Date Night

Heaven is date night.

Living in the middle of nowhere with no family for many kilometres means that leaving Sprouts with a grandparent for a few hours to have a date or run errands has been outside our experience for all our Sprouts' lives (with the exception of visits).  Now Nana and Pop lie just down the road and they kept the Sprouts yesterday afternoon while LK and I went to town, did groceries etc. and had a date.  BLISS!

After the necessary groceries and errands were done we ate at the Southview Inn & Bistro, which was new to us.  It has been on our list of place to check out, but is not on the child-friendly side of the list, and so has languished untasted.  No more.

We started with a bread plate.  Crusty bread with oil and vinegar, hummus, and roasted garlic for tempting the palate.  I added a creamy chocolatini to that.  My new favourite bevvy (better than Bailey's) that requires lots of water to balance the kick it carries.

The soup course was  chicken with wild rice (wild rice being a local delicacy).  No can compares to homemade soups. We both "mmmm"ed our way through the soup with smiles growing ever wider as we sunk into the quiet and pleasure of the meal.  No asking people to stay at the table.  No reminding people that there would be no dessert if they didn't eat their dinner.  No interruptions to our conversation before even a sentence was out.

The main course was a stuffed tenderloin with a fig reduction and roasted seasonal vegetables served over a mountain of garlic mashed potatoes.  A wintery food hug.  Zucchini, red peppers and sweet potato have long been under-appreciated and should be lauded for their gorgeous colours as well as the variety of nutrients hiding inside.  And what can be said about garlic mashed potatoes?  These were even better than LK's version; and his are incredible.  The tenderloin was a rich mash of earthy flavours that matched the rest of the plate beautifully. 

We shared a slice of chocolate cake for dessert since we were both really enjoying ourselves so much and couldn't bear to end the meal quite yet.  And really, every meal should end with chocolate.

I walked away from the meal feeling sated physically and spiritually.  That kind of a meal should be a regular part of live to help me remember to appreciate what good ingredients and relaxed enjoyable company make.  Because this date made real that food and love are one.