We were supposed to have reservations at a five star restaurant...
You trudge through the door, letting it swing shut behind you. You slowly make the way to our bedroom, and collapse on the four poster we just bought. You kick off your shoes, and unbutton your blouse as you slowly walk to the bathroom – a long slow soak the only thing on your mind. I come into the house, and as soon as I hear Mozart's melodies floating around I immediately move to cancel our reservations at the restaurant.
"Honey, you in the bath?" I call, and am greeted by the sounds of you franticly splashing as you climb out of the Jacuzzi tub.
"Oh, shit! Sorry, I fell asleep; I'll be ready to go in ten minutes!"
"Don't worry, I already cancelled."
"But you had to pay to rent the entire room for us, why'd you cancel?"
"I thought you'd enjoy eating in more. I'm guessing you had a rough day at the office. Go back and keep soaking, I'll take care of dinner."
As you return to the bathroom, feeling slightly guilty, I remove my shirt, and stroll into the kitchen in my white under shirt and the slacks I wore to work. I had been hoping we'd end up eating in on our anniversary tonight, so I had planned ahead and bought a rack of lamb and fresh herbs, along with various other greens and soup items. I had been dying to try out some new recipes.
The aromatic scents slowly fill the house, and the kitchen looks like a mad scientists' lab, with the various pots cooking on the stove. I refuse to even let you see the kitchen, sending you to the dining room with a bottle of Chardonnay I had been saving and two glasses. You enter the room and see the table already set with our finest china and the candles burning. You see the preparation I have put into this, and quickly run to the bedroom to find something more than the bathrobe you are wearing.
You return just when I have placed the first course at our places, a crawdad and hominy soup – specially flavored. I pour the wine and place it in the chiller at your elbow and we dig in. The soup is delicious, creamy and smooth, with chunks of fresh crawdad and large pieces of hominy. You are surprised at the amount of spice in the dish, but the cayenne in the dish accents it perfectly.
With the soup finished, I remove the plates pouring you more wine and ensuring you wouldn't move from your seat. The salads come next, a very basic plain affair, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and light balsamic vinaigrette I had acquired on our last trip to Italy.
Then finally it is the main course - a roasted rack of lamb, delicately seasoned and serves on a bed of steamed greens with a side of puréed sweet potatoes. The meat had been cooked to perfection, and we both clean our plates extremely quickly. As I clear the last plate, you touch my arm, and ask "What is for dessert?"
When I reply that you should just sit and wait, it is a surprise. With that I retreat to the kitchen. You become quite curious, and sneak around to the hallway entrance of the kitchen in time to see me stop whipping the heavy cream and move on to cutting the nice ripe strawberries I had bought.
"So it's to be strawberry shortcake is it?" you ask, and I smile down at the ripe fruit, knowing full well your curiosity would get the better of you.