On Valentines Day & Last Minute Gifts

Valentines Day. People seem to either complain about being single (and apparently sitting alone in their underwear and eating Nutella to drown their sorrows, according to my Facebook feed), gush over each other in public with far too much enthusiasm, or simply not care. Not exactly the most successful holiday of the calendar, is it.

Personally, I have been one of the people who brush it by the wayside. Chris and I have date nights every other week, so we don't feel the need to celebrate this day with anymore than a minor acknowledgment. Plus, the next two weeks of February sees both our birthdays AND our anniversary, so we aren't really missing out on anything!

Admittedly, we did go out last night for dinner and a show (meatballs on Swan St and Nina Las Vegas Presents, to be in fact). Tonight, Chris is at work, so I have plans for dinner, the gym, and starting a new tv show. 

Dinner at the Meatball & Wine Bar // One half of Cosmos Midnight // Nina Las Vegas

However, this morning I felt inspired to whip together a little gift of sorts for Chris. I have seen similar things online before, and it has always struck me as a sweet idea. So in a matter of ten minutes I was able to put this little guy together.

What's that Reanna? You did something creative AND tried to set up a photo?

All this involved was a permanent marker, a little bottle/jar, paper, a piece of string, and some coloured popsicle sticks (left over from when I made a Hobbit themed terrarium…). The idea is that whenever we feel like going out together, we can select one of the "ideas" I have already stored in here. It could be at random, or with a bit of careful selection (some ideas being a bit more pricey than others!). So far I have popped in a few bars and cafes we have always wanted to go to, some we have already been to but have been meaning to check out again, and a few less specific adventures we have always aspired to do. I'm going to encourage Chris to add a couple of his own when he gets it! Forever the ideas man.

Simple, but considering I made this about two hours ago, I am relatively happy with it.
What do you think about the whole Valentine's Day saga? Pro or against? 

Either way, I send love to you all!

Reanna.

Being Fancy: Dinner on the Colonial Tramcar

Trams have become a rather iconic part of Melbourne over the years, and even more iconic is probably the famed fleet of tramcar restaurants. I have often chanced upon one slowly crawling along the St Kilda tram lines, and fantasised about dinner upon it. However, I never investigated them anymore, feeling such an indulgence would be far too fancy for myself. This Christmas just gone, however, Chris and I were lucky enough to receive a voucher for an early dinner upon the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. Naturally, we were far too excited - any gift involving food, wine and Melbourne is sure to please us. We booked in our dinner within a matter of weeks and eagerly leapt on board our tram,

The trams themselves are simply amazing to behold. The indoor decor was beautiful, representing past colonial times with plush cushions and brass fittings. The staff were wonderful and enthusiastic, as well as ever willing to ensure your wine glass was full. 

The early dinner included a three course meal of appetisers, a main, and dessert. All of it was delicious, though nothing incredibly spectacular. The wine, on the other hand, was fantastic. Experiencing the atmosphere of eating and enjoying each others company on these quaint trams was by far the highlight of the night. 

I wish I had captured more photos of the interior of the tram, but as you can see above the mood lighting was not helping my (poor) attempts at photography!

If you are ever in need of a gift for someone, or just a fancy date night with a bit of classic Melbournian twist, try it out! Have you been on any fancy date nights lately? I love going out for nights like this, I really feel like it's a great way to spend quality time with my quality man.
Reanna.

Spanish Fiesta

As I mentioned the other day, Chris and I had plans for a spanish fiesta date night at home! It was meant to be my turn to choose a destination for date night, but due to our change of plans to stay home, it became my responsibility to choose a theme instead! We eat such a variety of cuisines at home anyway, so this proved to be a bit challenging (plus, I just suck at making decisions!). I eventually landed on the idea of Spanish tapas. While these probably aren't in your true spanish style - we aren't really into eating cured meats, cheeses, and we wanted to incorporate in a few more vegetables - this is what we served up!

Our meal was paired with some homemade sangria! It's traditionally made with red wine, but we decided to opt for a lighter, easier drink. This was made up of a mix of white wine (we used a riesling), soda water, chopped fruit (whatever grabs your fancy; we had peach, lemon and blood orange) and a swig of brandy. You can add sugar if you prefer it sweeter, and alter anything else to your taste.

Ta-da! Homemade tapas. Due to a combination of my poor photography skills, and even worse food presentation ability, it doesn't look overly appealing. But hey, as long as it tastes good!

Right at the back we had a simple side salad, and in the middle we had a platter with Spanish Chickpea Balls with Romesco Sauce, and some calamari rings grilled up with a homemade yogurt, tahini and lemon sauce.

On the left here is Chicken and Raisin Empanadas. Upon googling these about two minutes ago, I discovered that are in fact of Portuguese origin. Ooops. They still make them in Spain though haha! I made a few alterations to this recipe (eg. I was too cheap to buy pine nuts), and I made the pastry myself. However, for the pastry I substituted white flour for wholemeal, and butter for olive oil. I found this made the pastry a bit more dry and difficult to work with, so I had to add a bit more water, but it worked out well enough in the end.

On the right, we have a Spanish Omelette/Tortilla, which I read is the ultimate tapas dish. I replaced the regular potato for sweet potato, and brown onion for red onion. It looks like a bit of a mess, but I was just happy the whole thing didn't fall apart! I have never been able to make a successful omelette. Ever. Did I miss out on that life skill somehow?

Here is my plate of deliciousness just prior to being demolished.

I've written about my love of being able to cook a great meal at home and enjoy it with someone before, and I still stand by that. I adore dinner parties with friends, meals with family, and just having dinner at home. I guess I'm lucky in regards to having someone who shares my passion for cooking healthy and fun meals in our own kitchen. 

I'll stop raving about cooking now haha.

Do you have date nights? Cooked any big feasts up at home lately?

Reanna.

The little things

Yesterday afternoon, Chris decided that we should have a bit of a "date night" at home. Wine, three course meal, and each other. Absolute bliss.

We had a wonderful night, spent cooking, laughing, eating delicious food, drinking wine, and enjoying each others company. I am so grateful to have someone who enjoys these little things as much as I do.

Our three course menu consisted of grilled vegetables and tahini dressing for starters, homemade spinach pasta and slow cooked meatballs for the main, and orange poached pears for dessert (I'll post a recipe for this one soon!).

And we ended the night with a board game - Game of Life anyone? Simpsons themed! Haha.

It's amazing how such a simple night at home can be such a meaningful thing in our relationship. Even living with someone doesn't necessarily mean that all the time you spend together is quality - sometimes it worth putting in that little bit extra effort to make something special.

Thank you for letting me share these little snapshots of my night with you. And sorry for the quality of the photos - I'm stuck with a mere iphone camera for the time being!

Reanna.