Weekend of Possibilities

This month we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I had booked tickets to see the Flight of the Conchords a few months ago and it conveniently fell the week after our anniversary. I have been a bit scratchy the last few months so a nice romantic weekend away was what we really needed. Some much needed reconnection time. I planned a weekend away to the big city and we called it the "Weekend of Possibilities", doing stuff that we don't get to do these days with three kids in tow. I had  planned a few things and left room for spontaneous plans too.

Highlights were:

 Stopping in at the Kaiwaka Odd Socks Cafe and scoring this burger for $3.50

Shooting stuff. I sucked at this...but it was fun giving it ago.

My first time go carting...The guys past me several times...but fun none the less.

We checked into our downtown apartment, which apparently used to be in Auckland's red light district...oops. 26 floors up gave us a great view over the harbour...or the heebie jeebies when we looked down.

I scored us a Grab One deal to Mikano in Auckland. A 6 course degustation menu for half price.

We walked to the Vector arena and was thoroughly entertained by the the Flight of Conchords. The were such a laugh.

 On Saturday morning hubby did the Powerade challenge while I enjoyed a sleep in. He ran 9km along the waterfront and did a respectable time of 45 minutes. Well done piyar. Somebody is finding it a little difficult to walk a few days later though!

Hubbies Brunch

Saturday afternoon I went on the hunt for some Macarons.  I drove to Newmarket especially to find some from this chick. I felt no shame in asking for one of each flavour...11 in all! Don't worry I shared some with hubby.

On Saturday night we went out to Simon Gault's Euro restaurant. Yep...it was pretty upmarket alright. I left the camera at home as I didn't want to look like a couple of yokels. Really nice food that's nice to do once in a loooong while.

image

After that we braved walking in the city at night to the Comedy Bar. I had booked tickets to see Ben Hurley..who ended up being sick. A comedy bar is definitely not for the faint hearted. A lot of swearing and gross humour...so you have to take the good with the bad. And unfortunately we got placed in the front row...literally spiting distance from the the comedians, and of course they ripped into us. Hubby told them that we were from out of town and had left the kids at home...and he thought that was hilarious...making it sound like we had left them literally at home to fend for them selves! We had a good laugh but probably wouldn't do it again.

I kept saying to hubby as we walked back to the apartment..."look at us walking through Queens Street on a Saturday night...how hip are we!" Of course when you have to point it out like that...its official...you are NOT hip any more ;)

We had a great time on our Weekend of Possibilities, doing the two things we as couple most enjoying doing together: EATING and LAUGHING.  Must do it again sometime. Right back to reality and maybe a diet!

Herb crusted Lamb Rack

What do you do when Grandma decides to take the older two kids for the night? You promptly update your Facebook status inviting ideas for a Romantic Dinner for two because its been so long you can't even remember what to do! With the food critics gone, I was excited about making something delicious for us that we could enjoy in peace. Sima J suggested a yummy rack of lamb...and it went from there.

Menu

Entree
New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels in a red Thai coconut cream curry, with crusty bread

Mains
New Zealand Lamb with a herb crust, over hassle back potato and balsamic and honey glazed carrots.

Dessert
Sara Lee Sticky Date pudding with whipped cream.

And because I know you desperately need to know how to make one of these bad boys next time you want to cook a romantic meal for your love...I'm gonna share the recipe! Beware though...rack of lamb is not cheap...so a nice once a year meal for us I think! But oh my! It tastes so good!

Herb Crusted rack of Lamb.
Ingredients:
Rack of Lamb (French trimmed)
Mustard
1 cup Bread crumbs
2-3 cloves garlic
Some Parsely
Some Rosemary
Salt and pepper

Method: For the crust. Blitz your bread crumbs garlic and herbs together until all crumbly. Add a little olive oil just to help bind it a little. Set aside on a plate.
Season lamb generously with salt and pepper, then sear on all sides to get some good colour, (because as Gordon says colour equals flavour!). Then smear mustard all over it. Place your crumbs on a plate then put your mustard covered lamb on top and coat it all over with the crumb mixture.
Place it in a preheated oven at 180 Celsius until cooked to your liking...best at medium rare which took about 10-15minutes. Serve with a nice red wine jus and veges. Bon appetite.
If you need to see how Gordon Ramsey does it...check out his You Tube Video

A way to a mans heart....

...is through his stomach.
I sneaked a Valentines card and two protein bars for his morning tea in his bag to find at work. He was pleasantly surprised. For Valentines dinner this year we stayed home. I would usually find us a babysitter and book us a table somewhere for dinner, but it just didn't work out this year. The jump from two to three kids for a babysitter just seems too much to organise. So I made us a nice tea at home. I had envisioned a nice romantic candle lite dinner after the kids had gone to bed. But it just didn't work out that way...so dinner for two was the usual party of five. I made us "duck al' orange". I know! Fancy much! Well it was my take on it (It always is!). Along with some champagne and a some dessert later after the kids were in bed.

Duck al'orange (fancy name for orange glaze)..on a bed of red cabbage and broccoli with potato stacks. And delicious Kapiti Ice cream for dessertMaintaining the romance after almost 10 years of marriage, three kids, a mortgage and work, seems like so much effort but they say "familiarity breeds contempt." So what if Valentines Day is a big money making-commercial day? I still need reminding that I am loved and I have someone to love. A hallmark card helps me remember that for the rest of year I should let the one I love KNOW that he is loved.

Happy Valentines to my LOVE!P.S
Thankfully he understands the bloggers need to take a picture of the food BEFORE it can be eaten!

Swing and a miss....

I don't know what it is about Christmas presents...but me and my hubby can't seem to get it together when it comes to giving each other gifts. I'm not sure if its the pressure of the season but it always seems to come up...well.. swing and a miss.
It's so weird. He knows me like no one else. We have the same sense of humour and have even developed our own language and in-jokes that no one else would get. And last night we discovered he has started finishing my sentences. After 9 years married we are in sync. Except when it come to gift giving!

Take last year, for instance. We actually bought each other the exact same present! We had to have a laugh at each other when we both opened up a Texas Holdem Poker set. Maybe just a little too in in sync?!

One of the first presents I got him was a subscription to a fishing magazine. Except I hadn't bothered to buy him the current magazine. Instead he got to open up (in front of his family) a card that I had lovingly prepared and decorated with pictures of fishing stuff on it. I got the response no one wants to hear..."What is it?"

The year before that he bought me a new frying pan and some bananas. Admittedly it was to make me some Pancakes with bananas and bacon for breakfast, but it was funny opening up bananas in Christmas wrapping.

And this year was no different. I thought since we were going to the beach for the week at Christmas a new snorkeling set would be ideal. I must have asked everyday..."You gonna go out for a snorkel today?". Until finally he revealed he hates snorkeling by himself, and is just a tad fearful of sharks, and probably won't be using it anytime soon.

And although I wasn't expecting anything this year because I bought myself an early Christmas present (A new bike for my triathlon), I was happy to open a gift from my love. A couple of CDs (not quite my taste) and a pack of my favourite brand of coffee.

I really don't want to get to the stage where you buy your own Christmas presents and wrap them up just to open something up on the day. But wasting money is a big downer. How do you all get on with getting the other half a Christmas gift?

Flowers for me....from me.

“Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood.” unknown author

When ever I go to the Saturday market, I always look longingly at the gerbera stand. Gerberas are one of my favourite flowers, I had them in my wedding bouquet.
Last Saturday I bought myself this bouquet. For no other reason than I wanted to. I just felt like making my day a little brighter with some flowers. I would never buy myself a bouquet of flowers. Instead I would expect that my husband should because that's what loving husbands do. Right?

There was a young couple in our church and it seemed like the husband was forever giving his wife flowers. And I used to be a little miffed. It seemed like their marriage was so lovely, and she was treated like a princess. That was until we had them over for dinner and we talked about how he was always giving his wife flowers and he admitted it was because he was always making up for being in the doghouse for something he had done wrong!

After nine years of marriage, I no longer expect my husband to get me flowers, because unmet expectations breeds dissatisfaction. If you want or need something you are better off just communicating and asking...or just getting it yourself. And if you are blessed enough to be surprised with a bouquet of flowers, then its so much more enjoyable.