How to Make Something Special Out of Not Much More Than Air - Shel Horowitz's Monthly Frugal Fun Tip

How to Make Something Special Out of Not Much More Than Air

Two nights before we moved to our new house, it was my turn to cook. My wife was driving a load of stuff to the new house, and dropping my daughter off at a sleepover.

Then my son got a last-minute dinner invitation. My wife and I would get to have dinner alone together.

I wanted to make it a special evening--but just about everything was packed except for a couple of pots and pans, this week's farm vegetables from our cooperative farm, some cheddar cheese, and a few odds and ends.

Rummaging around the freezer, I came up with rice, corn tortillas and some spare cayenne that we stored there for freshness. In the vegetable bin, there were broccoli, green pepper, cucumber, one tiny onion, and greens. And I found two tiny bits of leftovers in the fridge: a curried eggplant dip and some mushrooms cooked in lemon.

I cooked the rice, chopped the broccoli and onion and sauteed them with prepared garlic and some of the cayenne. Threw in the two leftovers, mixed them together, grated some cheese, and spread it all on the tortillas to make broccoli-mushroom quesadillas. Then I threw together a salad and sketched a picture of a bottle of French wine and two wine glasses, and another sketch of two candlesticks with lit candles. I labeled both pictures "virtual," cleaned all the prep dishes and counters, and arranged all three dishes artistically on two of the four remaining plates we hadn't packed.

My wife was pleasantly shocked; a romantic gourmet dinner for just the two of us was not what she expected. So for an hour of my time, I managed to create a gourmet meal and a romantic ambiance, even with nothing in the house.

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