A "Blind" Date

A couple of weeks ago, I came up with a fun little idea to start creating monthly "blind" dates for me and the hubby. I am a big fan of having frequent date nights and to me, a "date" night represents a planned segment of time that you set aside for your significant other and yourself to honor each other and your relationship. Being homebodies and frugal consumers that we are, we tend not to "wine and dine" ourselves too often and most of our date nights lately, have been spent on the couch in front of the tv and computer.

So in came, operation "Blind Dates!" The idea is, each month, one of us will have to plan a special day/event for the other. It has to be something that we know the other will love and we can't spend more than $30. So it basically requires you to get a little creative and put some thought into it.

I kicked it off this month and reserved this day on our calender a few weeks ago. It started with a brilliant breakfast of course. Blueberry French Toast with melted peaches.

The bread was a new find, Sara Lee's Blueberry crumble and the peach syrup was frozen peaches heated in a skillet with a little brown sugar. I also topped it off with a little french vanilla yogurt. Very delightful!

After breakfast, we got ready to embark on part 2 of the date. I packed us a picnic lunch and we headed over to City Island. City Island is a great little outdoor marina spot located right near the city of Harrisburg. Another noteworthy attraction here, would be the Harrisburg Senators baseball stadium where our minor league team plays. Throughout the season, we usually go to one or two games and tickets are cheap!! ($5, you can't beat it!)

We walked around a bit by the water and then found a nice little spot to eat our packed lunch. Sandwiches, crackers, fruit and carrots was on the menu.

After lunch, we headed to the stadium for the game. Although it was quite muggy and humid, there is nothing like watching a baseball game on a weekend afternoon.

We got pretty sweaty and tired by the 5th inning and decided to come home and relax.

A little later, it was dinner time, to which I continued to honor this day with one of Toly's favorite meals....Grilled Salmon, baked potatoes and corn.

I'm not one to toot my own horn, but my salmon is one of my specialities. Every time I make this, Toly agrees that it's the best he has ever had and it doesn't compare to anything he would get in a restaurant. I know I know, I'm so modest, but the magic is all in my secret marinade. Sorry guys, I'm going to the grave with this one. I think every good chef should have on recipe that they keep top secret-it's kind of legendary.

I threw some taters on the grill as well (regular ol' Idaho for the boy and a yam for myself) and also grilled squash for my veggie side. (Toly had corn-his favorite vegetable of course)

Dinner was delicious, the day was relaxing and fun, and now we are going to end this date on a high note-with a movie and some ice cream. What could be more enjoyable?

Can't wait to see what he has in mind for my date next month. He already admitted he has a few ideas in mind, so we shall see what my creative lil hubby has up his sleeve. ;)