Date night

Top loin steak with shrimp, farfalle, and steamed spinach.

Serves 2

Steak

2 three-ounce top loin steaks, trimmed to remove fat

salt 

pepper

Grill until desired doneness

Pasta

2 servings Barilla Farfalle pasta cooked to aldente

1 1/4 cups skim milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

melt butter in a pan

whisk flour into milk and slowly add to melted butter

cook over low heat until thickened and bubbly

cook and stir for two minutes more

add fresh cracked pepper to taste

ladle over pasta on warmed plate

Spinach

4 cups rinsed and trimmed baby spinach leaves

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup cold/leftover coffee

melt butter in pan

add coffee

gently add spinach

cover until spinach is wilted

Shrimp

1/2 pound large shrimp (about 16)

1 tbsp butter

garlic powder

remove shrimp tails

melt butter

toss shrimp to coat and heat to very warm

sprinkle with garlic powder

Pile spinach in center of plate.

Gently prop steak on spinach.

Put pasta on 1/2 of plate and shrimp on other half.

Serve warm with a salad.

Taste/preparation analysis:

I love date night. I love spending time in the kitchen with my Tim. I don't even care how the food tastes--although it was fabulous tonight. Tim's steak was still blinking at him tonight (he manned the grill)--which can only mean one thing--success. I think I've finally mastered my mom's white sauce. I have such fond memories of eating her white sauce spread on salad or fish or pasta. I have spent 10 years trying to get mine to taste the same. I think I finally did it--I only regret that there was none left to have her try it! (What we didn't eat the almost-eight-year-old polished off for us.)