Creative Dates!

Living in the bush with no restaurants or places to go out to, date nights and anniversaries have to be creative. Date nights can be taking your special person to the basketball game on Friday night and buying them a hot dog, which in itself could end up costing you the same as going out to a fine restaurant! A date could be driving to the liquor store(they sell more then just liquor) and allowing your date to buy whatever candy bar they want then drive out to the sand dunes and sit by the river and watch the sun set. FYI~That option is best in the summer! You can take your date on a beaver hunt in the spring, just remember to buy your date the right license so that they can also participate in the hunt! You could take your date on a drive to the "Mall" where you can find all kinds of discarded treasure. One year, Keith and I did this and found a "Brand New" platform to put my washing machine on! Or a discarded barrel that your date could use for his bear bait station. The "Mall" Option is also better in the summer since treasures get covered in snow and driving up the steep hill to the dump, I mean mall is quite slick in the winter! Plus if you for some reason break down out on the road it is a long walk home in the winter. But be WARNED, in the summer you have to be on guard for bears who also like to search for discarded treasure of the food and dirty diaper type! You could create a plan to go out on a snow-machine with your wife and kids, plan to have your friend pick up the kids and in the process drop off a basket of food at a table that was set up. Then that friend would take the kids back to their house while you and your wife have a romantic dinner with a fire and Hot chocolate out in the snowy woods. Out in the bush you have to be creative!

When it is -30 outside is a little hard because personally, I will not go out to play outside at that temp! So creating a date has to become a creative process of questions...."What can I do that no one else has done already?" " Where can we go?" "Whose house can we invade with our kids while we try to have a date?" "How cold is it outside?" "How much time do we have to work with?" All these questions and more went through my brain when I was trying to think of a fun way to celebrate our 7th anniversary. A few weeks ago Keith and I got our garage and our storage room downstairs cleaned up. We can now park our car inside to stay warm and the storage room makes a good play room if you get tired of the scenery upstairs. So when that was cleaned out, the wheels in my head began to turn and I started to plan. With shelves of boxes and pantry items the room is NOT very romantic but with the help of a few sheets and Christmas lights it could become a pretty romantic setting. Then at a party a friend asked if she could watch my kids sometime and then the plan really fell into place. I asked her if she could come over and watch my kids upstairs while Keith and I went downstairs for a quiet dinner. So the plan was in motion.

Our anniversary arrived December 17th. Hard to believe that it has been 7 years since our wedding. Sometimes it feels like so much has happened that it has to be longer then 7 years and then other times when it feels like yesterday when it all happened. 7 YEARS! 2 states later, 2 kids later, a few pounds heavier! 7 years have past! WOW! So yesterday I planned and cooked our meal and got it all ready to go, so all I had to do was stick it in the oven. It worked out great with less stress that way. Keith came home with a bouquet of balloons(flowers are not really available this time of year), a chocolate bar and a gallon of milk! For those of you who live here understand the romance of receiving a gallon of milk. At $11 a gallon, I was very excited to receive such an rare and expensive gift! The evening went on as usual. I was in the kitchen cooking our meal with strict orders to Keith NOT to go into the Kitchen. Then Gunner and Adrian arrived, Keith thought they just came to visit and didn't know it was our anniversary so I went along with that story. So while they talked all the details were getting done. I took food downstairs when Keith was not watching and got things ready. The candles were lit and the Christmas lights on and I took Keith downstairs. He was a bit worried that we were going outside since it was cold but I told him get his shoes and follow me.

We entered the storage room where I had transformed it as best I could into Ramos Resturante Italiano! I hung sheets from the ceiling creating a small room , hung lights to create a glow and then decorated the table with fine linens, candles, china and all the details. Excpet I forgot to take a picture of it BEFORE we ate. We had salad(another rare thing in winter), lasagna and garlic bread and for dessert Blueberry delight that has been a tradition every anniversary since our first. I got the recipe at the Bed & Breakfast that we went to our first anniversary. It is DELICIOUS!!! It was nice to sit and relax and not worry about feeding the kids, because Adrian was doing that upstairs and there was no booming or screaming going on so it seemed to be quite peaceful upstairs. It was a fun and enjoyable evening. Thanks Adrian and Gunner for helping me be creative! Happy Anniversary Keith! I love you!

 I forgot to take a picture before but here are some after.

 

Today in honor of our anniversary I am posting my Blueberry delights recipe. It came from a Bed & Breakfast in East Texas from our first anniversary.

Blueberry Delight
1 stick butter (melted)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Mix these three ingredients and press into 8 inch square pan.
In a bowl, mix together:
1 small package of cream cheese
1(8oz) package Cool whip(I use Dream Whip)
1 1/2 cup powder sugar.
Mix well and pour over dough
In a sauce pan blend
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBSP corn starch
Then add:
 3/4 cup water
2 cups blueberries
Bring to a boil and boil till thick. Then remove from heat
Add:
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP butter.
Mix well, let cool completely. When Cool pour over Cream cheese layer and refrigerate!

FYI~ This is VERY RICH! BUT OOOOOHHHH So delicious!