My husband and I used to be really fun people. We did! We used to have regular date nights, spent plenty of nights out until the wee hours of the morning down in the bar district, vacationed often, lived a fun, carefree and exciting life. We were sexy, edgy and fun.
Then things changed… excitement turned into getting all 4 kids down to sleep all at the same time (quite the feat), finding a new stock to invest in that would help to pad our retirement fund (yippee) and if we were really on the wild side, actually going into a restaurant with actual silverware on the table to eat with all 4 kids instead of pulling through the drive through (so risqué) . What happened to us? Where is the fun and sexy couple we once were? Well, I can tell you, that couple is still here… we just have to make more of an effort to find them.
Date nights take on a different meaning when you are 40 with 4 kids and have been married for 14 years. The need to connect is probably stronger than ever, but the energy it takes… not to mention the money for babysitting, the desire to get out of, what I call, Friday Night Pants, and the ability to stay awake for an entire dinner and a movie…the thought of all of that usually makes us decide to just forget it.
Then, after yet one more conversation by text, because we can’t hear each other talk over the interruptions and noise from the kids, we decide… “hon, I think it’s time we find our fun and sexy selves again, don’t you?”
I pull out the matching lacy underthings, he brings me flowers, I add some red lipstick to my normally non-made up face, he splashes on cologne..we put the kids to bed, open up a bottle of wine, and start our favorite kind of date night… a cooking, chatting, connecting kind of night at home. We begin to remember the couple we used to be…funny how with just a tiny bit of effort, we return to our former selves. They aren’t even buried too deep… they just need a tiny bit of uncovering to resurface.
One key to at home date night is to make something completely and totally non-kid friendly. I mean, our old selves wouldn’t be caught dead eating chicken nuggets dipped in ranch. We pull out all the stops and cook a meal that our kids would otherwise “ewwww” at. Lemon Kale Baked Shrimp could be kid friendly, but my kids will not eat un-shelled shrimp with any resemblance of tails or anything else. Edgy, sexy, fun us loves seafood of any kind…no kids around, let’s do this thing.
A perfect date night meal is complete…Lemon Kale Baked Shrimp, Marinated Mushrooms, a simple Rosemary Focaccia Bread and a finale of Strawberries with Apothic White Wine (simple hull some strawberries, dust with sugar, pour wine over the berries and refrigerate for 3 hours before serving). Now that the food is out of the way, the rest is up to us…I’m pretty confident we can manage to remember the couple we once were, now. It’s all coming back to us…
Apothic White is what I’m deeming the Jake Ballard of wine. If you watch Scandal you totally know what I mean… a good guy turned bad, with an edge so subtle, you almost forget he’s bad. Sexy…oh so so sexy…and well, I’ll just say, this isn’t your Grandma’s white wine. It’s just the wine for finding your sexy, edgy self again…try it on your next date night and see for yourself.
For more ideas on cooking and entertaining with Apothic White 2012, these great blogs are offing inspiration on how they are serving up darker motives this spring, and sharing their ideas using the tag #ApothicWhite.
Kitchen Living with Coryanne | PartyBluPrints | CelebrationsAtHome | MeyersStyles | AllDayIDreamAboutFood
To connect with Apothic White, visit their blog, like them on Facebook, tweet them on Twitter or connect with them on Instagram.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Apothic White. I was compensated to create a recipe using Apothic White and share it on Dine & Dish. All opinions, as always, are my own.
Lemon Kale Baked Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp
- 2 cups chopped Kale
- 1 large lemon thinly sliced
- 1/2 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup Apothic White Wine
- drizzle of olive oil
- pinch of Kosher salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375°F
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Line a large baking sheet with foil. Place shrimp in a single layer on the foil. Top with chopped kale and lemon slices.
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In a small bowl, combine Kosher salt, cracked black pepper, Italian seasoning and Apothic White Wine. Whisk together and pour over shrimp.
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Drizzle shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt.
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Bake in 375° oven for 20 minutes, or until shrimp is a bright pink and Kale is crisp. Serve immediately.
I love Apothic red, now the white is just in time for summer. Love this, Kristen!
I apparently MUST try the Apothic red. I’ve also heard there is a dark version that has some chocolate tones in it!
Gorgeous! Love the wine and the dinner idea! “My husband and I used to be really fun people. “—-> That’s us too! lol
🙂 Glad you can relate. I feel like such a fuddy duddy 99% of the time!
I love everything about this post!! We have been doing more of these “date nights at home” lately. I’ve been trying to plan later dinners just for us once the boys are asleep vs. eating cold leftovers 2 hours late because the meltdown train left the station before we expected. 🙂
You and your husband seem to be so good at date nights. Keep it up! It’s so easy to let that fall to the wayside, but I think it’s really important. Do as I say, not as I do 🙂
Tell the meltdown train to get out of town 😉 Gotta love it.
Great post! I’m in love with this recipe. And, hey – if I have ONE kid and find it hard to schedule date night already … I can only imagine how hard it can be to schedule a night with four kids! Good for you, girl. 🙂
🙂 It surely makes it challenging, but it’s so worth it to date your spouse. Or at least I hear. 😉 Thanks for the sweet comment, Katie!
I’ve tried the red, I definitely need to try their white! And I need a date night!
🙂 Don’t we all? I personally would like to be whisked off on a private jet to Aruba, but I’ll take a date night at home!
Thanks for the comment, Pam! Hope you are doing well!
Friday Night Pants!!!! Laughing, babe! I’ve been steering more towards red these days, so your post is right on to convince me to try Apothic White!
I love my Friday Night Pants… we have quite a thing going on. 🙂
I do red often, but end up with a huge headache the next day, so this Apothic White is just the thing for me!
Oh, my word. I laughed so hard at the Jake Ballard of wine. Maybe I should have been drinking some for last night’s Scandal episode. (And please, if ANY MALE looks at me and like he looked at Olivia…have mercy.)
Oh hon… Jake Ballard…sigh. Seriously, I may rewind and watch his scenes over and over and over… just a tad bit obsessed. And of course, since he’s now my 1 word Twitter boyfriend, I have to pay attention 🙂
AH…..this post gives me hope. Maybe someday we’ll get back to date night? Although with baby #3 coming soon it might be awhile:)
They are few and far between, and not always so planned and exciting, (pizza, wine and a netflix binge is typical) but it’s necessary! Congrats on baby #3!! So exciting!
so love this post! we’re not even parents yet but can totally relate to once being cool and fun haha! i am , we still are at heart. but also so so so tired most of the time. and living together and working from home really forces us to “keep the spark” alive. I think a wine and dinner night is needed asap! with lemon kale baked shrimp 🙂
Get on it, girl 🙂 Find your fun selves!
YES! We are completely with you! Making something non-kid-friendly is the key when cooking for date night at home. Sometimes my husband will do the whole bedtime routine for the kids so I can prepare us a fancy dinner for after they go to bed… it gets a little harder as they get older and realize bedtime is getting pushed up a bit 😉 The nicest surprise last summer was when I got the kids to bed and my husband surprised me with a whole meal on the grill. He handed me a glass of wine as I came down the stairs- ahhhh yes that was much more fun than folding the laundry.
Your hubby is a gem!! I love that he surprised you that way!
This looks and sounds amazing! A must try!
Thank you – you stage the party, I’ll bring the shrimp 🙂
Love this post!! I’m newly married and getting on the baby train in the next year or so, and right now, my husband and I just have SO MUCH FUN together. Dinners, vacations, lazy Sundays — it’s so nice to know that even after children, you can still find time for each other! This shrimp looks like the perfect date night meal, easy enough to spend the majority of the time together, but delicious enough to savor it together!
I love that you two have fun together…and if you keep it forefront in your mind you’ll continue to do so, even after kids come along! Just remember how important it is and you can do it! 🙂
I was wondering if you can use shelled shrimp with tail on? Do you cook it for the same amount of time? Hubby and i are not too fond of shelled shrimp……guess we hit the boring stage at 38 with 2 kids, lol