Valentine's Evening For — Three

You don't have to spend a lot of money at a fancy restaurant to have a relaxing, romantic evening. You don't even have to be alone.

The Early Show's resident event planner for the stars, Colin Cowie, suggests enjoying yourselves with a couple of other couples and some sumptuous foods right at home.

Cowie says a potluck dinner is a nice way to go, with you providing the main course and your guests bringing the rest.

There would be plenty of time for romance later, after your guests leave.

His menu is full of sexy foods — all red — that don't require a lot of ingredients or time to prepare, so it can easily be put together by Tuesday night.

The foods are all light: nothing too heavy to weigh you down and make you lose the mood.

Ask your guests to wear red. Ask someone to bring a fun game, such as "Spin the Bottle," which is campy. Have someone bring a great CD with love songs.

The menu starts off with a roasted tomato soup. You could have a heart-shaped crouton with goat cheese on it at the bottom of the bowl, and then you pour the soup over it. There could also be "beggars' purses" stuffed with a variety of things, since they're so versatile. You might also have caviar, some with smoked salmon and some with mushrooms.

For the main course, Collin suggests buccatini with shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce. He says that's a sexy pasta, because you suck it down.

And for dessert, try individual strawberry cheesecakes in the shape of hearts.

To drink, Cowie makes pomegranate cosmopolitans, which match the color scheme and also taste absolutely delicious.

And to really create ambiance, you can change the bulbs in your kitchen, or other parts of the house, to red ones, which has a dramatic effect.

Cowie says the great aspects of this Valentine's Day approach are that you're with friends; you can buy the ingredients and prepare a lot of this meal beforehand, so you won't be slaving away "the day of" to do it; and the menu is delicious and sensuous, but light enough that you can still have energy for alone time later.RECIPES

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan
(from Bon Appetite, February 2006)

2/3 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup vodka
1/4 cup Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Ice cubes
4 lime twists

Place first 4 ingredients in cocktail shaker. Add ice; shake to chill. Strain into Martini glasses; garnish with lime twists.

Beggar's Purses with Caviar
(you can also fill it with things other than caviar)

Sixteen 6-7-inch savory or herb crepes (see separate recipe)
1 cup light sour cream or plain yogurt
1/3 cup golden, black, or red caviar
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
16 chives, about 6 inches long, or green onion tops

Prepare the crepes. Cover them with aluminum foil and keep them warm in a 200-degree oven, or cover and reheat them in a baking pan in a pre-heated 325-degree oven for 5-10 minutes or until heated through.

Working quickly, assemble the purses by spooning a tablespoon of sour cream or yogurt and a teaspoonful of caviar onto the center of each crepe; sprinkle with minced chives. Gather each crepe into a bundle the shape of a drawstring purse and tie with a chive or onion top. Serve immediately. Makes 16 appetizers.

Savory Crepes

2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour, preferable bleached
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus 2-3 tablespoons butter for coating the pan

In a blender or food processor, blend the eggs, milk, water, flour, salt, and the 2 tablespoons of melted butter for 5 seconds, or until smooth. Stir down and repeat if necessary. Or, to mix by hand, sift the flour into a medium bowl and add the salt. Whisk the eggs until blended, mix in the milk and water, and whisk this mixture into the flour and salt; stir in the 2 tablespoons melted butter. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (though 2 hours is preferred) or up to 24 hours.

Gently stir the batter if it has separated. Heat a seasoned 6- or 7-inch non-stick crepe pan over medium high heat until hot. Coat the pan lightly with butter, lift the pan from the heat, and pour in 2 or 3 tablespoons of batter, tilting and rotating the pan to coat the surface. Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges, about 1 minute. Loosen the edges with a metal spatula and flip the crepe over using your fingers or the spatula, then cook the other side for about 15 seconds, or until lightly browned. Turn the crepe out onto a clean tea towel to cool. Repeat with the remaining batter, wiping the pan with butter as needed and stacking the crepes as they are cooked.

For serving immediately, cover the crepes with the aluminum foil and keep them warm in a pre-heated 200-degree oven. For serving later, wrap them in plastic wrap in quantities intended for each use and slip them in a self-sealing plastic bag. Refrigerate crepes for up to 3 days, or freeze them up to 2 months.

Makes 16-18 crepes (6-7 inch)

For herb crepes: Add 1/4 cup minced fresh chives, basil or flat leaf parsley to the batter while blending it. Or for pale green mixed herb crepes, use 1/2 cup mixed minced fresh chives, green onion tops, flat leaf parsley, tarragon, marjoram and basil.

Sautéed Shrimp with Spicy Tomato Sauce Over Buccatini Pasta

Colin's Spicy Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoon shredded fresh basil leaves

Sauté onions in olive oil until lightly browned, add garlic, red pepper flakes and white wine. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on high for approximately 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.