The Mister and I Cook Up Some Fun: Kitchen Date- October

BC (before Little C), my husband and I were always out and about heading to the movies, dinners, or travelling. We also dated for six years before we got married and during that time we probably had
hundreds and hundreds of dates. We must have been subconsciously filling our date quota for the future, b/c since the little man showed up, we rarely go on dates anymore.

This can be hard for me and for other parents of young children in a similar boat, but it does have some benefits.: 1.) When we do get the opportunity to go out alone, we always have a great time. Before, we went out so much that we took it for granted, and it wasn't always as fun as it could have been. 2.) It forces you to find other ways to have "date"-type fun at home.

A couple months ago my husband randomly brought up the idea that we should bake something together. I love cooking, baking, oh, and definitely eating! And I thought it was really sweet that he wanted to do something that was clearly more in line with my hobbies than his.

We made a really simple recipe (on the back of the canned apple pie filling) for Caramel Apple Cheesecake . It was really delicious; the cheesecake was light and creamy and the sugary caramel-apple filling added the perfect amount of gooey sweetness. After sampling it to make sure it wasn't poisonous, we wound up bringing most of it to a family dinner for dessert.

Even if it tasted rotten though, the whole baking experience was so much fun. It felt like the perfect date (even though the Little Man was napping upstairs and my husband and I were only in our kitchen and not at a trendy restaurant eating a gourmet meal). Some parts of it were even like scenes out of a romantic comedy: there was witty banter, lots of laughing, and there even might have been some dancing in the kitchen with a few kisses here and there. I know, gag me, but it's true.

So with the success of our first Kitchen Date, I knew we had to try to make this a bit of a tradition. Obama and Michelle might make date night a monthly priority, but even though we're not running the country, my husband and I will be lucky if we get a chance to do this every few months or so. We just don't seem to have the time to do it with more frequency.

Anyway, I figured a quick and easy Kitchen Date idea would be to combine my husband's enthusiasm for rice krispie treats with my love of Halloween. I thought back to when I was a kid trick-or-treating at a childhood friend's house. There was one woman in her neighborhood who always made popcorn balls. As a kid I had ambivalent feelings about these treats. When it was early in the evening they couldn't compete with the alluring peanut butter cups and and crunchy butterfingers, but after noshing on such sweet candies for awhile the popcorn balls beckoned attractively to us--almost offering us the palate cleansing promise of a real food as opposed to a sugar and corn syrup concoction.

These modern day popcorn balls are made from real air popped popcorn with a hefty dose of M&M's and salted, mixed nuts thrown in. They're held together with the same butter and marshmallow mixture used for rice krispie treats. The recipe can be found here.

I wouldn't go as far as to call them healthy, but compared to peanut butter cups and butterfingers, these sweet treats contain healthy fats, fiber, and protein. Just the right touch of healthiness on Halloween night.

If, of course, they make it to Halloween night. In lieu of dancing during this kitchen date, my husband and I kept shoving these in our mouths instead. Hey, we had to make sure they were safe to eat!