An indoor picnic

 (Written for Dinner4date )

You’re sitting at your desk in the office and the last hour of the day is ticking away slowly. Tonight is Date Night but outside, the pouring rain leaves you thinking only one thing – you want to get home and stay there.

That said, you still want it to be Date Night so it’s up to you to come up with an attractive alternative that will make her happy to stay indoors while still feeling that she is being treated to something special.

A romantic dinner with a nice bottle of wine will cover all bases but how about stretching the boundaries a little and creating an indoor picnic? That way, the two of you can sit in front of the fire and you can produce a basket of treats that will show her that you’re thoughtful and have planned ahead.

The great news is that with the wide variety of deli items now available in supermarkets, you can achieve this without the time and hassle of preparing everything yourself and still present it in a way that she’ll find romantic.

You stop off at your local store en route home to put your plan into action. If you’re stuck for ideas, think about what bars and restaurants offer on their menus as snacks and sharers – cheeses, cured meats, olives and breads are a good start.

Next up is the alcohol. Sure, you can pick up a bottle of something and she is unlikely to complain, but what about taking it a step further and choosing a few miniature wines or champagnes to match the antipasto in your basket? These are only marginally more expensive but visually, they will add to the occasion.

Leading brands such as Jacob’s Creek now offer some of their more popular wines in these little bottles, but supermarkets have also hopped on the bandwagon and many stock their own brands in the 187ml format too. Not only will they look the part alongside the variety of snacks and dips, but it also gives you the ideal opportunity to sample a wine that you haven’t tried before.

To make your indoor picnic complete, make sure that you lay down a rug in front of the fire with some cushions for comfort. Create a playlist of your favourite tunes ahead of time so that you can play music in the background without having to get up continually to change the song.

Once she is sitting comfortably, bring out your basket of goodies and sit down to join her. The two of you can dip into your selection of deli delights, while you pour your miniature bottles of wine into glasses to sip throughout the evening.

It may not be grand and glamorous but a little really can go a long way. You won’t have the burden of preparing a full meal and you can both sample and share your treats together. She’ll be impressed by your creative thinking and the two of you will be glad that you chose not to venture out in the cold and wet weather outside after all.