Date Night In! Date Night In! Time for the second Date Night
In!
<repeat chant marching around kitchen, keeping time with large
spoon for added emphasis>
Roy and I have chosen “Fall Comfort” for our first autumn
DNI. It looks relatively simple, but is full of our favorite fall flavors. We
chose this date night two weeks ago and, I must admit, we’ve enjoyed a lot of
those flavors in other forms quite a bit already, but I think we can handle a
little more.
The menu, which we will enjoy tomorrow evening:
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
There wasn’t anything particularly gripping about any
of these dishes, but as a whole they sounded aromatic and warm and comforting.
So today I sat down and made a list of the ingredients we’d need especially for
this DNI. Here’s my grocery list, which does include a few extra staples:
4 oz Brussels sprouts
1 leek
1 lemon
2 Granny Smith apples
2 oz sheep’s milk feta
2 oz Gruyere
Panko
Champagne vinegar
Whole cloves
…
Potatoes
Eggs
Canned green beans
Buttermilk
Bananas
I packed the boys up and we headed to Wegmans. Once arrived
I fished around, multiple times, in my purse to locate the post-it pad that had
my list. Nothing. I scoured my pockets. Nothing.
Siiiiiiiiiiigh. Do I
drive back and get the list and drive back? Should I just go for it? But there’s
a 99% chance I won’t remember everything…
Ultimately I went for it. I sat down and recreated the list
as best as I could, thinking through each dish of the menu as I went. We headed
in and I found everything I could remember, except for leeks, which I’m pretty
sure just weren’t there. I saw a labeled area that was devoid of leeks. I opted
for scallions instead. We did the obligatories, including the free cookie,
watching a few laps of the overhead train, oohing and aahing over a giant
inflatable spider, and deflecting requests for a helium balloon. (“It’s the United
STATES Mommy!!!”)
We got home and, I’ll admit, I headed immediately to the
kitchen table to find my list. It wasn’t there. WHERE WAS THAT FLINGING FLANGING LIST?!? I looked more carefully
and saw the pad of post-its on the table, which meant I had peeled the list
off. With dread, I slowly inserted my hand into my pocket once more. Sure
enough, nestled into a tiny corner was a tiny folded post-it note. That bugger
had experienced the sights and sounds of Wegmans just as much as any of the
rest of us. I unfolded it and scanned the list…
Sheep’s milk feta,
apples, vinegar, lemon, … … NO. WAY. I remembered EVERYTHING!!!!
<Insert major fist pump and exclaiming of one’s
accomplishment. James was unimpressed, which is ironic, as he is 50% of why it
was so impressive The other 50% was already heading toward the staircase to
test the baby gate.>
So we have everything. I made the apple cake already, with
special permission from Roy. We are hosting Martha for dinner and I didn’t want
to make two consecutive fall-ish desserts (Well, I did, but my waistline didn’t.).
The cake tastes great. Want to know how I know that already? Because I let it
cool for 10 minutes, PER INSTRUCTIONS, and then flipped it out of the pan onto
a rack, PER INSTRUCTIONS. And it broke into three crumbly chunks. Roy
immediately shouted, “Lemme get my camera for Date Night In!” And I shushed
him, but I’ll probably take a picture anyway, because this isn’t about being
perfect.
<repeat chant marching around kitchen, keeping time with large
spoon for added emphasis>
Sigh.
I also made spiced cider for the toddy. Thank you Lucas and
Melissa for leaving wonderful local cider with us yesterday—you saved me
another item on my list for purchase today. The spiced cider, so far, hasn’t
experienced any catastrophe, but we won’t drink it until tomorrow.
Today’s 1%: I think this whole entry was about that. I
REMEMBERED. Here’s to being 30, having two boys, and still occasionally being
semi-sharp.
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