light up the sky

A few weeks ago, I was at work like any normal day. Michael and I had a conversation via gchat that went something like this:

Me: "Hey honey. I am making turkey sandwiches for dinner tonight. Aren't you so glad you're dating a food blogger? Want to come over?"

Michael: "Can we have turkey sandwiches to go?"

Me: "That makes no sense. If we are 'going' then let's buy real food."

Michael: "Well I have a surprise! I will pick you up at 6:00 tonight."

Me: "Yay! Okay! What should I wear?"

Michael: "Your adventure clothes."

While I was contemplating buying a scuba suit or hiking boots, I went home after work so excited for our date night. After dinner (at Chipotle!!!) he started driving West on roads I had never seen in my life.

We stopped in the very random town of Greenbackville, Maryland... where I think there is nothing but a crab shack and this beautiful section of the Chesapeake Bay.

I love water in any form. I am so happy Delaware has bays, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams and the Atlantic Ocean.

We caught a killer sunset along with some obvious making out in the car. Let's be honest. (194 days until we get married!!!!!!!!)

I thought the killer sunset was my surprise, but he kept driving on roads I had never been on before and we ended up in Wallops Island, Virginia across Oyster Bay from NASA Wallops... to watch a rocket launch!

NASA was launching the Minotaur 1 rocket with the ORS 1 Satellite that will be used for Air Force defense. We were only about 1.2 miles from the launch pad with the best view ever.

This is right after it launched. It all happened so fast and was so loud, I can't believe I even got a picture!

We were listening to the Launch Commander on the radio. He said within seconds, the rocket was 900 miles away going 12,000 miles per hour. I can't even understand it!

Top 5 coolest thing I've ever seen. For real.

Here is Michael's photo. He set his camera on a long shutter speed to capture the whole thing.

He dropped me off at home around 1:30 am on a weekday. I was tired at work the next day, but it was so worth it.

We are only a little under 2 hours from NASA Wallops. I want to keep checking their website to go again. I would love to see a shuttle launch! Does that make me a huge nerd?

filet au poivre with hasselback potatoes

This meal is actually very easy. You will be surprised that you can make something so elegant with hardly any effort. It's also delicious in every way. The steak is super tender, the pan sauce is creamy and rich, and the potatoes are crispy and buttery. Does it get any better?

I made this for our Valentine's Day dinner last night. It was a big hit with the boyfriend, who is a true meat and potatoes lover.

By the way, how hysterical is this potato? I knew I wasn't serving an appetizer or any other side, so I wanted what little I was making to be filling. So I bought 2 of the most ginormous potatoes I could find. They look monstrous compared to a tiny filet.

So first you want to bake the potato. Hasselback potatoes are new in my life, I discovered them on Tastespotting a few months ago. You can take a plain old potato and make it super fancy.

Start by cleaning the potatoes, because you're going to be eating the skin. Then slice off a small portion of the bottom, just so it sits evenly while you slice and bake it.

Work your way down the potato with a sharp knife, cutting thin slices about 3/4 of the way through. Leave it attached at the bottom. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. I sliced up 2 garlic cloves and fit the slices into the potato, as you can see above.

This adds a nice roasted garlic flavor. I disposed of the burnt cloves before I served the potatoes.

Now your side dish is done. It look like 5 minutes to prepare and after an hour in the oven, you have a crispy, delicious potato. I think I will make this all the time.

Next comes some beautiful filets. I love this cut of meat. It's so tender and low in fat.

Start by heating up an oven safe skillet on high heat. Melt some butter and coat the steaks in salt and freshly ground black pepper. Traditionally, steak au poivre uses peppercorns.

Sear the steaks for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until you are confident there is a nice crust. To achieve this, don't move the steak while they are searing, only to flip them. It's a beautiful thing when you turn them over. I saw the above and I yelled from the kitchen, "MOM COME LOOK AT THIS!"

Stick them in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes to finish cooking.

The pan sauce is easy too. Immediately take the steaks out of the pan when they are done. Put the pan back on low heat, it will be hot from the oven so be careful. Swirl around a tablespoon of butter while scraping the bottom of the pan with a whisk. Add dijon mustard, beef broth and cream. Whisk it and try to stop drooling.

Then spoon the sauce over both the steak and the potato. It's out of control.

I hope you try it!

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Filet au Poivre

print this recipe

2 whole beef filets
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/4 cup beef broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat up an oven safe skillet over high heat.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper, then sear steaks about 2 minutes on each side. Place skillet in hot oven for 5 to 6 minutes to finish cooking, for medium well. Remove from the oven and immediately put the steaks on a separate plate and set aside to rest.

Put the skillet over low heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and stir with a whisk to scrape bits off the bottom of the pan. Add dijon mustard and whisk. Add beef broth and heavy cream. Season with more salt and pepper. Whisk everything together until the sauce bubbles up and thickens. Remove from heat and pour over steak.

Serves: 2

Hasselback Potatoes

print this recipe

2 large russet potatoes
2 cloves garlic (or 1 large)
2 tablespoons butter
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub potatoes. Slice a small section off the bottom of the potatoes to give them stability. Slice each potato into thin slices, about 3/4 of the way through leaving the bottom attached.

Slice garlic into thin slices. Slide the garlic into several layers of the potato, being careful not to split the bottom. Place potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle generously with olive oil, salt and pepper. But 1 tablespoon of butter on each potato. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

30 minutes through the cooking, drizzle the potatoes with olive oil again. This will make sure it has crispy skin. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serves: 2

duck fat fries and a bacon popsicle

My sweet boyfriend wanted to take me out somewhere special for dinner for my birthday. I love that we go on dates. I hope we still go on dates after we have been married for 57 years.

Last Friday night, he picked me up and drove me to a surprise restaurant called Salt Air.

Neither of us had been there before. He found it online and decided to go there because reviews said it is for foodies and people who are adventurous with food. Score.

(Michael, so sweet that you spent all that time searching for a new restaurant to take me. I love you.)

They served us water in mason jars and gave us our one-page menu with things like "braised suckling pig" and "black garlic shrooms".

See where it says duck fat fries? I was all over it.

We were served chips and a goat cheese spread with capers. Yum.

My steak dinner came with pickled chili salad (made with the tops of celery stalks), caramelized chipollini onions, homemade steak sauce and duck fat fries.

Michael had rockfish grilled on a brick, or something crazy like that.

Then the special dessert of the night was a bacon popsicle! Crazy, right? They fried a thick piece of bacon, covered it in caramel and froze it. It was served with homemade brown butter ice cream, cinnamon pecan crumble and a homemade marshmallow that they cut in a square and toasted.

Of course Michael ordered it.

PS- sorry this picture stinks. Well most of these pictures are too dark. It was so dark in the restaurant! But romantic, so that's okay. When it comes to dinner dates, I will take dark and romantic over bright and obnoxious any day.

Michael loved the bacon popsicle. I loved everything else on his plate but the bacon popsicle. I thought it would be like a chocolate covered pretzel - a salty/sweet amazing combination. But all I could taste was smoky bacon. That's probably what they were going for though.

My dessert was less interesting, but delicious. A vanilla shortbread cake with peanut butter cream covered in chocolate ganache. How can I recreate this?? We all need it in our lives.

We enjoyed our dinner together so much. We did annoying things like hold hands over the table and stare at each other smiling. I'm sure everyone in that restaurant could tell we are crazy about each other.

And I'm sure the waiter knew when he saw me grab Michael's butt as we were leaving the restaurant. Classy, right?

Super-Boyfriend continued his wonderful night for me with shopping. Thank you, Super-Boyfriend. He took me to the outlets around 8 pm when hardly anyone was there because it was negative 16 degrees outside.

But we walked around holding hands and freezing together.

He took me to the Yankee Candle store to continue my never ending search for the Mandarin Cranberry candle I love. They had one in a weird size. I'm waiting for the right one. You understand.

I think he enjoyed it. He said every new case of candles he came too, he had to smell ones that caught his eye. It was like a weird game he was playing.

Oh! I almost forgot. He sent me flowers at work for my birthday. Bright, yellow, cheery flowers.

Random side note. I'm totally bragging now, sorry. Moving on...

When the outlets closed, he drove me home and kissed me at the door. He is very traditional.

It was a wonderful winter night.

classy night out

Friday night is date night for Michael and I. Except it doesn't always work out every Friday night. Since last weekend was the camping trip and the weekend before was also busy, we haven't been on an official date in a few weeks. Michael is so good about making me feel special, so he asked me out to the movies yesterday afternoon. Dinner and a movie dates are the best.

So I got home from work and washed my hair, put on some make up, a cute outfit and my favorite bracelet. 

I ordered this bracelet from Etsy a few months ago. It is the creative design of Stephanie and I adore it. Her shop is called Savage Salvage because she takes antique pieces and creates interesting and beautiful jewelry. Those crystals in my bracelet came from a chandelier. Awesome.

So Michael picks me up and off we go on our date. The whole way to the restaurant he is talking/venting about work. I just sit back, listening and smiling. Enjoying being with him. Loving the fact that after almost a year, he still wants to take me on dates and make me feel special. I hold his hand, which was resting on my knee and we drive until the sun sets.

He let me pick where to go for dinner. So where did we go on our classy night out?

Famous Dave's BBQ. Why? Because sometimes a girl just needs barbecued pork and a huge glass of sweet tea.

And a nice meal with a man that makes you laugh and listens to you talk about your dreams.

And gets the check.

And then buys your movie ticket.

And then drives you home and kisses you at the door, watching to make sure you get inside safely. And then texts you right before you fall asleep to tell you that he loves you.

I love date nights.