Dinner at Eight: Sweetheart Date

A few weeks ago I stumbled across Rebekah's blog and her effort to be intentional in her marriage by dating her husband after the kids are in bed. She calls it dinner at eight and she and her friend Andi have several posts giving fun ideas but most of all encouraging spending quality time with our husbands.

Well, Derek and I have no kids yet but it is not always feasible to go out on a date with our budget. So often, we  opt to spend the evening in. But there's no reason why that can't be a date! It's easy to just throw on pajamas and watch a movie together (and that is lots of fun) but sometimes it's nice to make the evening special even though we're at home. 

This February the Dinner at Eight theme was Sweetheart. I can't say I put any thought or effort into this date but it was an enjoyable time. My parents gave us two steaks for Valentine's Day which was such a blessing! I had wanted to have a special dinner since I knew we would not be going out, but the groceries kind of piled up and I chose to have more practical items that we normally use instead of spending half the budget on a fancy dinner. So when we got these steaks I was so excited! We could have an extra special meal after all. 

I didn't get home from work until about 6:30 and when I got there, Derek had been so sweet and put a tablecloth on the table, lit candles, and was in dress clothes scrubbing dirty dishes! He left me a nice note and ordered me to change into something nice for dinner. 

He went outside to grill the steaks and I quickly threw together a yummy side dish of asparagus and pasta. We had Empire Biscuits (a sugar cookie sandwich with raspberry icing in the middle) for dessert. Everything was delicious and we enjoyed each other's company and conversation! This was definitely fun and I hope to have many more date nights in. 

I'm including the recipes for the steak marinade, asparagus pasta dish, and cookies we had for dessert. Each recipe is a winner! You should definitely try them out!

Poor Man’s Steak  (I just used the marinade part of this recipe since we obviously had much nicer steaks!)                           

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp. onion powder

2 lbs. boneless chuck steak  

In large Ziploc bag, combine first seven ingredients. Add the beef; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. 

Spicy Pasta with Asparagus  (Adjust red pepper flakes to suit your taste buds)                      

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2-3 dashes hot sauce

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tbsp. butter

1 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces

Salt to taste

¼ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. pepper

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

½ lb. penne or farfalle pasta

In a skillet, cook garlic, red pepper flakes and hot sauce in oil and butter for 2-3 minutes. Add asparagus, salt and pepper, sauté until asparagus in crisp tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese, mix well. Pour over hot pasta and toss to coat. Can top with grilled chicken to make a meal. Serve immediately. 

Empire Biscuits   (A Scottish cookie that our family loves to make. Definitely worth the effort!)                        

Cream:

1 stick butter

½ cup sugar

Beat in:

1 egg

In a separate bowl,, sift together:

1 ½ cup flour

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Roll out and cut as desired. Bake in 300 degree oven depending on how brown you want them. Put together with raspberry jam in the middle and icing on top. Put a small piece of maraschino cherry in the center of the icing. Don’t gobble them all up at once.

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. corn syrup or more if you want thinner

2 tsp. milk