxes of chocolate made by Whitmans and Russell Stover. I will get up a few minutes early so that breakfast will be ready when I wake Mark and the kids for work and school.  For dinner, we will dine by candlelight again, and the menu will be pork loin roasted with a raspberry chipotle glaze,  baked sweet potatoes and garlic roasted asparagus.  This is an easy menu, which works great for me on a crazy Monday.  Tomorrow I will be working a middle school book fair, picking my daughter up early from school to visit the special needs campus where she volunteers to deliver a Valentine gift and cards, picking up lunch for us both, dropping her back at school, meeting a plumber at my house to unclog a drain, driving car pool after school, then taking and picking my daughter up from dance class.  It is not a day for a complicated menu!  So, what are you doing to make the day special for the people you love?  I would love to hear all about it...

Recipe:  Garlic Roasted Asparagus  Preheat oven to 350.   Wash and pat dry 1 bunch of fresh asparagus.  Bend a stalk of asparagus gently and allow it to "snap" into two pieces.  You can then use this piece to as a guide for cutting the other pieces in bunches, but I prefer to snap each one indiviudally.  It doesn't make any difference to the taste, I just like snapping the pieces.  It's addictive, kind of like bubble wrap...snap, snap, SNAP!  Discard the ends.  Spread out the tips on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and minced garlic.  Toss gently, and spread out again in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Bake until asparagus turns bright green (about 5-10 minutes, depending on size of asparagus spears).

Happy Valentine's Day!