With two teenage girls and a young boy all locked down together, I find that being busy isn't a hard thing to achieve. Shouts of "Mum! would you make me a sandwich, please?" Or "Dad! can you come play on the trampoline?" are all becoming a regular occurance. We've got pets to feed and clean as well as our own home to keep tidy(Which is also beginning to feel like a cage after 2-weeks of lockdown). And during this quarantine period, most folk have drawn up a list of jobs that can finally be done. Things, such as, fixing the rattling fence panel that keeps everyone awake, and putting up those shelves...you know, the one you bought from IKEA 6-months ago. Consequently, we are all keeping busy and time is passing us by like the scenery from the window of a moving train. Soon though, we will be out of Corona-city and this surreal journey will come to an end.

So it was while Antonella was upstairs, reading bedtime stories to the youngest, that I realised we hadn't spared much time for each other. Obviously we haven't been out together for 2-weeks because everywhere is closed and I daren't stop for a pic-nic at the park through fear of being ostracized by the local community, and probably fined by the police(What strange times these are).
I adore my girlfriend and I wanted to remind her of this, but with the current restrictions in place it was going to have to be a show of affection within our 4-walls. I made the decision to have a "date-night", whereby I would cook a 3-course candle-lit dinner. Getting the kids out of the way would be my first hurdle, which was taken care of by offering them a choice of take-away food and banishing them to their rooms. Mission accomplished. Now all I had to do was chose an impressive meal to cook(hopefully, one that wasn't beyond my culinary capabilities). So, I dusted off a few cookbooks and sought out a meal worthy of my queen. Now, my girlfriend is not only a good cook but she grew up in Italy, which meant I was going nowhere near anything pasta related. After several minutes perusing through various cookbooks I had made my choice, a quite daring one for a guy that once cooked a gammon joint without taking off the plastic wrapper(An unforgettable christmas that was!).

Selection made, and now it was off to the shops to buy my ingredients. My starter for the meal was going to be kept simple, butternut squash soup(Antonella's favourite) and for desert I chose a Black forest roulade. Admittedly, the starter and desert were ready made...What? You think I'm crazy enough to attempt all three courses?(Plastic-christmas-gammon, remember?!)

Of course there had to be a bottle of red wine involved and fortunately I found a great selection to choose from. So, with all my ingredients and refreshments gathered, all I had to do was cut some flowers from our garden and set the table so she knows what's in store.

Time to get cooking!(Well, almost time)

First things first, I needed some of my special concentrating juice, which any chef worth his salt knows how important this is. My liquid helper came in the form of a blueberry waffle stout and I have to say that it was quite splendid.

With this tipple and my favourite podcast, supplied by The Corbett Report, I was ready to go!

Ingredients. Check.

Now all I had to do was throw this bad-boy together and hope it all works out...

It smelt delicious while it was cooking and maybe this was the beer talking, but I was feeling pretty good.

While the meat was cooking all I had to do was time the rest of the dinner so everything got served up nice and hot, and that includes me! A quick dash upstairs to put on a smart shirt and I was as smooth as a chocolate-coated Barry White.

With the starter served and thoroughly enjoyed, it was time to bring out the main course...

I have to blow my own trumpet here and say that it tasted blooming gorgeous! All washed down with a bottle of red wine, Antonella and I enjoyed the evening as much as the meal itself.

Cheers to love, life and a happy home.

All that's left to do now is revel in my renewed brilliant-boyfriend status, cuddle up on the sofa, and relax...because it won't be long until the kids want feeding again!