Valentine’s Day is for fancy dinners, heart-shaped boxes packed with subpar chocolates, and fantasizing about the magical places you and your beau would have escaped to— if only you had the PTO. So, grab a glass of bottom-shelf cab sauv, cuddle up next to your special someone, and try tomake them feel bad for taking you to Chili’s instead of whisking you away to one of these picturesque fantasy lands. The Best Valentine’s Getaways to Fantasize About
UDAIPUR, INDIA These days, meandering through the cobblestone streets of Paris with your loved one is très passé. All the real high-rolling romantics are migrating southeast to the famous Oberoi Udaivilas hotel in western India. Set in a traditional Mewari palace, visitors will feel like royalty as they stroll around the labyrinthine gardens that surround the elaborate cream-colored structure. Travelers can relax beside one of the many glassy pools sprinkled throughout the estate, all of which are enthusiastically tended by an unparalleled service staff. POSITANO, ITALY More than perhaps anywhere in the world, this place looks like it was lifted straight from a sappy romance novelist’s imagination. You and your partner can kick back on a balcony overlooking the entirety of this seaside town, taking in the century-oldmulticolored Italian architecture perched precariously on the verdant mountainside. Too small to accommodate swarms of tourists, it’s the perfect place to while away the hours ambling from shop to shop, sampling the delicious local cuisine, andmaybe taking a dip along the 300-meter beach. THE MALDIVES From a water villa smack dab in the midst of the glassy, ultra-blue Indian Ocean, you and your main squeeze can enjoy utter seclusion. Sip champagne in the shade of a palmoverlooking an otherworldly sunset or get a little more adventurous, strap on a mask, and check out the abundant aquatic wildlife. Many hotels in the area even include access to an array of boats, perfect for your own private excursion along the mild waves. Of course, you could also always just stare, dumbfounded, into the horizon, wondering how such a place could actually exist on Earth.
Take a Break!
Hong Kong
EGG TARTS
Celebrate Chinese NewYear in stylewith these egg tarts! Originally a Portuguese delicacy, thesemarketplace treats were influenced by British custard tarts and eventually became a Hong Kong staple.
Ingredients
1 cup confectioners’ sugar 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup butter 10 eggs, beaten
vanilla extract 2/3 cup white sugar 1 1/2 cups water 1 cup evaporated milk
Directions
bring to a boil. Simmer until sugar is dissolved, then let cool. Strain remaining 9 eggs through a sieve, then whisk in sugar mixture. Stir
1. In a medium bowl, mix
confectioners’ sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until crumbly. Stir in 1 beaten egg and a dash of vanilla until doughy. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and press into tart molds. Use 2 fingers to fold down edges of dough.
in evaporated milk and a dash of vanilla. Strain the mixture again and fill tart shells. 3. Bake 15–20 minutes, until golden brown.
2. Heat oven to 450 F. In a
medium saucepan, combine white sugar and water;
Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com.com
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