I mentioned earlier how much our life has changed lately now that our kids are older. One thing that having teens in the house has afforded Nick and I is more frequent date nights. As much as we love going out on the town for a night out, often times our date night preference is to cook a nice meal in and hanging out at home. We both love to cook, and home is our favorite place, so date nights in tend to be our norm. …

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I really struggled fitting in reading time this past week…it may have had a little something to do with the fact that I introduced my son to the Friday Night Lights series and we may have spent 2 days straight binge watching the first 2 seasons. Oooops! I know this much about reading, if you want to be a voracious reader and consume lots of books, TV is something you can’t get sucked into. I like to multi-task when I watch TV but I can’t multi-task when I read. Reading requires pretty much my full, undivided attention!

With that said, I did get two books read this week plus I’m sharing a review of my favorite “Date Night” cookbook with you! Let’s get started……

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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?”…

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We had a wonderful time, but as the weekend progressed, it became more and more clear to me that what we really needed… my husband and I… was the same type of experience but without the kids. 6 of us scrunched into two beds… long, leisurely lunches trying to talk over the 3 year old chatter box and the 10 month old food thrower just wasn’t quite the rejuvenation our marriage needed. We needed to get away… or at the very least, we needed a date night.

Date nights have always presented a challenge for us because for 1…we have four kids and when you justify the cost of a babysitter versus the cost of going out, it just never seems to be worth it. Secondly, we are extremely busy so simply finding the time and energy to go out seems difficult.

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned that her and her husband have an at home date night once a week. They feed the kids and put them to bed early and then have a special dinner just the two of them. It solves the babysitter dilemma and the time dilemma. It sounded like a great solution for what Nick and I needed.

Bertolli just happened to come to the rescue to make our date night a cinch. Armed with 2 coupons from Bertolli for free Bertolli Frozen Pasta meals, my husband went to the store and grabbed their Shrimp Scampi and Linguine meal and their Roasted Chicken Cannelloni. Within a very short time, dinner was on the table and my husband and I could focus on catching up with each other… not cooking, not cleaning up after an extravagant cooking session… just talking and eating. It was a great night.

In addition to the two coupons for free meals, Bertolli also helped set the scene by providing a stainless steel wine aerator and wine pairing guide, an Andrea Bocelli CD of greatest hits, 2 Crate & Barrel dinner bowls, 1 large Crate & Barrel serving bowl, a candle from Crate & Barrel and sage napkins with silver napkin rings. Our evening was complete, thanks to the wonderful folks at Bertolli.

Are you in need of a date night? Do you want to be swept away, in your own home, to a true Italian experience? Do you need some spark back in your love life and just a little push in the right direction? Do you want to have just a small time investment so you can spend your evening gazing lovingly into your sweetheart’s eyes? (Ok – I went a little overboard with the cheese there… I know…) Bertolli is giving one of my readers the chance to enjoy an at home date night, just like Nick and I had. Simply leave a comment on this post that includes what an ideal date night would look like for you! 1 winner will be drawn to receive a complete Bertolli prize package, including coupons for 2 frozen Bertolli meals and all of the things to set the scene mentioned above (minus the loving husband… he’s mine!). The winner will be drawn by the Random Number Generator next Friday, April 16th. All entries must be turned in by 5pm on the 16th CST to be considered for the drawing.

Unfortunately, because of the large weight of this prize package, Bertolli is only able to ship to entrants within the United States.

Once again, the prize package includes:

·         Coupons for free Bertolli Frozen Meals for two that will transport you to Italy in just 10 minutes
·         Stainless steel wine aerator and Bertolli wine pairing guide
·         Verona Pasta Serving Bowl, two matching individual bowls, contemporary red wine glasses and cloth napkins from CB2
·         An orange luminary candle and two contemporary brushed silver napkin rings from Crate and Barrel
·         The Best of Andrea Bocelli CD

Thanks for entering and good luck!

For more Italian inspiration, make sure to check out Episode #2 of Into the Heart of Italy: The Secrets of the Fungaioli. I have loved watching this series unfold… I hope you will too!

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The Dine & Dish Dinner Club officially launched this past Saturday and we had such a wonderful time. I am so disappointed that it took us so long to get moving and get it off the ground because it really was a wonderful evening of food, friends and laughter. My husband and I made fajitas using this Beef and Chicken Fajita recipe from Cooking Light, which was a delicious hit! The couple who was going to bring dessert ended up getting sick that day, so I decided to tackle Fried Ice Cream. Delicious, fun, impressive and fit the evening perfectly!

Many people have asked how I got our dinner club started. Considering we just had our first one, I am no expert, but since it was such a success (lasting until 1am) I will share what we did to get our first Dinner Club off the ground.

• We decided to include five couples in our dinner club to start with. I invited two couples and asked each of them to invite one couple each. The couples we invited are people who we love to hang out with but don’t get to see as often as we would like to. The requirement was that they had to be willing to commit, were interested in food, and were fun.
• We have set our Dinner Club up to meet on an every other month basis, so six times a year.
• We will have the Dinner Club at our house each time we meet, but will rotate hostessing responsibilities. The “host couple” is responsible for finalizing a theme, the main dish, the adult beverages, the music play list and “the questions” (more about this later!)
• Everyone else is to sign up for an appetizer, side or dessert. (For inspiration, I told everyone to look at restaurant menus that fit our theme or to Google “Southwest Menu”.)
• Everyone brings a copy of their recipe to share with each couple. There is no going to the store to bring something not homemade. Even if you think you can’t cook, this is an opportunity to stretch yourself some and to make something from scratch.
• For those of you who have read about my dinner parties in the past, I always do “get to know you” type questions. They are slid into the place cards and after we are done eating, we go around the table and each person reveals their question. The first person gives their answer and then we go around the whole table and answer that specific question. Then we move onto the next persons question. Sometimes the questions are tame… sometimes a bit more controversial or racy. It makes for a very, very fun evening and is a signature part of my dinner parties!
• Choose a theme for each time you meet. Our next theme is “Rustic Italian”. Some other themes to consider – “Take me out to the ballgame”, “Cook from a famous chefs cookbook”, “Wine Country”, “Greek”, “Purple Foods”… the possibilities are endless!
• Keep it low stress. The idea of the Dinner Club is to have a fun, adult night out with good friends. It is not something that should be stressed about. Invite people who you know won’t take things too seriously.
• Just do it! If you are considering starting a Dinner Club, I suggest doing it right away. You will have a blast and it will make for a night that your friends look forward to each time you meet.

If you have a Dinner Club that meets regularly and have advice on getting one started or want to share what has made yours successful, leave your comment on this post. I’ll do a roundup of advice in a few weeks.

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Fried Ice Cream

Fried Ice Cream (from Recipezaar)

Prep Time 6 minutes minutes

Total Time 6 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 1 pint ice cream
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups of sweetened corn flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• cooking oil for deep fat frying
• whipped cream optional

Instructions

• Place 4 scoops (about 1/2 cup each) of ice cream in a small pan.
• Freeze for 1 hour or till firm.
• In a small mixing bowl stir together egg and vanilla.
• In a pie plate carefully stir together cereal and cinnamon.
• Dip each frozen ice cream ball in the egg mixture, and then roll them in the cereal mixture.
• Return coated ice cream balls to freezer and freeze for 1 hour or till firm.
• Reserve the remaining cereal mixture.
• In a small mixing bowl stir together egg and vanilla.
• Remove coated ice cream balls from the freezer. Dip balls in egg mixture, and then roll them in the remaining cereal mixture and return to pan.
• Cover and freeze for several hours or till firm.
• In a deep fat fryer or a heavy saucepan, fry frozen coated ice cream balls one or 2 at a time, in deep hot oil (375°F) for 15 seconds or till golden brown.
• Drain on paper towels; return the fried ice cream balls to freezer while frying the remaining balls.
• Serve immediately with whipped cream (if desired).

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