While date night at home is healthier and cheaper, spending it in at home with your partner can be an intimate and sensual evening. We’re sharing 5 date night at home ideas and tips for getting back to just the two of you through cooking.
No matter how busy we get, Philip and I still make time for regular date nights. Sometimes it means making dinner reservations at a new restaurant, and other times means spending QT time doing a fun activity in the city. But, no matter how good the restaurant or how much fun we have at an outing, our favourite date nights are when we stay in for date night at home and make dinner together.
We know you’re probably thinking, they cook together all the time for their blog. But carving out time for date night at home means no recipe development, no testing, no styling, no photographing, no editing and no writing for Chef Sous Chef. Date night at home means not waiting to be seated and not being interrupted by your waiter; it means getting back to just the two of us, back to the start of us cooking together, and back to us as a couple or simply Philip and Mystique.
While date night at home is healthier and cheaper, spending it in at home with your partner can be an intimate evening. There’s something sensual about playing with ingredients, sautéing and tasting, the process of cooking together, setting the table and enjoying your meal, all while post-dinner Netflix and chill awaits you.
Just like dinner at a restaurant or tickets to show, date night at home is an experience and can make a big impact in rekindling the romance between you and your significant other. Here are a few fun tips for making date night at home in the kitchen one of your favourite date nights ever:
1.
Channel Your Inner Chef and Sous Chef
Role playing in and out of the kitchen is a must when it comes to enjoying date night at home. Channel your inner Chef and Sous Chef and assign a lead and assistant in the kitchen to avoid accidents and confusion. Specific roles in the kitchen ensures you both have a helping hand in preparing the meal.
It’s also a great way to equally divide the fun tasks like chopping and stirring from the not-so-fun tasks like washing and drying the dishes. Plus, role playing Chef and Sous Chef does have its own perks of being the ultimate foreplay (just be sure to turn off the burners before you head to the bedroom).
2.
Dress to Impress
Just because you’re spending the evening in doesn’t mean it’s okay to lounge around in your pjs and slippers. Treat your date night at home as an actual date night, and make the night and yourself feel special by getting dressed up, putting flowers in a vase and opening a nice bottle of wine.
The same goes for the ambiance; use Spotify to find the ultimate playlist, light a few candles to set the mood and set the table with linens, cutlery and a table cloth. Like any good date night, it’s all about the small details and the moments you create that really count.
3.
Try a New Recipe
Cooking a new recipes ensures equal playing (and cooking) field, especially if one of you is typically the lead in the kitchen. We suggest starting your date night at home by selecting a cookbook from your local bookstore or library, or printing off a few recipes from your favourite blog (ahem).
Choosing a few recipes or a starter, appetizer and dessert allows you to fully dive in and not only test out your cooking skills but also time management and team building (there must be a relationship lesson in here somewhere). Trying a new recipe together adds to the cooking experience and allows you both to venture off learning and trying new dishes together.
4.
Toast to the Evening
Start your evening by opening your favourite wine or prosecco and toasting to the night. The quote by W.C. Fields, “I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food,” is proof that cooking and wine is an honorary tradition in the kitchen and one you definitely shouldn’t break.
For us, celebrating the evening with a cheers sets the evening up for success but it’s the cork that allows us to remember the night. Ever since we can remember, Philip and I have saved our wine corks in a large box, writing the date and memory on the cork of when we enjoyed the bottle. We also had our guests sign wine corks from our wedding as our guest book for our wedding.
5.
Post-Dinner Activities are a Must
Like any good date, the meal is just the beginning of a memorable date night. Continue date night at home out of the kitchen with an unwinding activity or moment together. If the foreplay of role playing, the flirty nature of playing with ingredients or the sensual taste of a home cooked meal isn’t enough to get you lucky then we recommend a few other options.
Board games on the floor with wine, couch time with blankets, a movie and snacks, or a post-dinner walk is a wonderful way to close the evening, just hope your date night at home went well enough that you get an invitation back inside for a night cap.
What are your tips for hosting date night at home in the kitchen?
Bon appetit,
Chef Sous Chef
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