Date night dinner....Part 1

This past week the boy was on vacation, visiting with his grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins. We took the opportunity to have a dinner date.

We went to Mr. P.'s Bistro in Southport. Local friends, if you have never been...what are you waiting for? It is still my favorite place to eat a fancy dinner out with my honey.

It was a Monday night,

so it was not that busy. We decided to go on a whim. That turned out to be a really good decision, because I am not sure we could have had a night out that week otherwise between long work hours for Jeff, rehearsals for Into the Woods and just a busy schedule in general.

I was really in the mood for a steak, so I chose the Filet Mignon. It is served with a caramelized onion and bourbon butter. (You're salivating now, aren't you? Go ahead, admit it). It came served with roasted potatoes and a vegetable. I picked the fried green tomatoes. Don't judge. It counts as a vegetable. Sort of. Jeff wanted seafood so he ordered the fresh red snapper stuffed with crab meat. He also got the potatoes and the fried green tomatoes.

Our dinners were cooked perfectly. I could have cut the steak, which I ordered medium-rare, with a fork

because it was so tender. The potatoes had just a hint of salt and pepper and the fried green tomatoes were crispy and not the least bit greasy. To go along with the date night theme, we ordered fancy cocktails. Mine was a flavored cosmo-type drink and Jeff had the Southport Streetcar -- Maker's Mark, Cointreau and lemon juice in a martini glass rimmed with sugar. It was so good in fact, that he had two. Which made him a little giggly and I had to drive home. After we sat on a bench at the waterfront for a while. It was not hot, the breeze felt wonderful and the company was even better. All in all, a great success.

Yes, this was an expensive dinner. It's not something we can do every day, or every month for that matter. But we have to treat ourselves sometimes. We like good food, so a nice dinner out is a good date for us. We all get busy, and it is important to set time aside to remind ourselves and each other that we matter - that we are important to each other and together.

We did manage to squeeze in one more date night that week when we cooked together at home. Look for more on that one coming soon in Date night dinner....Part 2.