dinner at eight :: simply dessert

{Dinner at Eight is a special project I am doing with my friend Rebekah this year - planning date nights at home for our husbands every other week, putting the kids to bed early and being intentional about our marriages! Read more Dinner at Eight posts HERE!}

I am so glad that last week Rebekah and I planned something really simple for Dinner at Eight. Both her and I have had a crazy busy month so far, and I don't think either of us would have been able to pull off a fancy date very easily this time around!

When we decided to do a dessert based date, I immediately knew what I wanted to make for Erik. Banana Cream Pie. It is one of his very favorite desserts, yet I never make it for him. I had a huge failure the first time I tried to make it two years ago and have been too scared to try it again.

Here's the story: I whipped the heavy whipping cream too long in my Kitchen Aid and it turned into butter! My mama was so right when she said that all it takes is turning your head away from the mixer for one second. Then to make matters worse, because I was so short on time and couldn't run to the store to buy more cream, I tried to make the whipped cream/butter work anyway! Gross. I still can't believe I did that. Erik was so sweet about the whole thing. When I asked him how it tasted, he said, "Well, it tastes good, but it has a really strange texture..." That's when I confessed that he was eating banana flavored butter and I promised to not make it again anytime soon.

But it has been TWO years and Erik's birthday was on the day of our planned date night, so I decided to give Banana Cream Pie another shot. With a different recipe and as much confidence as I could muster, I shooed my little ones outside to play and set to work making my husband's favorite dessert.

And I am pleased to say that it turned out amazing ! Not only was it delicious, but Erik was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it out of the fridge after the kids had gone to bed. He hadn't even known that I had been planning a special little date for us in honor of his birthday. And best of all, he had completely forgotten about the butter incident; when I asked him about it, he didn't even know what I was talking about! We ended up having a really sweet date. And Banana Cream Pie? A complete success!

P.S. Don't forget to check out Rebekah's date with Chris!

P.P.S. Rebekah and I have both gotten quite a bit of feedback about Dinner at Eight through comments + emails and there has been quite a bit of interest from other ladies who would like to join our Dinner at Eight challenge and bless their husbands. Both Rebekah and I feel so encouraged and excited about that! We believe so strongly that God wants to do incredible things in all of our marriages. And our two marriages have definitely seen the fruit of these intentional dates over the past six months. We are currently planning to open up the challenge to all of you starting in July. I truly hope that you will consider joining us and seeing how God will use Dinner at Eight dates to revolutionize your marriages. More details to come soon!

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BANANA CREAM PIE

Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 

THE CRUST: 

(I would love to try this with a homemade crust someday, but I didn't have time this week)

one refrigerated pie crust (at room temperature)

graham cracker crumbs (I crushed up 3 graham crackers)

Preset your oven to 375 degrees.

Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the surface where you are planning to roll out your dough (like you would with flour). 

Roll the pie dough over the crumbs, adding more and flipping sides as needed. 

Place the dough in a buttered pie plate and form the crust. But be careful- it is super fragile!

Prick the dough with a fork to prevent air bubbles from forming while it is baking.

Cover the dough with foil (to prevent it from browning too quickly) and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Set aside to cool. 

THE FILLING:

1/2 c. plus 2 T. sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

5 large egg yokes

2 c. whole milk

1/2 c. evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 T. unsalted butter

2 ripe bananas, sliced thin

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan. 

Whisk in the egg yolks, then immediately, but gradually whisk in the milk and evaporated milk.

Add the vanilla.

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently, then cook for 1 minute until the mixture is thick and smooth. 

Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter.

Pour the filling into a shallow pan. 

Lay a sheet of plastic wrap to the surface of the filing to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool at room temperature until just warm, about 30 minutes.

Pour half of the warm filling into the baked, cooled pie crust.

Place the sliced bananas on top of the filling.

Pour the remaining filling on top of the bananas and again lay a sheet of plastic wrap flush to the surface of the filling. 

Refrigerate the pie until completely chilled, about 4 hours.

THE TOPPING: 

1 c. heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 T. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Just before serving, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. 

Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie. 

Top with more sliced bananas. 

(The pie, without the topping, can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 1 day. The cream can be whipped and refrigerated separately from the pie, wrapped tightly in plastic warp, for up to 2 hours.)

dinner at eight :: mexican fiesta

{Dinner at Eight is a special project I am doing with my friend Rebekah this year - planning date nights at home for our husbands every other week, putting the kids to bed early and being intentional about our marriages! Read more Dinner at Eight posts HERE!}

I was so excited to surprise Erik with this week's Dinner at Eight! Mexican food is hands-down his favorite kind of food. Every time I make it, he tells me that he could eat it every day and never get tired of it. 

So I got to work planning. Erik's favorite steak tacos + all the fixings, check. My favorite recipe for Spanish rice, check. Mexican soda in glass bottles, check. Yellow tissue paper flowers, handmade by me, check. Chips + salsa (of course), check. A yummy Mexican inspired dessert, check. Pina Coladas to drink, check.

Yet, for all the pre-planning I did, I still procrastinated. I still waited until the last minute to purchase everything I needed. I completely disregarded my own suggestions for getting the little ones to bed early. In the end I was completely stressed out and overwhelmed trying to pull the whole thing off.

In one of my lowest moments, I remember yelling at Audrey to give me space so that I could make the tissue paper flowers for the table decorations. That is when God stopped me in my tracks. What was I doing? Were silly flowers really more important than my sweet little girl? Was it really necessary to spend my time + energy making them when my attention so obviously needed to be elsewhere?

I put my dinner plans + preparations aside. I sat and cuddled with my little ones for a bit. Then I made them dinner and talked to them about their day. Yes, I still had preparations for Dinner at Eight to do when Erik got home. And yes, I still had to run to the store to get a few last minute things. But my heart was in a much better place for it.

Our dinner was so lovely. Sure, it could have been eaten earlier. Sure, my decorations could have been fancier. Sure, we could have watched a Mexican inspired movie instead of Survior + Parenthood. But friends, it was still so perfect. Erik felt very loved (he told me so!) and as cheesy as it sounds, we went to bed with our stomachs and our hearts so very full.

And that my friends, is what Dinner at Eight is all about. It is so fun to plan our dates around a theme- to get caught up + inspired by the decorations and the meal planning, the whole atmosphere of the evening. But more than anything, it is about taking the time to celebrate our husbands. To show them love. To nurture our marriages. I feel like I say this every time, but being intentional is so, so powerful. And God can do amazing things with our hearts and our relationships with our husbands when we put forth heartfelt effort and attention.

I would love to hear in the comments about some of the creative ways that you are being intentional in your marriages!

And you can check out Rebekah's Mexican fiesta HERE!

MEXICAN INSPIRED ICE CREAM SUNDAES

chocolate ice-cream with brownie chunks

fudge sauce

whipped cream

a spinkle of cinnamon

Layer your ingredients in the order listed.

Next time I am going to add homemade cinnamon brownies for the bottom layer.

Don't be afraid of being generous with the sprinkle of cinnamon on top...

I wasn't sure about how it would taste myself and it was so yummy!

dinner at eight :: husband's favorites

banner image Irene Suchocki

When Rebekah and I first started talking about doing the Dinner at Eight feature on our blogs, I mostly thought about how fun it would be. Planning the menus and decorations, getting dressed up for my man, quiet cozy nights together in our sweet home. And it has definitely been all those things.

But it has also been so much more. 

When you are intentional with your husband, when you are purposeful in planning your time together, it does some incredible and powerful things to your marriage. When you take the initiative to do special and thoughtful things for him instead of just having a random date at a restaurant, it really can be so much more meaningful.

And it goes way beyond the fun time planning dates and even the dates themselves.

I love my husband. I really truly do. So much. But we have been married almost eleven years and have been parents for the last five and a half. So I would be lying to say that it is always easy and it is always blissful. Since having kids we have talked many times about how much harder we have to work at our marriage, especially when it comes to be intentional with our time together. But saying it is one thing, putting it into practice is another.

Dinner at Eight has completely revolutionized that for me.

I know, I know. I sound a little bit overly dramatic. We are, after all, only two dates in. But I cannot even begin to tell you what this project has already done for my heart. I am finding myself falling in love with my husband in a completely new way. I am so excited to see what else God has in store for the project and my marriage!


Now on to our date...

HUSBAND'S FAVORITES! 

Erik requested steak and roasted potatoes for our dinner- a hearty guy type of meal! I knew I was not going to be able to start the steak until after the kids in bed and that because of that Erik would have to wait a little while for dinner to be ready. So I planned ahead and bought some of his favorite chips and one of his favorite magazines for him to enjoy while he waited. He was really surprised and appreciative!

I suggested adding a salad to our menu, but Erik turned it down. It was a strictly meat + potatoes kind of night!

When I had thought about what else I could include in a night of Erik's favorites, I immediately thought of a fun game my friend Jenny introduced me to recently: 10 Days in Europe. Anyone who knows Erik knows that he loves to travel and is kind of obsessed with maps and geography. This game is absolutely perfect for him!

Here is the game's description on Amazon:

Get packing! You have 10 days in Europe touring by plane, ship, or on foot. Chart your course from start to finish using destination and transportation tiles. With a little luck and clever planning, you just might outmaneuver your fellow travelers. The first traveler to make connections for a ten day journey wins the game. 

Needless to say, even though it was his very first time playing the game, he won by a landslide! 

For round two of the game, I brought out our dessert: my friend Leslie's  Ice Cream Casserole. Insanely easy and super yummy. I served Erik up a ginormous serving- about 1/4 of the entire casserole. He insisted that it was too much, but finished it just the same!

For more details about Dinner at Eight, please see here. 

And don't forget to check out Rebekah's sweet date with her husband! I always love her attention to all the little tiny details and I can't wait to try out her recipe for Irish Cream Chocolate Shakes!

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 Here is my tried and true recipe for roasted potatoes. Really easy to put together and always devoured by my little family. 

ROASTED RED POTATOES

(all of these amounts are estimates because I don't usually measure them!)

as many red potatoes as you need to fill up your pan, diced

 1-2 T. olive oil

1 tsp. oregano

 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced (I think the more the better!)

 salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Dice the potatoes and put them in desired size of pan- I usually use a 9x13 pan or a pie plate.

Add the remaining ingredients- olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper- and mix together. 

Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

These are equally as good for breakfast as for dinner! 

Dinner at Eight :: Valentine's Day

banner image Irene Suchocki

A couple of weeks ago Rebekah and I decided that our very first official "Dinner at Eight" date would be in honor of Valentine's Day. It seemed like the perfect day to start! I had high hopes of red cut-out hearts all over my walls, my husband's favorite dinner eaten together by candle light, sweet conversation, and our very favorite chocolate cake. 

But life always has a way of changing our plans, doesn't it? I woke up on Monday (Valentine's Day) feeling absolutely exhausted. I hardly slept at all on Sunday night; I had so much on my mind. Monday was a really special day with my little family, but it was also very busy. I spent a large portion of the day making phone calls and registering my little ones for preschool, a decision that literally had only been made the day before. I felt a huge sense of relief in getting that all done, but it left me with very little time or energy to follow through on my plans for an extravagant Valentine's Day date. 

So I nixed the decorations plan and decided to proceed with the favorite dinner and cake. No problem, right? 

 Remember how I have been trying to cut back on my gluten this month? Up until Monday I had only eaten it about three times in two weeks and had started to notice that the stomachaches I usually get a few times a week were pretty much nonexistent. Well, while making dinner on Valentine's Day I decided to sample some french bread, along with some of the kids' pizza. So not a good idea. I got a really, really bad stomachache almost immediately. A stomachache that lasted the rest of the night and is still lingering even today, four days later! Needless to say, I didn't feel up to making the rest of dinner or even dessert. Such a bummer. Erik was so awesome and insisted that we reschedule our little date for the next night.

So on Tuesday night, I decided to play it super simple. No stressing about decorations and dinner. Just the easiest + yummiest chocolate cake ever and sweet conversation. It was perfect.

And my favorite part of all? Well, after the to-die-for cake and uninterrupted conversation with my very favorite person? The intentionality of it all. In the simple act of making a cake for my husband, I realized how much I have missed being intentional with him. It is so easy to get caught up in just being a mama, especially when you have children as young as I do. It felt so good to anticipate Erik and my time together. To be planning it and how to make it special. Going out on dates is fun, but planning these at home dates? There is something seriously powerful and truly special about it. 

Go ahead. 

Give it a shot.

And while you're at it, make your love one of these chocolate cakes. You won't regret it!

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WINNING-HEARTS-AND-MINDS CAKE

recipe from A Handmade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 

(I always use Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips)

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 c. + 2 T. sugar

5 large eggs

1 T. flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 8-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round cut out piece of parchment paper. Butter the paper. 

Put chocolate and butter in a medium size microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring often until smooth.

When smooth, add sugar , stirring well. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. 

Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each one. Add flour. The batter should be dark and silky. 

Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes (check at 20 minutes) or until top is lightly cracked, edges are puffed, and the center looks set. 

Cool on rack for 15 minutes. 

When you are ready to remove the cake from the pan, cover the top with foil and flip the cake top side down onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper, put another plate over the bottom of the cake, and flip the cake right side up. It sounds silly, but this step is critical or your cake will end up falling apart!

Serve warm or cold with fresh whipped cream.

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Don't forget to check out Rebekah's Valentine's Day Dinner at Eight! Her decorations were seriously beautiful and she looked absolutely stunning all dressed up for her husband!

January 10

We had one of our very favorite breakfasts this morning. I love making these because even my super picky little boy gobbles them up!  I almost always double this recipe.

OVEN PANCAKES (aka. Dutch Babies)

recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking

2 eggs

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

sprinkle of cinnamon

1/4 c. sugar (I have been decreasing this or not including it at all lately)

1/2 c. flour

 2 T. butter (or more if you want!)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Beat eggs in a medium size bowl. Add milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (if desired). 

Put butter in a pie plate (or a 9x13 pan if you are doubling the recipe) (and yes! you don't have to use a skillet!), and put the plate in the preheated oven. While the butter is melting (keep in eye on it- I have had it explode in my oven before!), whisk the flour into the other ingredients. 

Take the pie plate out of the oven and tilt it a bit to spread the melted butter around. Pour batter into the pie plate and place back into the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes (I usually check it after 12 minutes). 

* Audrey and Elliot love their oven pancakes with real maple syrup; I usually eat mine plain or with fresh lemon juice + powdered sugar. 

January 8

A quiet cozy day at home. We made one of our favorite breakfast treats that my mama used to make me as a little girl - Cinnamon Petal Biscuits. We got some housework done. We finished off the night with movies! Land Before Time for the kids (continuing with our dinosaur theme), and then Inception (which I actually thought was really boring, but maybe I was just tired?) for the grown-ups. 

Here is my yummy recipe for Cinnamon Petal Biscuits- you will definitely want to make these soon! Maybe breakfast this weekend?

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CINNAMON PETAL BISCUITS

2 cups flour

3 T. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. shortening

2/3 c. milk

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

2-3 T. cinnamon 

Grease 12 muffin cups. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, the 3 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of dry mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened. (I usually just use my standing mixer for this part)

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly knead dough by gently folding and pressing for 10-12 strokes or until nearly smooth. Divide dough in half. Roll half of dough to a 12x10-inch rectangle. Brush dough with half of the melted butter. 

In a small bowl, stir together the ¼ c. sugar and the cinnamon (I just use our already-made cinnamon sugar mixture we have on hand for toast!), sprinkle half over the dough. Cut rectangle into five 12x2-inch strips. Stack the 5 strips on top of each other. Cut the stack into six 2x2-inch squares. Place squares, cut sides down, in prepared muffin cups. Repeat with remaining dough, butter, and cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

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P.S. I know the recipe looks super complicated with all it's steps, but it really is so easy. And totally worth it- these things are the BEST!

P.P.S. And I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished biscuits before we ate them all! Next time I won't forget!

January 3

I made our very favorite waffles this morning for breakfast, or rather, brunch. It is a recipe I got from the blog NieNie Dialogues a few years ago that has become one of my go-to recipes; I know it by heart now. The kids ask for it at least once a week.

We also jumped back into school today. We are learning about dinosaurs and the letter D!