Year of Dates - January

If you have been following along with my blog, I gifted my husband a year of dates for Christmas 2013. It wasn't very successful between a new baby, lack of babysitters and lack of time. So, as requested, I gifted it for him again this past Christmas {and gave you the tools to do so too}.

This year, we are determined to stick to it. Here is a recap of the gift and our January date.

This year I went smaller..in packaging that is. I got a small gift box and I did more handwriting this year to make it even more personal than last year. 

I used craft paper envelopes and craft paper cardstock to give it a more "natural" feel. I secured the flap with washi tape so it is easier to open than last year when I glued the envelope shut <insert evil laugh>.

As far as the date card itself, I went all out and purchased scrap-booking stickers to decorate the card. This month's date was a Cooking Class. 

I pre-booked our babysitter {my mom} well in advance because I booked this specific class on this date because of the menu. It looked delicious!

We took our cooking class at La Cucina at the Market in Philadelphia.  The company is owned by Anna and she offers great classes - ranging from Pasta or Sausage Making to Knife Skills classes. She offers wonderful options for "Enchanted Evenings for Two" which we took full advantage of on our date. 

The class was lead by Chef Jacquie of Taste 4 Travel. She was an amazing teacher and brilliant chef. She showed us how to create each of these meals, butcher a pork loin, properly trim brussel sprouts, de-stem spinach {not a fun job by the way} and gave us great tips and tricks on all types of cooking and baking questions. Mia was the resident pasta maker. She made the dough for the raviolis that we all pressed, molded and filled. She really puts love into her dough. 

It was a great opportunity to get to know other young couples and really enjoy ourselves. The company at the table was great, the company at the stove was amazing and knowledgeable and the atmosphere was very pleasant.

{all photos are courtesy of Anna at La Cucina at the Market}

Learning how to butcher a pork loin properly

Master spinach de-stemmers

The amazing class we had - so many fun people

Overall it was an amazing night! We would definitely go back for this experience again. I encourage you if you live in the Philadelphia region, or would be visiting the city, to look up La Cucina at the Market's events or Taste 4 Travel to see if there are classes or tours that fit your style!

Any way you cut it, a cooking class would make a great gift for anyone. {See what I did there?} And it would make an amazing gift for your Year of Dates!