Thursday 17 June 2010

Anniversary Celebrations

Wednesday was my 1st wedding anniversary so, with somewhat modest amounts of money, time and energy the husband and I set about having a thrill filled, romantic nostalgia fest.

I can almost guarantee that in the lead up to the evening we each had only one thing on our minds..however, that one thing was different for each of us.

Without overstepping the mark by explaining what I think my husband was after I will tell you the trail of my thoughts - what were we going to cook/eat/order/drink??

For me, the food when eating out generally has to cover 4 bases - is it veggie, is it reasonably priced, how many points is in it (weight watchers out there will know what I mean here) and has it been made with love and attention? Now, the latter seems a little hokey I know, but if the food has been prepared with the consideration of a robot...I swear you can taste it..you can taste it in the complete absence of seasoning, seasonality and authenticity. I'm no food snob but if you're going to offer me a salad of balsamic beets, goats cheese, walnuts and radicchio please don't plonk down a plate of flaccid mixed leaves, overcooked and under balsamic'd beets, 2 walnuts and a suspicion of goats cheese...your not only mugging me but you're mugging yourself!

With my above thoughts at the forefront of my mind we (I) had already decided we were not eating out which was handy as the majority our bank balance had recently been converted to euros and frittered away on churros and hot chocolate (recipe to follow), sangria, inexpensive yet quality wine and food magazines - we found a shop that stocked UK magazines and I was delighted to be able to get my fix of foodie journalism whilst lying on the beach!

So, what to eat? Firstly, I'm a gal who likes fizz...prosecco, jugs of asti with lime juice, champagne, cava...whatever..so we grabbed 2 bottles of quarter decent prosecco to accompany a selection of healthy, light and sensual nibbles to be eaten lingeringly with our fingers in an intimate setting of pillows, incence and candlelight...

Our affectionately named 'marriage mezze' included bowls full of Greek kalamata dry olives with their addictive salty/metallic taste that ensures the prosecco drinking is effortless! Cherry tomatoes on the vine - grown in the UK but with the taste of the Med. Cous cous with herbs and roasted vege dressed simply with olive oil and lemon. Sweet Potato and Harissa dip for a sweet, spicy kick which, when coupled with pitta breads split in half, sprayed with oil, sprinkled modestly with sea salt and paprika and baked until golden was the bees knees...the pitta chips also came in handy for shovelling (sensually of course!) mouthfuls of the cous cous.


And pud...

Cheesecake style cream - light cream cheese, greek yogurt, icing sugar, vanilla extract and a smidge of lemon to lift it.

And to dip....cherries, strawberries, really dark chocolate and our fingers...some ginger/oaty biccies would have gone down a treat had I had some lying around.

Sat together on a rug in our living room a glass of wine in one hand, a morsel in the other and matching glazed and bloodshot eyes we both began the battle not to yawn or appear anything but still 100% captivated with one another...when, really...I wanted a paneer and spinach curry mopped up with a floury chapati whilst I slobbed about in my leggings with no make up on watching bad TV...and my my poor hubby? He simply wanted to close his eyes.


But we persisted, such was our persistence that we ran out of booze and had to walk hand in hand to the local shop to buy more..whilst there and giddy from the fizz and lack of substantial food, I decided ice-cream and chocolate were needed...in my wisdom!

When we got back we flopped on the sofa; he drank the wine, I scoffed the chocolate to the point of regret/nausea and we both passed out! Happy Anniversary!

The cold light of the next morning provided ever-infuriating-always-too-late hindsight and, whilst powerwalking off the chocolate and wine, I decided that nibbles are all well and good at the weekend over cocktails with pals but that on a weekday night we needed and deserved that little bit more after long hours at work and hectic schedules and that wedding anniversary toasting material should be CHAMPAGNE ONLY (no corner shop fizz)!

So.....despite our efforts, we have rebooked our anniversary celebrations for 2nd July aka payday and the start of the weekend so we can enjoy ourselves with a little more cash and, more importantly, a little more time! And, whilst my darling otherhalf now forgets about it for the next 2 weeks, I will obsess about where and what we will eat using my mental checklist all the while hoping the waiter does'nt roll his/her eyes or huff when I ask if the risotto has been made with vegetable stock!

Either way we will be going out to eat which can be a veggie (and a weight and cost conscious) person's nightmare...watch this space...

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