It was our 15th anniversary last week! Since we had already been out for dinner that same week (as mentioned in this post) we decided to cook at home. We both like doing that so it was fun.
The day began as they usually do, with Nick making some cappuccino. (He heats the milk in the microwave and makes the foam with the little gadget described in here post, and tops it with a sprinkle of mixed spices as described here).
Then we had grilled cheese sandwiches made with Nick’s homemade bread, some aged cheddar and sliced tomatoes.
The cotton hearts on sticks are something I made for Valentine’s Day a couple of years ago (and showed on the blog here). They also do double duty as decorations for anniversaries.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of xbox games so I played a little while Nick popped over to get some groceries for our meal. Like any fellow gamers out there, you know you’ve really enjoyed a game when you see it through to the very end, what we call ‘Seeing the Credits’. The conversation usually goes something like, ‘awe, I saw credits’, which translates to mean that it was an excellent game and we’re sad it’s over. Anyway, so the credits rolled on the game I had played, a secondhand surprise find that we both loved, called ‘Dishonored‘ from 2012. As you can see by the screenshot that Susan Sarandon and Carrie Fisher voiced a couple of the characters in the game.
Later we took a walk to buy ourselves a small anniversary souvenir. The traditional gift for a 15th anniversary is ‘crystal’ and we happened to need some wine glasses, so we got some crystal ones. Then we needed to get something to put into those glasses, so our next stop was the liquor store to get some to go with dinner.
The store we went to is at Spadina and King street, where I was excited to see this building under scaffolding. It was built as a hotel in 1873 and over the years had begun to show its age. (I posted about it here so you can see what it looked like. Now it looks like it is going to be completely refurbished, which is excellent news. I so look forward to seeing what unfolds there.
Our walk home took us along King Street. As opposed to how the weather was on the day we got married, so warm that we didn’t even need coats, this day saw our first light snowfall of the year.
A sneak peek at a beautiful building I will tell you about in an upcoming post soon.
Lots of construction going on on this street …
When we got home I made us some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, while Nick did some work in our home office.
Then I joined him in there and edited some photos (I didn’t get any pictures of that!)
Nick started on dinner by prepping some carrots and small potatoes for roasting in the oven, while I set the table.
The tablecloth with the hearts on it is something I got on sale the first year we were married, in the ‘leftovers from Valentine’s Day’ section at Winners. It gets pulled out for the week of our anniversary and, of course, for Valentine’s Day every year. I remember when I bought it, along with 4 matching napkins, that I had no idea how often we would use such a thing but it was inexpensive and the newly-wed in me took it home with dreams of many romantic dinners to come. In hindsight I am glad I got it way back then, as it has been an enjoyable little detail to have in our lives, which has now come to signify many happy years together.
Our new glasses. They are Riedel ones, especially shaped for red wine …
We opened the wine, Zolo Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina, and decanted it to let it air. We found the wine in the Vintages section of the store, and both really liked and would recommend it.
I stepped outside to pick the final herbs and quickly moved the rosemary and oregano plant inside, where I hope they’ll live through the winter.
Then I prepared the mushrooms for an appetizer of Warm Mushroom Salad with Goat Cheese and Pine-nuts (shown here … we actually had enough ingredients left so that I could make more the following day, and then take new pictures in daylight to illustrate that recipe.)
Our main course was Filet Mignon that Nick bought at a place on Queen Street West called The Healthy Butcher. Their mission statement is ‘To ensure your food is produced the way nature intended.’ He cooked it under the boiler, over a bed of finely cut white onions and chopped dates, that he topped the meat with for serving.
Horseradish!
And Chocolate covered strawberries for dessert …
Here’s a very important member of our household. Eddie has been with us from almost the beginning, after we brought him in from the streets 12 1/2 years ago.
We ended the evening with a bit of Netflix.
And that wraps up our day in pictures! Having such a small family leaves us with few of the traditional reasons that people celebrate in life, so we like to do something special for our anniversary every year.
I thank you for taking a look,
xo loulou
