Date Night In: Fall Comfort

The downside of having your eleven month old nap for only 30 minutes all day is probably pretty obvious. But the big upside of yesterday’s nap strike was an early, happy, easy bedtime. Unlike September’s DNI, the boys were both in bed by 7:45, with no danger of interrupting us for many hours. We eased downstairs, high fived, and I headed toward the kitchen. There were a mountain of dishes from earlier in the day and I meant to wash many of them before we sat down to eat. Roy looked at them and said, “It’s a good thing I’ll be home tomorrow morning to wash all of these.” I decided to just pop the casserole in the oven.

You may remember from my previous post our menu:

Spiced Cider Toddy

Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Grapes and Feta

White Bean and Pumpkin Gratin with Crispy Shallot Crumbs

Grandma’s Apple Cake with Maple Cream

You may also remember that we had already consumed half the apple cake with Martha. The cake was OK. I didn’t not like it, but I’ve had some incredible apple pie the past two weeks and this just didn’t keep up. I was also mad at it for breaking into three pieces when I tried to take it out of the pan. With this in mind, I asked Roy if we could save the toddy for after dinner, since it would be hot and sweet and perhaps give us a better, lingering ending. He agreed.

I had prepped the slaw and gratin in the afternoon, so all I had to do was finish baking the gratin and toss the dressing with the slaw. We were eating, on the couch with warm blankets, (this is Fall Comfort after all), by 8PM. My kind of date night…

The salad was good! The bitter Brussels sprouts were tempered with sweet, cool grapes and creamy, salty sheep’s milk feta. I’m not a huge fan of normal feta, but this was much smoother and richer. Thumbs up. Ashley recommended concord grapes, but we already had normal green in the house. Visually, it could have used the pop of a darker grape, but the flavors were complex and altogether pleasant.

How did I not like Brussels sprouts as a child?

The gratin tasted like Thanksgiving. It seriously tasted like green bean casserole, but better, and without green beans.

We don't have any more green beans anyway, because this kid eats them, literally, by the can. Don't worry folks, I buy sodium-free!

We used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and I wrestled with an unroasted squash to get the small chunks called for. In the future I think I could get away with gently roasting it FIRST to make the cubing easier. I liked how it remained pretty chunky in the gratin though, so I would be careful not to over-roast. The panko crumbs on top and GRUYERE CHEESE made the dish though—we fought hard to not go back and consume the other half.

This is the gratin.

This is our dessert from last month's DNI. I can see how you'd be confused.

It was a smaller dinner than the first Date Night In, and that was OK. I dished up some more apple cake and cream before warming the cider toddy.

Stupid apple cake. Look at those little rivers of cream soaking through though. Hellllllloooo!

The toddy was the best part for me. The spices and the local cider were excellent, and the whiskey (yup…) paired so well with the fresh ginger. They stayed hot for a long time and we sipped and chatted and enjoyed the luxury of all the warmth soaking through us.

One for you and one for me. Do you taste all the whi-skey?

It wasn’t one of those starry-eyed date nights. It was a comfortable evening, when we had filling, familiar-tasting food to enjoy together and chat about anything and everything. That’s my favorite kind of date night actually, and I think we usually do it quite well.

I don’t remember exactly how I asked or what I said, but basically it was, “How do you do it”
And I meant, “By what miracle or magic powers do you maintain a growing relationship for so long, still have things to talk about, and still like and desire and want to be around each other?”

“Commitment,” he quickly replied. “It’s what gets you through the bumps.”…There is comfort in our commitment but not complacency. It’s not “I’m stuck with him”; it’s “How can we love each other better because you’re my person and I’m yours?” The commitment keeps us bound together in the times when we are tempted to quit. Because of commitment we are able to come out on the other side to experience how incredible it is when you are completely known and still loved.”

-Ashley Rodriguez, Date Night In, p. 199

So, two down, twenty three to go (that's date nights in, not number of children). And, for those of you attending Canadian Thanksgiving next week, you may end up trying one of these recipes…

Today’s 1%: I set up the baby gate in the kitchen, blocking me from the little boys after breakfast. This enabled me to clean up quickly and efficiently, and prevented Owen from tipping over the kitchen trash, opening the door to the basement and falling down the stairs, eating the crumbs under the cabinets, and/or climbing into the dishwasher. (They were both standing at the gate whining at me the whole time though.)