So, back to the post I should've done last Monday...our anniversary post (2/7 was the big day). :-)
Now, I think 5 years is definitely an occasion worth a major celebration - go us! Having the double good-fortune of a) it being a Saturday and b) it being in the 50s (yes, in Chicago, in February!) we decided to sleep in, take it easy, and then go out for a nice dinner. We are going on a big-scale vacation but not until the fall because timing worked out so much better that way.
Since both of us had a hankering for some real Italian food, and chose a great spot downtown called Osteria via Statto. Era fantastico! It was exactly what we wanted, and just the way a real Italian dinner should have been...except that a) we decided to eat early at 6pm, rather than wait until 9, and b) the antipasti were just tastes of everything and the pasta portions were small (I actually liked this a lot better, and we could get more of either of those courses).
We did their fixed menu option, and added the option of a wine pairing with each course, which got us started with appetizers like olives, fresh mozzarella & basil, parmesan crusted onions, and little veal meatballs along with a white from Sardinia (I think) - the wine went just as well with the sharp parmesan as it did with the sweet olive-oil soaked onion rinds that came with the olives. Our pasta course included two kinds of pasta - a wide, tubular pasta with a very garlicky red sauce, and a twisty pasta with chicken sausage and browned breadcrumbs, also with tons of garlic, and a burgundy style red - think lighter, like a pinot noir, but not too light to stand up to the garlic. Yum!
For our second course I chose sea scallops with roasted mushrooms all on a butternut squash puree, and Trey had braised pork shank that was so tender it was falling apart. The sides were some kind of cheesy polenta thing and roasted brussel sprouts that were so good I'd eat them every day, and the wine was a bolder, more cab-like red. After all of that, we decided to finish up with their Limon- & Chocolacellos, and Trey was very happy to discover that his Limoncello is much better (theirs was actually really crappy - the chocolate, on the other hand, was amazing). We thought we were done, but our waitress comped us a gelato sample (dude, gelato...ok, twist my arm), and we hadn't even told her it was our anniversary. :-)
Two and a half wonderful hours later - I love it when you can take that long at dinner! - we'd missed our train but were too early for the next one, so we went across the street to Pops and each had a glass of bubbly. While the atmosphere there was a little bit more techno-y than either one of us would've liked, we had a good time watching a slide show of a bunch of the staff on a recent (we assumed) trip to Champagne makers in France.
After that it was still warm enough to do the walk back to the train station, so we took advantage of it and strolled a little. When we got home it was time to exchange our gifts - year 5 is wood if you do the traditional gifts. Now, much to my dismay, they no longer make fishing poles out of wood, but I got away with it anyway because most of them still have cork handles. I think Trey liked it just a little bit because this weekend when I asked him what he wanted to do for dinner Saturday night he replied, "go fishing." :-)
I got some lovely candlesticks, and a really gorgeous wooden box. The box has 4 spots for photos in the 2-door lid, into which Trey had put some pictures from our wedding & honeymoon. I love it!
Ok, that's probably long enough for now. I'm going to lay back down on my couch....happy Monday!
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8 comments:
what a wonderful anniversary evening! yum... i love reading about food, so thanks for posting all about your delicious dinner!
your gifts are so lovely... 5 years is a special anniversary... so glad you guys could celebrate it in style. where will you be going for your vacation?
I was full after reading about your meal. It sounds amazing!
Congrats on 5 years!
this is absolutely inspiring for me to make a BIG deal out of my anniversary. We've traditionally taken long weekend trips (Vegas, Columbus, Mammoth Caves) until last year with Nicole. This year, we're doing it right!
Go you!
Sounds like a good night. :) We bought an entry table for our 5 year...boring, but made of wood! 6 year is iron. We bought a new iron grate for our fireplace. We buy boring stuff. Yours sound much nicer. :)
And your dinner sounds like it was fabulous.
I like that you do traditionally themed gifts! I didn't realize people actually did that (then again, what would I know?!??).
Great recap of the food! It all sounds so tasty. Hmm. sea scallops with butternut puree and roasted mushrooms - Alvin had the same thing on Sat night. And I had a way-too-garlicky pasta dish. Kinda boring for both regions of the country to be serving the same foods! :)
Ok, so I'm re-reading this post and realized that I wrote "onion rinds" instead of "orange rinds" while describing appetizers. Go me. Oh, and Martha, I say it was way garlicky pasta, not too garlicky. I don't think I've ever had anything too garlicky before. :-)
Beth - we are going to Europe, starting in Vienna and making our way through Salzburg and Munich to eventually end up in Frankfurt. We'll be gone for 2 weeks. Hooray for frequent flier miles, and offseason tickets available for less than peak travel season!
On the gifts, it was Trey's idea to do the traditional gifts based on year - he's a pretty traditional guy. I thought it might be a pain at first, but it's actually a lot of fun - you can get really creative. We set spending limits, but also do well getting each other things that we wouldn't get ourselves, or do upgrades of things we'd get ourselves. For example, last year for fruit/flowers I got Trey a really nice bottle of port. Now, he keeps port in the house a lot, but he doesn't spend more than $15 a bottle/$20 max. Spending 5 times that got him a really good bottle. :-)
Why would anyone even SERVE a garlicky item on the nonholiday Vday (garlic was not mentioned in the description, either). At least "regular days" (i.e. like your anniversary a week ago) they don't know the difference so they can serve whatever. Anyway, things can get too garlicky for me. For me, it's too garlicky if after wine and dessert, it's still garlic that is the lasting finish on the palate. I have the belief that it is okay, as long as you don't have more garlic than the person you're *with*. Good thing I shared my pasta with Alvin... Initially I was afraid my wine was going to be too bold for my pasta dish. It turned out not.
I just realized you're off work today, aren't you?
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