6 Month Anniversary Dinner

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Momokins

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
3
It's been 6 months since my boyfriend and I started going out, and I really want to cook him a nice dinner. I just need some opinions on what I'm serving.

For the ambitious!

1. Salad
I'm thinking, considering the main course, I will try a fruit and nut salad to reflect the savory+sweet tastes.
I might make a jicama/snap pea/grape/romaine lettuce/nut salad. I'll wing it and make a balsamic citrus dressing.

2. Soup
I want to make a fondue style cheese soup. I just need a good recipe for it. I have a fondue set somewhere and I will probably serve it with homemade bread (sourdough? nut bread?), apples, and cauliflower/broccoli.

3. Main course
I'm making lamb and mint sauce but I've never cooked lamb before. I'm not sure how to dress it. Should I cook it with herbs? I only know the finishing temperature of lamb, so that it cooks slow and is nice and moist.
I need to choose between saffron rice and mashed potatoes to serve with the lamb.

4. Dessert
Scones dipped in cream? Maybe Tangyuan? Maybe a pie? I can't decide.

5. Drink
I'm thinking something with cinnamon, if I go non-alcoholic. I'm no good at choosing wines.


(I'll look at other topics too, this forum is so active and helpful. Thanks guys.)
 
Momokins, welcome aboard, that certainly is ambitious.

Am afraid I do not have as much gumption as you.

For an anniversary would probably do a menu that would be allow us to spend our time together.

Love the idea of a salad and then a fondue. They are face to face dishes.

At least to me they would fill me up.

If you want another course might toss in a shrimp cocktail or another appetizer at the start.

Dessert? Maybe a trifle or a custard. Can be made beforehand. You don't want to be working during this dinner.

A white wine would do well.

If you know little about wines maybe a chardonnay. Or a German riesling.

Doesn't need to be expensive, let us say in the $8 to $10 range would be fine (of course you can go as high as you want).

The point, at least in my humble opinion, is that this is a dinner for celebration, and not one for much work.

Prepare ahead and enjoy.
 
I'd go with the salad, skip the soup (too heavy), skip the lamb since you've never made it before and go with something that is your specialty that he has never tried. Scones dipped in cream sounds nice. Not sure about a cinnamon drink, I've never had one myself. I think wine sounds good as auntdot suggested.

If it were me, I would go with seafood all the way to keep it light ;)
 
I like Auntdot's reply about making a romantic dinner.
We did a lot of bbq and camping that summer. Now it's December. Auntdot says keep dinner simple so I would veto a grill that needs too much attention. I think starting out with a beverage would be nice while you're looking at pic's and things collected.
We laugh a lot about the circle of friends we were with when we met. Our first special dinner was probably Christmas Dinner. We had been to so many Christmas parties that we wanted to stay home that day. We had salad, ribeye's, baked potatoes, and peach cobbler with ice cream. I can't ever remember being in the kitchen without him.
 
I think Auntdot's idea is spot on. Make something that can be prepared before hand. The idea of fondue is great because it's interactive and potentially romantic where you can feed each other. I don't remember the recipe exactly but I used to make a Kirshwasser (cerry brandy)/ gruyere fondue. It was shredded gruyere tossed with cornstarch and a little cayenne blended into hot kirscwasser. It was great with bread and straberries. You could save the fondue for dessert and make a chocolate fondue served with fruits, pound cake and marshmallows instead. For drinks I would start with a Spanish Cava (Spanish Champagne). They're inexpensive but great tasting and a bit more exotic than a Califonia sparling wine. Then possibly look at Spansih Tapas (little plates) again a finger food and maybe a few more wines a Crianza (red dry) and a Marques de Riscal Rueda (Spanish white, fruitier with a peach flavor). Serve it on a coffee table so your sitting on the floor with a bunch of candles lit.

Tapas can be as simple as a plate of olives, or cheese, breads, Tortilla (spanish omlete), mussles. Search Tapas on google or yahoo and you'll find a bunch of recipes.

Congrats and Merry Christmas,

JDP
 
I'd go with finger foods and a quilt spread out in the living room. NO TV, only music, candles all around. Champagne/sparkling wine goes with everything. :chef:
 
Wow thank you all so much for the great ideas. I love the idea of sitting on the floor, and I have wanted to try Cava but didn't think to incorporate it.

Now all I have to worry about is the presentation. I'm afraid I have no china! :)

Thanks again everybody!
 
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