Date Night Idea: An Evening at the Art Gallery

Everyone always talks about how important date nights are once you have kids.

But the trouble is, we really just want to sit on the couch and veg out in front of the TV- me with my knitting and Guy with his internet. Our last date night consisted of going to Home Depot, eating Subway sandwiches for dinner, picking up a baby gift for a friend, and then sitting in a cafe for an hour, feeling tired and wishing we could go home. But we felt guilty for wanting to go home, and also like we'd be ripping off the babysitter if we came home so soon. That is not an unusual way for us to spend a 'date night'.

So we decided to shake things up a bit and actually do something that people who were not married/cohabitating (and therefore HAD to go on dates as a way to spend time together) would do. We went to First Thursday, an evening event that the Art Gallery of Ontario puts on in the evening on the first Thursday of every month. And guys, it was FUN. It felt like a date- I wore a nice dress and there were bars and art and quiet corners to kiss in.

The fox-print dress is a a light summer dress (a birthday gift from a friend, but I know she got it at ASOS- the link is here, but it is out of stock).  To cozy it up for fall, I'm wearing it with a sheath dress underneath, and my awesome upcycled Anthropologie inspired cardigan. This was the first time I've tried the 'belted cardigan' look, but I think it works- I would do it again.

Also, this cardigan seems to go with everything, true story. 

The First Thursday event actually lets you wander around the galleries (most of them, anyway) with booze and food. The food they had on offer that evening: cronuts (seen above), fish and chips in tiny personal sized boxes, deep fried mac and cheese. It wasn't healthy, but it was delicious! 

 There were some cool new photography exhibits, and somehow part of the fun of First Thursday involved people dressed up with weird masks wandering around and perusing the art. Oddly, it does add a little something to the fun of the evening, though!

There were loads of people there, but yet it never felt too crowded. Guy and I have agreed that this date night was the most successful of all our post-baby date nights, and we will continue to go to First Thursdays. This was actually energizing, and fun, and stimulating, and beats the pants off of errand-running and obligatory dinners that we're too tired to actually enjoy. 

Recipe: Swedish mead

As I'm sure is no surprise to some of my more long standing reader friends, I'm into Swedish everything- the culture, the food, the design. Lotte Jansdotter has created  a beautiful book that is strikes a perfect note for me- she focuses on small space living, crafting one's home, and focusing on friends, family, and make the most of what you have. The sketches, the photos, the projects and the recipes are all exactly the kind thing that I love to see; the kind of lifestyle that I try to create in my own life. I can't recommend the book highly enough, really.

I had lots of fun trying out the recipes, but I was particularly taken with the recipe for Swedish Mead, which I had never seen before and required ingredients that I always have in my kitchen. So I got to work!

Swedish Mead
from Lotte Jandotter's Handmade Living, with permission

Ingredients:

• 17 cups or 4.25L of water
• 3/4 cup or 185 g packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup or 185 g of granulated sugar, plus 6 teaspoons
• zest and juices of 2 lemons
• 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast
• 18 raisins

Directions: In a large stockpot, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Remove from heat and let cool from hot to warm (105-115F). Stir in the yeast until dissolved. Let stand, uncovered and at room temperature, for at least 12 hours.

Put 1 teaspoon of sugar and 3 raisins in each wine bottle(I used pop bottles, personally), strain mead through a sieve and pour into the bottles. Cap tightly, and store in a cool dark place for 1 t 2 days, until the raisins float to the surface.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I usually forget these things, but if you happen to notice the super fun fox t-shirt I'm wearing, I got it here. 

 I've made a few batches of the mead now, and I honestly love the stuff. It's so refreshing in the summer, and it was my first time experimenting with making something carbonated. It does have some alcohol in it, but the content is low (depending on how long you let it sit, I suppose!). This doesn't taste like lemonade- more like a shandy. Served ice cold on a hot summer's day, I can't think of anything better: