New Year's Eve

My hubby and I love a good date night! Usually, we try to do at least one date night a month. Unfortunately, this hasn't really happened since our son was born earlier this year. We've had about three mini-dates in the last six months. Ugh. It hurts to see that in writing! We are motivated though, so we know that once things settle a bit more, we'll get back to our once-a-month-dates!

Now, many of you may think that New Year's Eve provides the perfect reason to have a date. We, however, do not think that way. You see, I was traumatized in the late nineties when I went into Hollywood for a New Year's Eve concert. My group and I hit the 10 freeway at around 5 PM and there were already cars swerving all over the place! Since then, I'd rather stay in and be safe, thank you very much! Thus, 13 years later, the hubby and I chose to have a date night in our own home. We hit Trader Joe's (where I do nearly all of my grocery shopping) and the Cheese Cave in Claremont. Once we left both of those locales, we had the makings for a stellar wine and cheese night! Yummy! I also picked up the ingredients needed to make Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes. Mmmmmm...

Since this was going to be a date night, we had to wait to eat until the kids were in bed. In order to keep Gracie from feeling left out, I had her help me make the cupcakes. They involved a few more steps than most cupcakes because they called for a red wine reduction, but they were well worth the efforts!

Once the kids were in bed, we put our dinner together. Our wine and cheese night consisted of a bottle of Coppola Claret red wine, 5 soft cheeses (we llllooooooovvvveee brie, so we asked for several cheeses in that range), a french baguette, bruschetta, crackers, peppered salami, Caprese salad, baby greens with balsamic vinaigrette, and olive tapenade. It was SO good and SO worth the calories. We actually used to do a wine and cheese night about once or twice a month. Last December put a stop to that when it was discovered that I had gall stones. I love cheese, but didn't want to risk a gall bladder attack. Luckily, I had my gall bladder removed a few weeks ago. The wine and cheese night was a long-awaited reward! =)

As we noshed on our feast, we watched Mad Men and discussed how the characters are ridiculously messed up. We also reflected a bit on our 2011. By 11:30 PM, we were full, content and in bed. Party animals, right? Yup, we know how to ring in the new year! I was the only one in the house who was still awake once 2011 rolled into 2012. I'm usually awake because paranoia over the loud noises that ensue at midnight keeps my adrenaline levels up. I can almost set my clock by the noise ending and my brain finally giving in to sleep. 12:15. Every year!

Happy new year, everyone!

Me and my girl in our aprons...and our pjs. Yeah, I know. We are seriously fancy around my house!

Gracie likes to crack eggs. This time, we only ended up with one tiny shell that I had to fish out. =)

The red wine is reducing and the cupcakes are fresh out of the oven. Mmmm...

My Wilton cake decorating set. This was a fun Christmas present!

Pretty lilac colored red wine buttercream.

A blurry shot of the Caprese salad and our cheeses off in the distance. *Drool*

The cheeses. They deserve to take a bow.

Here she is in all her glory - a Chocolate Red Wine Cupcake with Red Wine Buttercream...in a Winnie the Pooh wrapper. Hey, I usually bake for my four-year-old!

I added a piece of red grape to the top as a garnish. I thought it looked purdy.