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Posts tagged as “dinner for two”

Menu Idea: Easy & casual dinner on the grill

Prior to COVID-19, Dave and I tried to have a date night outside of the house at least once a week. It was a nice way to break up our schedule and take some time to decompress by going to a favorite restaurant, hitting up a movie, shopping, or playing a few rounds of billiards.

When restaurant dine-in service was shut down, and even now with limited capacity, we adapted by doing at least one night of take-out a week from some of our favorite places that were still open as well as having "car picnics" or "tailgate picnics" in parking lots or at parks. We even ate Indian food (rice and all) once or twice in the truck, which was kind of fun. :D

Otherwise, we've made it a point to sit outside on our patio more for dinner during the week and for lunch on the weekends, making good use of the grill - in the summer to keep the house cooler on some of the hotter days that we've had but also in the fall and winter months, too, just for a change of pace.

Dave and I both love to grill. Rain or shine, cold or hot, any time of the year.

We call our patio the patino since it was large enough just for the grill or our outdoor garbage cans when we first moved in. One of our first "real" home projects we did together, two years ago this April, was to expand it to about 8'x8'.

It's still on the smaller side, but large enough to now accommodate a bistro table and chairs along with the grill. Four chairs can fit, but it's roomier if we move the grill off to the grass if we have company. One day, we hope to add a walkway of bricks as well as a larger front patio to connect the two together

But it's very enjoyable to sit outside with a cup of coffee to start the day or a glass of wine to end the day.

Menu Inspiration: Romantic Dinner Date

It makes me cringe to know that we're already a full month and then-some into 2019. January is in the books, and in a few days we'll be coming up on Valentine's Day. (We'll be talking about spring next, then Memorial Day will be coming up on the heels of summer... yikes.) For the last several years, I've found it more fun to lovingly plan a menu of delicious, home-cooked foods that both of us enjoy rather than going out for Valentine's Day. Going out to eat on a holiday is rarely great, in my experience. Restaurants are often so crowded and everything, even at finer restaurants, feels rushed. It's hardly worth getting dressed up only to come and go in a matter of an hour, maybe two, and not really have time to savor everything. The planning of a special V-Day dinner menu only adds to the fun, and Dave and I have now made a little tradition out of it.