A dinner to come home to

I came home from work yesterday to the most delicious smells! Joe was post-call and in his own little world cooking a feast since we hadn't seen each other in 4 days. If they would only let him leave the hospital more... :)

He greeted me at the door with Gerbera daisies and then made us:

• Steamed brussel sprouts with fresh apple chutney made with allspice, salt, pepper and cinnamon
• Baked eggplant drizzled with soy sauce, ginger and baked sesame seeds
• Baked swordfish with an onion, butter and dijon mustard sauce
• A bottle of Sangiovese (just because we like saying it)

The food was divine, and as usual, his presentation was flawless. The eggplant was skinned and cubed, so it didn't take as long to bake since it was in small pieces. Both the swordfish and the eggplant were neutral foundations that allowed their respective sauces to shine.

Seriously, how lucky am I? We had our huge window open, so there was fresh, crisp air, and we lit all our candles. Bliss.

Great sangria find

My girlfriend, Lindsay, was unable to join us at GoG Wednesday night, so she and I made separate plans to grab a drink at Paolo's in Towson last night to catch up.

It's been a while since I've been to Paolo's, but they had just the after work cocktail I needed - a gorgeous light pink glass of white sangria. I'm usually a red sangria girl, but our charming server said a famed chef from DC swears the white is the best sangria he's had in a long time.

Ok, twist my arm. Ladies and gentlemen, it was delicious! Light and fruity, full of pineapple with a splash of grapefruit. Don't mind if I have another!

Just for kicks, Lindsay and I split the crispy eggplant served on top of marinara with a "puff of goat cheese", according to the menu, and the portabello mushroom bruschetta with roasted peppers, pesto and balsamic syrup.

But little did I know I had a pre-birthday dinner being prepared at home for me! More on that later...