Early Anniversary Dinner

Well, last night I was feeling culinarily (no, I don't really think that's a word) adventurous. So, I told Manny that we would have an Italian Night. He didn't know I was going to go all out to make it special. He had been home for a very late lunch (2pm) and had told me that he wouldn't want dinner until about 8. So, I went to the grocery and liquor store - the dessert I was making required Marsala wine, and when I got home, I started right in on the Zabaglione - an Italian egg custard with strawberries. However, I started at 4:30 and after making a complete MESS of the kitchen and the zabaglione (I needed a double boiler, but had tried to fudge it with a pot and a bowl), I cleaned up at 6, threw the zabaglione in the freezer (where it doesn't belong) and chopped the tomatoes, basil, and garlic for the bruschetta. Well, everything was back in its proper place and clean by the time Manny got home, so he had no idea that the kitchen had been the summation of WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam all together!So, once he got home, I snuck into the closet, got out the brass candlesticks Uncle Rick had given me when I moved, and the green and gold silky fabric Daddy brought back from Morocco, and set the table (after I had relegated Manny to the bedroom). It looked like this:

We're pretty low on serving dishes here. Actually, we have none, so I did my best to set a pretty table with what I had. The dishes that Lucy gave us really matched perfectly with the green "tablecloth", and a pie plate

and a candy dish did the rest. I folded paper towels like I used to when I worked at the Green Olive, and I didn't have taper candles, so I put tiny little glass votives on top of the candlesticks. I gotta say, I was impressed with myself! I turned on my "Mediterranean Nights" CD on my computer, and led him out into the living room eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he just said "Wow, sweetie! This is so nice!" We sat down and looked at each other and our apartment in the candlelight, and he said, "We've got a really nice place. We really do. Thank you for this. I've never had anyone make me a meal this nice." I told him that it was an early 10-month anniversary dinner. It looked like this:

It was so nice to sit down at OUR table for the first time in OUR apartment and have a really nice dinner. The zabaglione LOOKED and TASTED nice, but I forgot to take a picture because I considered it a flop since it wasn't the right consistency.

OH! And Manny found me a video game I'm good at - it's a racing game. YAY!