Date night disaster

Well, it's official. I DO NOT like lamb. Nor do I like Shiitake mushrooms. They are rather woody.

And here's what I learned. Quinoa IS NOT risotto.

Here's the summary: Chris said the lamb was fantastic. I made a mint pesto, patted it on the rack of lamb and rolled it in Panko breadcrumbs. Sounded good, and if you like lamb, I am sure it was. If you don't, save the mint for a mojito!

The quinoa risotto was just shy of disgusting. Mushy brown goop with a woody mushroom in it. I love all the ingredients (except the above mentioned Shiitake 'shrooms) so I was very disappointed with this didn't turn out as planned.

The wilted spinach salad with warm feta dressing was pretty good. Next time I will caramelize the onions a little more/longer and use either red wine vinegar or maybe champagne vinegar rather than the sherry vinegar. Overall, the salad was pretty good.

Now for the cupcakes. (Kim, here you go!!). They used black tea that steeped in milk rather than water. The ingredients included lemon juice and zest, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in addition to the milk/tea concoction. They reminded me of the lemon cream girl scout cookies, with a twist. They were pretty good, and very unique. Then there was the frosting that was butter, the rest of the milk/tea stuff, lemon juice/zest, and powdered sugar. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the frosting ended up being almost waxy. A little slimy even. The kind of frosting that leaves a film in your mouth.

So, after I scraped the frosting OFF the cupcake, I enjoyed it with the salad. And the cupcakes weren't much better left over. They ended up being a little dry and crumbly. I'll try them again, only maybe use plain-jane Lipton tea rather than Tazo Awake tea.

It was not our best date night. I was exhausted from some poor nights' sleep and a faster than ever run earlier in the day. But, the wine was good and overall it was a relaxing evening with just my husband and some good music, and good wine. Who needs perfection in a meal when everything else around you is pretty darn perfect without it?