Call me Queen of the Date Night...

Before I even get into my date night story, I just had to say that I have re-entered the modern world since I now have BOTH internet and DVR at home. Woo hoo!

But back to my story...

So Not-So-Ex and I enjoy doing the whole date night thing as often as possible. We have two kids, so the opportunities don't really abound. Plus, with everything going on lately (new job, holidays, kids out of school, etc...), we've been slacking in the "us" time area. But I decided that should be remedied.

Not only did he (and we) deserve a date night, but I thought he deserved an extra special date night. So I came up with a plan, which we'll call "double secret date night."

You see, the day after Thanksgiving (Friday), I was off work and home with the kids while Not-So-Ex was busy slaving away at work. So I made arrangements ahead of time for the grandparents' to keep the kids Friday night. And the kids and I spent Friday morning cleaning and running errands and, in my case, cooking. As I've mentioned, Not-So-Ex is normally the one that does the food cooking, but I wanted something special so I made pot roast and mashed potatoes (my specialty), homemade fresh bread, and, for dessert, German Chocolate cupcakes (his fave).

I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. He came home from work and complimented me on how good the house looked and the food smelled awesome. It only took a few minutes before he asked why the kids were so quiet. And that was when I told him I thought we needed a date night.

We ended up staying in, eating our dinner, having a little wine, and watching tv on DVD. I gotta say that it was one of my better ideas!

Anyway, now he's getting the kiddos and I'm doing some more cooking. And trying to figure out this DVR. Wish me luck!

Now for the cupcake recipe...

I got the German Chocolate cupcake recipe from allrecipes.com and used it exactly as it is, except for omitting the nuts.

INGREDIENTS:

4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate 1/2 cup water 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk 4 egg whites

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cupcake pans with liners.
2.	Microwave chocolate and water on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir halfway through. Stir until all is melted and smooth.
3.	In a medium bowl, mix together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
4.	In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat after each addition until smooth.
5.	In a separate bowl, beat egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Spoon into cupcake pan.
6.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Then I made a standard German Chocolate frosting, again from allrecipes.com. But, instead of just putting it on top, I also used it inside the cupcakes (with the coconut omitted). INGREDIENTS: 1 cup evaporated milk 1 cup white sugar 3 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water 1/2 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup flaked coconut 1 Tbsp cornstarch DIRECTIONS: 1. In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter, cornstarch, and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and cool. Once cooled, use to fill the cupcakes with about 1 tsp of mixture per cupcake. After cupcakes are filled, add the coconut (and pecans if you want) to the mixture and use to frost the cupcakes.