UnRecipe: Date Night (at Home)

If you've been in a longterm relationship, you know that you can't live in the honeymoon stage forever. Nor would you want to -- trying to be Mr. or Ms. Perfect, hiding your weird habits like tweezing eyebrows (yo, they don't just shape themselves!), and sometimes you just want to be comfortable and lounge around in your stretchy drawstring pants all day without worrying that you're not made up to the hilt. But that doesn't mean you don't make it a point to have regular meals together now and then -- enter Date Night at Home!

Date Night, supplied by our CSA delivery box - photo by Wasabi Prime

Date Night is different for everyone. Plenty of people like going out, and who can blame them -- no dinner prep, no dishes to wash, and there's likely enough time to catch a movie afterwards. Mr.Wasabi and I like going out, don't get me wrong, it's just one of those situations where the work week has consistently kicked our collective booty-hinds and by the time it gets to be the dinner hour on a Saturday night, quite frankly, we're ready to pass out on the couch, we're so tired. Weekends have become a sacred 48 hour period -- two days where there's no work (if we can avoid it), recharging the human batteries is a must, spending some quality time with Miss Indy the dog and quite honestly, doing as little as possible. God has one day of rest, we take two. We're certainly not the Almighty and dangit, we're just tiiiiiiired and want the weekend to be as low key as possible.

But we still try to have a special meal together on weekends, even if it means enjoying it in our favorite t-shirt and jammie-pants, and seeing whatever Netflix thinks we'll enjoy. I feel even more inclined to stay at home, given our bar-like collection of alcohol and the constant supply of fresh fruits and veggies with the CSA deliveries. Even though we're only doing a once every two week delivery, that box is filled to the brim and we rarely go through everything in a week's time. The bounty of stone fruit and summer squash gave rise to a simple pork tenderloin dish on an at-home Date Night not so long ago. I seared little medallions of pork, then deglazed the pan with some wine and threw in some chopped fruit and onions to make a chunky fruit salsa to finish the pork. Nectarines, plums and apricots all go really well with pork -- a nice mix of sweet and sour. Some roasted squash and mushrooms made for an easy side dish. Mr. Wasabi got experimental with the booze and mixed some drinks, and we had a nice cocktail hour before our meal.

Who needs to go out when you've got a bar/restaurant at home? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Fancy? Not really, but a nice reminder to make sure we don't get too caught up in our schedules, nor should we get caught up in making a dinner so complex we're too wiped out to enjoy it afterwards. It's easy to get lost in the weekday jungle and lose sight of the partnership at home, so having dinner with the one you love is most certainly a worthwhile priority.