Married and Dating?

I've always heard that once you're married you must make sure that you and your S.O. still "date". Of course I don't mean date other people, but you are supposed to literally continue dating your spouse to keep the spark alive. It's a fantastic way to ensure that you never take each other for granted since it obligates you to set aside time for each other like you would have done when you were just beginning your romance.

For Christmas this year, my sister gave me a book that's meant to help achieve that "date" feel without ever leaving your home. It's called "Dinner Dates" and it offers recipes which are designed to make cooking a "date activity". Each menu features appetizers, side dishes, a main course, and of course a dessert that you two make collectively. How does this differ any cookbook where you two can work together or split up the tasks? Well this one does it for you. It has tasks for Chef Uno and Chef Due to work on simultaneously. While you are sauteeing chicken or chopping garlic, your partner could be making the salad, or the soup. Or you could be heating the oil for onions and peppers that Chef Due has been chopping. The book makes everything a very easy team effort. It even has recommended talking breaks to make sure you're communicating between each other in true date fashion.

I fell in love with the menus and the book's idea and so I couldn't wait to try it out with Mishka once we were together again. So tonight is going to be a date night for Mishka and me! We're going to try the "Fun with Fajitas" menu. It features Margaritas (we'll be using club soda instead of tequila), homemade guacamole, white rice and black beans, chicken & steak fajitas with various toppings, and ice cream sundaes. Doesn't that sound marvelous?

Setting aside times for dates is important not only for a marriage, but for any relationship that's gone on for a long time. Mishka and I rarely cook together, it's usually either one or the other, and so I am VERY excited to try this little experiment. Hopefully it will lead to many more fun cooking dates to come :).