An At-Home Date Night

Earlier this month, we decided to celebrate Hubby's birthday at home since we knew we'd be dining out several times in the following weeks. Truthfully our at-home date nights almost always consist of crashing on the couch after Little Boy goes to bed, ordering pizza, and watching a movie. Exciting, I know. But lately I've been inspired to try to be more creative with the way we spend our time together.

So I started out thinking that I would just cook Hubby a nicer-than-usual dinner and then maybe we could play games. But once the creative gears in my head started turning, I landed on a more elaborate, more elegant, more romantic, more fun date night plan!

the setting
Using our every day dishes seemed too ordinary for a special night, but we don't own a complete set of China. I immediately went on a hunt for nice but inexpensive place settings that included a soup bowl, salad plate, and dinner plate. I landed on a perfect black and white floral set at Wal-Mart where I paid less than $8 for two place settings! In our attic, I found a black table cloth and red napkins from a previous Christmas celebration. I added a row of white tea lights to the table. I turned on my favorite Josh Groban CD as background music. Voila! Perfect! Romantic!

the menu
Starters:
Creamy Tomato Soup with Basil
Lettuce Leaf Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
Main Course:
Spinach and Pancetta Stuffed Shells
Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
Dessert:
Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Inspired by the formal dining on our recent cruise, I decided to serve the meal in courses. I found the soup in the organic food section of the supermarket. We absolutely love fruit and nuts in our salad. My dad had made the stuffed shells for us before, and the recipe is seriously as amazing as anything you would order in a nice Italian restaurant. Josh's favorite dessert is ice cream, so I purchase him an ice cream cake for his birthday every year. This year I went a step farther and actually made the cake, tweaking a recipe I received from a friend.

While Hubby knew that I planned to cook him a birthday dinner, he had no idea how far my plans had taken me or what I intended to serve. I did all my cooking and baking when Hubby was out of the house, quite the challenge since he works from home! I hand washed all the dishes I used, so he wouldn't notice an overflow of dishes in the dishwasher. I hid the finished products as best I could but ended up banning him from the refrigerator and freezer the day of our date night.

We both dressed up, him in khakis and a polo, me in a skirt and blouse. I had him put the baby to bed while I set the table. With the dining room table transformed and the meal much nicer than our usual at-home fare (and a far cry from Papa John's pizza!) we had so much fun and such a good time that I hardly noticed that I was the one serving and cooking the food.

Our creative juices (okay, maybe just mine) are definitely flowing for the next at-home date night! In the meantime, I'd really love to hear what all of you do to keep the romance alive at home when you can't find a sitter or just need an inexpensive but fun and romantic date night. Comment below!

Also, if anyone is interested in the recipes for the stuffed shells or ice cream cake, let me know, and I can post those in a future post.