Sunday, August 9, 2009

Afternoon Date, Delicious Meal & Some Uninterrupted Reading Time

You may remember that just two weeks ago hubby and I went on our first date since the toddler was born almost two years ago. Yesterday, we were very lucky and got to go on another afternoon date. It was so nice to just walk around and talk without constant interruptions...

We remembered how important it is to have some "only us time." I felt so much younger and carefree. And once we picked up the toddler, we were re-energized and ready for playing, and little tantrums, and hugs, and kisses - all of it! And the toddler had had a great time on his play date and didn't even want to go home...

Now, a date wouldn't be a date without some food... :0) Actually, that's not true, but when you NEVER get to go out to a civilized, peaceful, quiet meal, that's what you do!

We ate around 3:30, so you can either call it a very late lunch or a very early dinner, I guess... Or let's just call it linner. Since we didn't go during "normal" dining hours, we could only order from the bar menu. But it was perfect. Here is what we got (we shared all of these dishes):

Salad with Cherries, Cherry Balsamic Vinaigrette & Goat Cheese Fritters - the salad was perfectly dressed with just the right amount of vinaigrette and the goat cheese fritters were nice and crispy on the outside and creamy and slightly tangy in the middle.
Ahi Tuna Poke, with Toasted Sesame Seeds, Japanese 7 Spice & Seasoned Seaweed. Okay, here is my confession. Remember how I said we shared all the dishes. Well, I will admit I ate about 90% of this dish. But only because hubby usually doesn't really care for raw fish. But this tuna was so tender and flavorful that he wanted more after I had eaten it all...
Oh, I almost forgot... We also split a burger and some fries... :o)
And we ended the meal with Artisan Goat Cheese with Apricots, Walnut Bread & Red Wine Caramel Sauce - the cheese was possibly the smallest portion of cheese I have ever seen! But the combination of the walnut bread, the pleasantly sweet sauce & the cheese was perfect. And it was just enough as we were quite full from the other food.
What a satisfying meal! And as an added bonus most of our dishes, as well as our drinks, were cheaper because it was Happy Hour, and we ate in the bar area. We had a perfect little table and could do some people watching, which I love...

After we finished our meal, we walked around a bit and ended up in a bookstore. I found Carol Alt's book Eating in the Raw. I got to read it for about 40 minutes, without interruptions. Yes, I realize that reading the book was a bit ironic after our linner choices...
Questions: What did you do this weekend? What book(s) are you currently reading?

Be well,
Andrea