Date Night Log: Another Confession

Date Night went on a brief hiatus for two weeks (April 19 and April 26) because of traveling and Muffin’s birthday.  It makes me wonder how date night will work out when we travel up north this summer.  I think we will end up prorating date nights a bit.  It’s easier in the summer because Josh never has to get up as early as I do, and I won’t be teaching this summer.

We did have a date on April 12, however.  We watched the second Percy Jackson movie with popcorn…which was a case of datus interruptus because Muffin kept coming in (usually at the scarier parts).  He was still awake in his room (after much bribery…err…convincing) at the end of the movie.  The movie was good, but again I want to reiterate how important it is to choose a movie you’ve seen before for date night.  Instead of snuggling on the couch, we spent much of the movie (when we weren’t cajoling Muffin to go back to his room) trying to remember the first movie and wondering (aloud) what was going to happen next.

Last night, we definitely played it safe on the movie front.  We sat down with some of the candy purchased on sale at Albertson’s (peanut M&M’s and SweetTarts) and one we’ve seen a lot…Pink Panther 2 (with Steve Martin…Ahmburrrguer).  For once, I didn’t fall asleep…but Josh did.  This may have something to do with the fact that I did take a nap yesterday, and Josh didn’t.

I think we should start taking pictures of date night, so that we have a visual memory of date night (and I have a graphic other than the Date Night Log one above).  My only worry is that it will be a series of casual selfies of us on the couch.

No…we aren’t in a rut…really.  I’m planning something special for the May 24th date.  (As in…I will be out of school by that time and have a day to devote to planning).

How have your date nights been going?

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Date Night Log: Possibly the Most Prosaic Date to Date

Erm.  We seem to be on a roll lately although I should have seen this coming.  When reviewing some of the Good Eats episodes recently, I may have caused Josh to select the main entertainment for last night’s date.

There are several (obvious and casual) references to Monty Python in Good Eats episodes.

I think it may have been my fault, as well, because I suggested that we do dishes by hand as part of a couple bonding experience (since the dishwasher tablets don’t seem to want to dissolve and therefore several rounds of dishes have come out on the other end of the dishwasher experience unclean).

So, we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Well, sort of.  After washing the dishes and shopping most of the day and Muffin not taking a nap and a long week at work preparing for testing, I fell asleep before the movie was halfway over.  Which means that I may have made it farther in the movie than I ever have before.

I’m actually going to have to bug off because I think we are going to re-watch the parts that I still haven’t seen.

Yay to medieval-ness!  Even parodies of medieval-ness!

Happy dating, everyone!

Date Night Log: Josh’s Long-Anticipated Medieval-like Feast and a Robin Hood Double Play

Date Night Log:  Saturday, March 30, 2014

Medieval (like) Feast and Robin Hood (and Robin Hood)

This, if you will remember, was the date night that Josh requested way back in January.  The one that he requested when we first sat down to discuss an actual weekly at-home date night.

The plan was to watch a medieval movie (or two), such as Robin Hood, and feast the evening away beforehand.

After much research (some of which doubled for research for my students for world history), I decided on a menu:

Opening and closing course:  cheddar cheese slices (Cheese was provided at medieval feasts as both the first course and the last course as a digestive aid.)

Potage:  A brothy, vegetable and barley soup.  I cheated and bought a can of Campbell’s beef with vegetable soup (Do you know how difficult it is to find a straight up veg soup in a can without pasta or rice?).  It was okay.

Roasted Fowl:  I waxed poetic about them here.

Poached Pears:  Again, see here for the recipe.

Beverages:  apple juice (Muffin), beer (Josh), and a shiraz wine spritzer (me)

As an historian, I know we received definite minuses for serving with plastic spoons, serving the poached pears with ice cream, and who knows what else (the spritzer).  I did offer a finger bowl for each of us to dip our fingers in (much needed after the chicken) scented with bergamot oil (I couldn’t find my rosewater).

During dinner, we watched the Disney cartoon of Robin Hood for Muffin’s benefit.  He had a lot of difficulty understanding that a prince could be bad (Prince John) or that a sheriff could be bad as well (the Sheriff of Nottingham).  Trying to explain medieval mores and politics to a Muffin is not an easy task.

The feast seemed to go over fairly well.

After supper, we began the arduous process of attempting to watch the version of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe.  I paid Josh back in spades for this movie; let’s just say that Richard does not meet his just desserts in the movie the same way he did in real life…historically. And I might have mentioned that a few dozen times during the movie.  It didn’t help that Muffin kept interrupting the movie.  That version of Robin Hood is definitely not Muffin-friendly.  I did like the portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine, though.  She’s probably my hero of the medieval era.

I think Josh wants to do medieval night again.  I think we should watch The Princess Bride for it.  Or Lion in Winter.  I think Josh would prefer Lion in Winter to The Princess Bride.

How did date night go for you this week?

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The Recipes for Date Night (Roasted Fowl and Poached Pears): The Spring Cleaning New Recipe Challenge

I am going to do another date night post, but I figured I would include the recipes that I cooked as part of a separate challenge post.  Both recipes I had my doubts about, but turned out superstar! fabulous (think the Molly Shannon skit and movie–I feel like doing that superstar! move after eating both).

I will explain the rationale behind each tomorrow in my date night post, but here is the lusciousness (as it seems date night is in two parts):

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Roasted Fowl

Adapted from Wired.com’s Geek Mom

6 chicken legs (but this recipe would rock the clock of any chicken parts–yes!  it’s that good)

olive oil

fresh rosemary leaves/needles, minced

basil, dried

oregano, dried

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

(I am not listing amounts for the seasonings because I put a random–nearly equal–amount of each in a bowl and sprinkled and rubbed my heart out)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Give the chicken legs a shower in the sink and path them dry with paper towels.  You want them as dry as possible at this point.  Think kale leaf dry.  On second thought, forget the kale chip disaster all together.

Rub the chicken legs with a light coating of olive oil and sprinkle with the seasoning mixture (I did roughly a teaspoon of each).  You want them to be really seasoned.

Line your half-sheet pan with foil.  Spray it with non-stick cooking spray.  For an aromatic touch of whimsy, I placed a spring of rosemary in the center of the pan.  Place the drumsticks in the pan.  Bake for 45-55 minutes (or longer), turning halfway through so that more sides become golden brown and delicious.  The chicken is done logistically when the juices run clear.  Remember that dark meat is cheaper and more forgiving heat-wise than chicken breasts that tend to dry out fairly quickly.

Serve warm or cold.

Verdict:  This chicken was loved by all.  I would love to try it with thighs (my favorite selection of chicken) next time.  Date night spoiler:  this tasted VASTLY BETTER than the chicken I had that time at Medieval Times (although Josh insists we need to take Muffin).

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Zert!

Red Wine Poached Pears

Adapted from:  About.com

5 peeled, cored, and sliced pears (I used Anjou), fairly ripe (but not necessarily to the point of eating out of hand)

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used an Australian Shiraz that I purchased on clearance at Albertson’s for $2.99–a $10 wine!  Yay!)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

zest of one lemon (small)

2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used two small Sunkist lemons)

2 teaspoons vanilla (although I wonder what a vanilla bean would have done to this)

2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground

Combine all ingredients, except pears, and bring to a boil.  Once the wine mixture is boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and add the pears (two pears at a time).  Simmer until they turn a shade of red that makes you happy (10-12 minutes before turning them and cooking for an additional 8010 minutes).  Remove pears and let them cool.  Boil the wine sauce until the liquid is reduced by half.  Avoid the overwhelming dictate by your taste buds to down the entire contents of the wine sauce.  Take a taste (to make sure it’s yummy).  Take another taste.  Ignore the voices telling you to down it all.  Pour sauce over pears and serve over ice cream.  Make sure that you spoon extra sauce on the ice cream and pears because that’s the best part.

Verdict:  I want to bathe in the sauce.  Seriously.  Or make sorbet from it.  Its siren’s song is calling me now.  Josh liked it over ice cream, but he felt that the taste of the poaching liquid was too strong by itself.  Whereas I could guzzle the sauce all down.  It might be good as a soda.  Or as a topping for the Frenchy Toasty Bread Pudding in a Mug.  Or by itself.  Really it’s worthy of anything.  I think it could do wonderful things to ham, in fact.  Did I mention that I ❤ the sauce?  It makes me happy.

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So, date night spawned two great, repeatable dishes (even in different contexts).  I consider that a success!

Date Night Log: Chill Date Night in Prep for Next Week’s Big Date Night

Date Night Log:  The Proposal plus movie snacks

Saturday, March 22, 2014

I’m starting to feel as if date night is getting a bit repetitive.  Trying not to feel that way, but just sayin’.  We’ve done movie nights very frequently (Of course, we also have a lot of movies to watch that we haven’t watched yet…that are in our library…or on Netflix…or on Amazon Prime).

For this movie night, we dug out (or rather pulled down) the air popper, popped some popcorn (well, Josh did), laced it with butter (again, Josh), sprinkled with salt (Josh), and cracked on some pepper (me!).  Trust me, the pepper made all the difference.  I’ve eaten popcorn laced with  Tony’s before (lots of popcorn laced with Tony’s before), but this took things to a gourmet level.  We also served some of the Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars and Coke.

Now, I can see the allure of going out to movies (especially with what I’m about to tell you), but what self-respecting theater is going to let you show up in your jammies (Josh had worked all day, was on call, and so we did a dressing down), cuddle on the couch with your favorite blue fuzzy blanket, and serve Salt and Pepper Popcorn (with real butter), peanut butter bars, and pop with a bottle to place at your feet for refills?  Uh, none.

Let it be noted that we had an invader who stole food during our date.  A little red-haired one who answers to Muffin.  Who stole one of Josh’s peanut butter bars before being persuaded to go back to sleep and keep Daisy company.  I guess that will be one advantage to a movie theater.

I chose The Proposal while Josh was digging the air popper from obscurity (actually above the cabinets…a location I can’t reach even with a chair to stand on).  For us, The Proposal is very timely.  Any couple that has ever had to struggle with the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) during the course of their relationship needs to see this movie.  Preferably 3-5 years after said struggle when it’s fresh enough in your memory to make it poignant and relevant but not so soon in your memory that you still become angry and want to throw things at the screen.  I’ve been there, done that.  Sent a box of files to their offices two-inches thick for the fiance visa.  Check.  Paid through the nose for the privilege of having our relationship scrutinized.  Josh and me check.  After two-and-a-half years of marriage had to prove (and re-prove) that Josh and I are gainfully married.  Check.  Note:  this came during the time I was pregnant with Muffin and just after (before the birth certificate arrived).  And an apartment where you co-habitate, by the way, is not proof.  A car in both of your names is not proof.  (In case you ever find yourself in that position).  However, a snarkily worded letter explaining that yes, I just had a child with the applicant, and no, you can not see the birth certificate because even though my son may soon cut his first tooth (slight exaggeration here), I am not privy to his birth certificate is, I guess, proof.  I have the hospital birth record that I am sending to you as well as a note from my doctor detailing that yes, this is my husband’s child (the shock of red hair on my son’s head at birth should tell anyone that), and that my husband attended EVERY doctor’s appointment during the pregnancy.  I went on to say in the snarky letter that if they could get the office in Louisiana to issue the birth certificate faster, that would surely be a weight off my mind, but that since I was waiting for the state bureaucracy to work so that I could send it to them in order to help the federal bureaucracy work, then they could see a copy of my son’s birth certificate.

Whenever I think of this, I wonder:  what about those parents (one of which is a Legal Permanent Resident, a green card holder to the uninitiated) who are 1) unable to bear their own children or 2) (shocker of shockers) of the mindset to not have children right away?  Honestly, if I were in the first camp, I would have become very upset at the mention of offering that as proof.  If I were in the latter group, I would be offended that my job is to be a baby factory to satisfy the salacious desires of a worker in the USCIS office.

Maybe 3-5 years isn’t enough to move beyond the anger and frustration of dealing with the USCIS.  Hmm…check back with me in 3-5 years to see if I’m over it yet.

Moving on.  Anyway.  Great movie.  Bullock and Reynolds.  Lots of funny moments.  Betty White thanking the nature spirits.  Great fun.

Of course, it should be noted that we have seen this movie before.  I am fully on the theory that date night movies should be movies we’ve seen before.  The Catching Fire date proves that.

Anyway, I thought I should include a recipe in this post to show that I’m not angry at the USCIS anymore.  Or at least for you, my lovely readers’, benefit.

Le Pop-Corn du Sel et Poive (Salt and Pepper Popcorn…the French makes it sound more gourmet…and I have no idea if it is translated correctly)

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

4 Tablespoons butter (or beurre) (half a stick, eighth of a pound, according to Josh), melted

1/2-1/4 teaspoon sel (or salt) (to taste)

plenty of freshly cracked black pepper (at least 1/2 teaspoon) (or poive)

Pop the popcorn in your trusty air popper (or on the stove top in a covered pan with an appropriate amount of oil).  Pour butter over the popcorn.  Toss to coat.  Sprinkle on salt.  Toss to spread.  Crack on some pepper.  Toss.  Crack on some more until it is full of peppery goodness and the oils from the pepper form this yummy elixir in your mouth when you take a bite.  Then, if that happens, get your head examined because you have OD’d on cracked black pepper.  Step away from the pepper.

Enjoy with The Proposal, peanut butter bars, Coke, and your date while snuggled in your favorite fuzzy blue blanket on the couch.

Maybe some of the butter didn’t get entirely melted…

Date Night Log: “Another” Movie Night and a Movie Treat

Date Night Log:  Saturday, March 15, 2014

Catching Fire and Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

From the beginning of the week on, it appeared that my plans for date night (bowling with 2 L bottles) was going to be subverted for something else.  Let me first preface this by saying:  I teach English and reading (in addition to social studies!) and have for nine years.  And I have not read any of the Hunger Games trilogy.  My husband, who doesn’t usually read fiction (but reads a lot of techie stuff and nonfiction), devoured all three books of the trilogy in less than a two-week span prior to the first movie coming out (on DVD).  So, when the first movie came out, we watched it.  He had already tried to get me to read the books, had in fact left them downloaded on the tablet, reminding me that I needed to read them.  They are on my TBR (to be read) list; they just aren’t at the top.

Dystopian literature bugs me.  It makes me angry.  It makes the the Libra in me who requires justice and balance to rail in horror and disgust.  When I read literature, for fun, dystopian literature is not my first choice.

Catching Fire came out recently.  I was trying to break the string of movie night date nights (although we do have a lot of movies that we have collected over the years that beg watching) and decided that, if we are going to watch a movie for date night, just as we did last week, we are going to make a snack to go with it.

On the meal plan for this week (to be posted Monday), I am making a slow cooker honey garlic chicken recipe that I found on the Six Sisters’ Stuff blog.  And just as I seem to need a time sink, I continued to look at all of the recipes in their recipe index.  I know.  But I consider it meal plan research.  And I did A LOT of research yesterday.  Fifty-one pages worth.

In doing that research, I found the weekly snack to make since we sped through the racks of Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies.  Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars.  And they are just like we used to have in the cafeteria before “everyone” became allergic to peanuts and peanut butter.  And they used ingredients I already had.  Bonus!

Therefore, when I finally dug my head out of the sand and realized that we were going to have ANOTHER movie night date night, I figured this would be a great snack to have.  And they were.

The recipe says that the recipe serves 30, but I cut them into 72 brownie-size bars.  They are very rich, so I think I can probably only eat half of one in a sitting.  I used my half-sheet pan that we had picked up at the restaurant supply store in Baton Rouge.  Pioneer Woman has proclaimed them indispensable in the kitchen, and I have to agree.  With the frosting, it makes a PAN FULL!

A few things to note:  when making these the next time (and there WILL BE a next time), I will melt the cup and a half of peanut butter in the microwave before spreading it on the hot bars.  I think that will make it easier to spread (and result in less tearing of the bars).  Also, I might double or 1 and 1/2 times the frosting.  If you click the link above, you can find the recipe (the Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars link) as well as several other recipes to drool over.  Anybody who has several slow cooker recipes and lots of buffalo chicken recipes gets my vote for great recipes.

Here’s how the snack looked:

I also refrigerated these overnight (this is shortly after I put the frosting on so it was still very liquidy) and brought some to my mom who was very excited when I said I was going to make these.  She remembers them from the cafeteria where she used to teach (at the school, not the cafeteria).  To me, they tasted spot-on, but she was concerned about the use of oatmeal; she didn’t remember an oatmeal texture.  I did use quick oats where the recipe called for not quick oats, but they still turned out just fine.

And then came time to watch the movie:

This is a movie that proves that movie night doesn’t work if you haven’t seen the movie before.  Since Josh had read the books, I kept bugging him with “Is he going to live?  Is she going to live?  Who does Katniss end up with?  Why is that going on?”  It was not a relaxing experience for him, to say the least.

But we did enjoy the treats!

Muffin took one with him to bed with a Sun, in an attempt to (bribe him) keep him from interrupting date night.  This recipe is DEFINITELY Muffin Approved!

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Date Night Log: A Date Night Surprise

 

Date Night Log:  Saturday, March 8, 2014

Dinner, a Nearly Double Feature, and Dessert

So, date night was going to be making cookies and watching a movie.  Then, we went shopping to Sam’s and Kohl’s with my parents.  And Muffin’s nap started at 3:30.  By now, many people realize that means that Muffin is (pretty much) out for the night.  So, date night actually included dinner, movie, baking cookies, and watching a movie.

For dinner, I had what I will now call a Blue Rocket Burger.  Josh used his burger press to again grill beefy pork burgers (the beef-pork mixture makes for such a yummy patty).  He also grilled asparagus and sausage that we had purchased from Sam’s that he plans to use in his lunches this week.

The Blue Rocket Burger, asparagus, sausage, and potato salad (purchased on sale at Albertson’s).

Anyway, I call it a Blue Rocket burger because it has blue cheese on it as well as Arugula (purchased on produce markdown at Brookshire’s for 99 cents and also called rocket).

After dinner, Josh crushed the corn flakes for Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies (the Joanne Fluke/Hannah Swensen mystery series/Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder recipe).

He put on Naked Gun on Netflix that we watched while I baked the cookies.  I made them smaller this time, so they made a lot.  I think the next time I make them, I will roll them out in balls and freeze half to bake again later.

I put a few on a plate for us to share.  We attempted to watch Robin Hood:  Men in Tights, as well, but we fell asleep partway through (plus, Muffin woke up after that one began, so it turned out to be not a date part of date night).

The date night dessert

Yes, Daisy joined us for date night.

Date night was fairly successful.  Lesson learned from this date night?  Take the opportunity where it finds you.  Like when Muffin is sleeping.

How has date night gone for you, lately?

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Date Night Log: A Date Night Duo Recap

Just because I’ve been out of the blog loop for a week plus doesn’t mean there wasn’t a date night for the past two date nights.

Date Night Log:  Sunday, February 23, 2014

Nintendo Game Playing:  Guilty Party

Collaborative video game playing is a great date night.  I am by no means a gamer.  Let me say that one more time:  I am by no means a gamer.  I am stuck at level 35 on Candy Crush.  I get very bored with video games very quickly.  Figuring out a recipe or a new method of making something will hold my attention for hours, days even.  Writing also holds my interest.  Gaming?  Yawn.

Well, our Wii died.  Sort of.  It stopped reading disks.  My Guilty Party disk had gotten messed up and Josh had gotten me a replacement for Christmas.  And I hadn’t had a chance to play it yet.  Imagine my foot tapping fit when I discovered the Wii was on the fritz just as I was getting ready to plan a We Play Wii date.  Have you tried to buy a Wii lately?  Yeah.  Just don’t try.  They no longer sell the actual Wii.  You have to buy a Wii U.  Steam coming out of my ears on that one.  Growling in the back of my throat.  So, we saved up money and bit the bullet.

And Muffin spent 5 days complaining that he had to keep playing Super Mario Brothers Wii U so that he could save the princess.  If you are a member of my family remembering a certain holiday occasion when his dad and uncle were “saving baby cows…and it’s timed,” yes…that was going through my mind…for five days.  Finally, they saved the princess, and I think he almost cried with joy.

But, back to that Sunday because date night DEFINITELY didn’t happen after the Centaur parade when my eyes felt almost glued shut in exhaustion.

We put Muffin to bed (finally after the marathon of playing the SMB).  We put in the Guilty Party disk.  In the back of my mind, I was worried that this was one of the games that was not backwards compatible via the Wii U.  Success!  It worked!

So, we played a few rounds in collaborative play where we played a brother and sister who were part of a crime-fighting family.  Collaborative play is great in any game because you are working toward a common goal.  Josh is a gamer, so if we play competitively against each other in a video game, I NEVER WIN.  Repeat:  never win.  That gets old fast for someone who is indifferent to video games.

Seriously…my Mii with the tire around it (courtesy of the Balance Board and Wii Fit) is very rarely seen on the screen.  I used to turn on Wii Fit, and it would say something like, “We haven’t seen you for 543 days.”  Wii Fit is great at inspiring guilt.

So collaborative play keeps me into it.  And you have to depend on your partner’s strengths, a very necessary cooperative skill in a marriage.  And, it’s a mystery (and not a bloody one), therefore a cozy one.  And y’all know about my love of cozies.  🙂

While the date got pushed to Sunday, all in all, it was a success.  Any date that doesn’t result in a call to 911 is now considered a success.

Date Night Log:  Saturday, March 1, 2014

Movie Night:  The Killers

Yes, I know.  I was crazy to try to have date night on the evening of the party.  Let me just preface with this:  at this point my foot hurt BAD.  To the point that those words came out of my mouth, bad grammar and all.  I was EXHAUSTED from working on the party all week, cooking all week for the party, from being sick at midweek, and sleeplessness for two nights while worrying about the party.

I was guilty of not planning date night.

There always is the old standby.  Movie Night.  Luckily, while I was working on something in the bedroom (at that point, I was so out of it that I cannot even remember what), Josh selected a movie.  It was actually my originally planned movie for Valentine’s Day night:  The Killers with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel.  Something light and frothy (albeit with a high body count).  Something we could laugh at and make sarcastic comments about (like the KMART pregnancy test scene).  Not to sound too valley-girlish, but it was like totally perf.  Definitely what I needed after a very stressful, full, busy week.

I love my husband.  He totally gets me.  (Plus, he had experienced the stress of the lead up to the party on Saturday and probably didn’t want anything too stressful.)

We also had a mini-date earlier in the week on the night I frosted the cuppycakes (another movie night with While You Were Sleeping), but Josh had gotten called out in the middle of it.  Rule #whatever of date night:  always remember that on-call weeks need to have very fluid adaptable dates.  But we still got to watch the best scenes, with the “leaning” and “Fluffy” the cat.

How have your date nights gone recently?  Drop me a line below and let me know!

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Date Night Log: The Valentine’s Day Dates

Date Night 07: Valentine’s Day

Friday, February 14, 2014, and Saturday, February 15, 2014

If you’ve read the Summary Sunday, you know that Valentine’s Day did not go well at Chez LFam. So, Josh tried to make things better by watching a movie and “relaxing on the couch,” in this case Bourne Supremacy, which did help relax us both.

Then, there was the vaunted ValDay date (actually scheduled for date night) on Saturday. That was the wine-and-beer-cheese-tasting-board-with-extras. A few mishaps to note: I ran out of space on the groaning cheese board (perhaps my favorite example of personification ever!), and I had recommended that Josh place one of his beers in the freezer to cool it down faster. Ummm. I didn’t realize that beer could freeze. Note to self: the alky content of beer is at such a low level that it will freeze.

But this was probably the most successful date night ever! At least on the food front. It was a Muffin-and-us date (I couldn’t let one of my valentines not be included) on the food end of things. Muffin actually ate quite a bit of what he was offered. Even for a non-picky eater, I was pleasantly surprised. He refused the salami (which I know he loves) and the brie (which he tried and hated). He loved drizzling honey over his creations, though. He ate most of the pear that we set out (that Josh had sliced) and quite a bit of apple. And the grapes. No surprises there.

They both liked the black-veined Cahill cheddar with porter (which I had my doubts about but I think looks just like a leaded stained-glass window). Of all of the cheeses, I even think it was my least favorite. Josh wasn’t fond of the grana padano (the parmesan-like cheese that I knifed shavings off of) by itself as a cheese board component, but he agreed that it would be good grated on Italian dishes. I thought it was fabulous, especially with the mixed nuts (in front in the board in the cupcake liners) and the sliced crystallized ginger which added a peppery warmth (as did the Pinot Noir that the person at Fresh by Brookshire’s recommended). Josh and Muffin liked the heart-shaped (yes, I used the canape cutter again!) Tyson Honey BBQ chicken slices; I wasn’t very fond of them. That was the recommendation of the stocker at Wal-Mart; it must be a man thing to like it. I loved the rosemary chive flat bread, another Fresh purchase. Josh and I both agreed it was awesome with the brie with cranberries on top and drizzled with honey. (We did a lot of drizzling with honey) The hands-down favorite, though, was the super creamy gouda (too soft even for the cheese plane, even fresh out of the fridge). Muffin and Josh enjoyed their plain pimiento-stuffed olives, and I loved my blue cheese ones. I tried to match up the suggested wine and cheese pairings and enjoyed a half-glass each of $3 Sauvignon Blanc (from Wal-Mart) that had a cork in it with a screw-top (much more expensive, comparatively) Pinot Noir. Muffin really liked the tiny toasts (as did we all) and the Ritz Everything crackers (he had to make cracker sandwiches which is what happens when he has a Lunchable or a homemade lunchable). Muffin didn’t touch the string cheese brooms (something he usually loves and that I included as a “safe choice” for him—I guess he was enjoying himself too much on the other choices).

The wine selection (Muffin had ginger ale, and Josh had water because his beer was frozen) for the dinner course.

Muffin reaching for more goodies on the groaning board.

My plate…after some sampling…notice that I had appropriated custody of the blue cheese (upper right corner). The nibble on the far left was the rosemary and chive flatbread with brie and cranberries drizzled with honey.

By the way, the contents of the little containers with knives in the front part are orange marmalade (great with the mini toasts), IKEA ligonberry preserves (also great with roasted meat), and honey (of the aforementioned drizzles). The other little container, the blue cheese, made its way off of the tray and into the area of my plate. Yes, I am obsessed.

I should have taken a picture of how the tray was left after we finished grazing, but there really wasn’t that much left. Half of the brie with cranberries was gone (and the heart shape on top was pretty much obliterated). All of the grana padano and gouda that I put out was gone. Two of the nuts cups were gone.

Then, came the dessert plates. I had picked up some of the SweetTarts conversation hearts at Wal-Mart and used them to decorate the dessert plates. Muffin requested ten chocolate-dipped strawberries (I gave him four, and he ate one). Josh and I ate three a piece, but all three of us kept sneaking conversation hearts from the bag. I should note that during the build up to Valentine’s Day season, I could not find bags of the hearts. Only on the day afterward could I find them.  I also drank a glass of the recommended rose bubbly wine that one of the Freshies at Fresh had recommended for the strawberries.  Josh liked that one a bit better which alleviated my guilt over offering him the Pinot Noir (that he almost spit out).  He really isn’t a wine person (other than Proseco rarely and Moscato sometimes).

Josh’s dessert plate.

As I said in the Summary Sunday post, I was so drowsy from the yummy food that I fell asleep (in a warm glow) halfway through Bourne Ultimatum, so I have no idea what happened. (I plan on watching the rest as soon as I finish this post)

My wonderful Valentine!

All in all, date night was a success, perhaps the most successful yet. So, the goal is probably to plan each date six weeks in advance.

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I Broke the Rules of Date Night…and Do the Actors in the Bourne Movies Have Huge Noses?

Saturday I really wasn’t feeling date night.  Also, Josh was on call so that calls for flexible date night.  Shocker, I know.  After six hours in the car with Muffin and being lost for part of that time, I honestly wanted to just go to bed.  So, I gathered up stuff for a movie night.  Since I had chosen one of my favorites for movie night last time (the date to replace that will forever be known as “hot” date night, thanks to my BFF co-worker Sherry who came up with the positive spin on it after I told her about it this past week) My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I chose one of his movies.  The Bourne Identity.  Now, I’m not the biggest fan of action movies.  I am starting to have an appreciation for James Bond after Skyfall.  I’m also not the biggest Matt Damon fan.  But I decided to put on my big girl pants and watch it with Josh.  I had bought all three movies for him a couple of years ago when (for the Black-Thursday-and-Friday sale) Wal-Mart had them on sale like super cheap.  I’m usually in charge of “manning” the DVD area during that sale, but that’s another story.

He popped some popcorn and poured us some lemon-lime pop to share, and I gathered one of our Godiva candy bars that I had purchased from our last Dallas trip (on sale!):  the caramel-filled one.  The sad thing is (or the happy thing for us) is that even with the most expensive component of the date (the Godiva candy bar), all of the date together cost less than it would have had for one movie ticket on a Saturday night at the theater (much less a second ticket, candy, popcorn, and pop).  And we didn’t have to have my parents watch Muffin.  Or leave the house.  I couldn’t have dealt with leaving the house after the Texas excursion yesterday.

And…I liked it.  I know; I broke date night rules by watching a movie that I hadn’t watched before (and that Josh hadn’t watched in so long that he couldn’t remember what all happened and who lived and died).  But fairly early in the action of the movie when Jason Bourne is driving in the car with the woman he rides around with (Maria?), the characters are each in profile.  To which Josh says, “His nose is huge!”  Then, I know that her nose was large, too.  And that was it.  For the rest of the movie I looked at huge noses.  I honestly think it had something to do with the camera angles (and profile shots), but that will be what I remember from the movie.  The huge noses.

I will let you contemplate that truly disturbing thought.  My apologies to the cast of The Bourne Identity whom I’m sure don’t really have huge noses in real life.

We had a mini unplanned date night this morning when we made the pancakes and the bacon and ate said pancakes and bacon because Muffin slept in and didn’t wake up until breakfast was over.  (So technically this makes two dates this week!)

I am definitely looking forward to next week’s date night with the cheese tray and game night (the part Josh doesn’t know about yet…shhhh.)

How did your date nights go this week?