Dates Around the World: England Date Night

Last night was our English Dinner Night!

I'm thinking about changing the name from Date Night to Dinner Night because, while I will admit- I started the idea off thinking that it would be a dinner for my husband and I, It's so much more fun to have a group of people participate. And I'm excited to say that so far we have added people every country we have done. Granted, this is only the third dinner, but every time we have had more people come over than the last one. So, I guess word is spreading! (PS- I have three un-used spots at the table still! :) ) I'm excited- I still get to eat all these new recipes AND I get to spend time with family. It's really a win-win.

I also apologize, I didn't take many pictures last night, I was more concerned with getting dinner made and then talking. We were joined for dinner last night by my sister-in-law and 6 month old niece, then after dinner we were joined by Lindsey and her puppy, Finn.

I was a little nervous about the menu I had chosen for England Dinner Night, for the main dish I made an 'English Cottage Pie' - or comparable to what most Americans would call a Shepherd's Pie. My mother made Shepherd's Pie when I was growing up, and it was pretty good- but I hadn't made it myself but maybe once or twice in my life. I happy to report that this recipe was pretty good, and there isn't much left today as leftovers. In my true fashion, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but here is a photo of it below in case you would want to, and my version is below.

Dinner:
English Shepherd's Pie (My Version)

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 an onion
2 big carrots (There were 3 but I ate the third one...)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon parsley
1 cup water with 1 beef bullion cube (didn't have beef broth)
1 8oz can tomato sauce with pinch of sugar (didn't have tomato paste)
8 potatoes peeled and sliced
"Some" butter - probably... 3 teaspoons?
"Some" milk - probably... 1/4-1/3 cup?
Salt and pepper to taste
3 handfulls cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400
• Place a large pot over medium heat, Crumble in ground beef and saute. Add the onion and carrots in, then continue to cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain the meat, then put back in the pot and add in the flour, cinnamon, parsley, and italian seasoning
• In a small bowl, combine the "beef broth" and tomato sauce. Mix them together then add to your meat mixture. Add some salt and pepper to taste and let the whole thing simmer for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel and cut your potatoes. Boil them until tender. 
• Once cooked, mash the potatoes until smooth and add in your butter and milk. Add salt and pepper to your taste. 
• Spoon the meat mixture into a 9x13 pan, then cover with the mashed potatoes. Add on the cheddar cheese and bake for 25 minutes or until the top is browned and the cheese is bubbly.
  

As I said, I was a little nervous serving dishes I've never made to more than just my husband, who has to eat whatever I cook, but I think it turned out alright! No one complained and everyone ate some of it

Dessert: Basic British Scones

This recipe, I actually did follow pretty closely

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1/4 cup butter

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 (I just put them in with the shepherd's pie, so mine was at 400)
• Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into a bowl
• Rub in the butter until the mixture is crumbly
• Sir in the sugar and milk ( you might have to use more than a 1/2 cup, depending how dry it is) Your dough should be soft and not super sticky
• Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly a few times and roll out the dough into 3/4 inch thickness. (Or...until it looks good..)
• Cut into two inch rounds and place on the baking sheet 
• Bake for 10 minutes and let them cool before serving

It says to serve these with honey, butter, or jam. We did honey and jelly because that's what we had in the cabinet and they were really good! Micah said I needed to make these and keep them in a container in the kitchen so he can grab them for breakfast as he is leaving every day. 

I am a little sad, I put a Welcome To England sign and a British Flag on our kitchen door..along with instructions to choose a Shakespearean name...and my phone was dumb and the picture I took didn't save :(

**Edit: my phone updated! Here is the lost picture! 

My Shakespearean name for the evening was Cordelia, and I was going to have us all do a little activity with them, but I didn't get it made up in time before dinner. 

Instead, we played a love poem game! 

I made up 6 bags with 60 words and 2 blank spaces for you to write in two words yourself. The instructions said:

Using the words provided, write your own Shakespearean poem to your love! You get two wildcard words, which are the two blank pieces of paper. We all had 10 minutes, and we were writing the poem for the person sitting on our right.

A few of us took it seriously and composed real poems, (Micah and Shala) I was a mixture of serious and funny, and the rest of them were just funny.

This was my poem, written to Kourtney 

It reads: 

"My lovely Fair Lady

You hath the best looks of a companion

Thou art like fine food

Thee mind is strong but better silent

Thy beauty hurts me

I sought for you"

This was Kourtney's poem, written to Noah:

It reads:

"The sweetest companion looks most like food

Therefore a man who hath a whole pie is lovely"

I didn't get pictures of everyone's poems, but it was fun to hear what everyone came up with since each bag had the same 60 words to choose from.

I didn't feel as prepared for this dinner as I was for the last one, as far as getting the kitchen decorated how I wanted, getting some little activities together, or taking any good pictures, but I am glad that everyone was able to join in and maybe for the next country I'll get back on the organized side of things. This is still fun, and I have yet to make a recipe that I wouldn't make again, so the plan of expanding my recipe box is totally working! 

And like I said before, we keep growing in people the more countries we do, so that's exciting as well! 

We had 3 for Egypt Night, 4 for Germany Night and now 5 for England dinner. (6 for the activity after dinner) 

I think I'm most excited for the challenge of our next country. I want to start expanding and getting a little more outside of our boxes so this next country that I have in mind will certainly do that...ah! you'll find out soon! 

Let me know if you have any country suggestions, I'm having fun researching recipes from the countries I am choosing!