Make the Mundane Special
24th April 2008
The other day, I talked about becoming unaddicted to restaurants. If you get to the heart of the matter, you might just crave a certain kind of food or to have people serve you instead of laboring over a stove and then washing dishes. But I want these things less than I want to spend my money, so I’ve figured out a few ways to make the mundane special in food:
1. Add some spices. I always make spaghetti, but if you add some spices on top (as simple as garlic powder and generic “Italian spices”) it makes it special, like a restaurant. I also dribble a bit of olive oil on top, too, to make it fancy.
2. Dim the lights. Try a candle or two. They don’t have to be perfect taper candles in nice candle holders. Any candle will do. It’s the effect that counts.
3. Try some music. I always go for some Portuguese music, for some reason. It reminds me of Flamenco music in Northern California, but that’s a different story for a different day. I’m sure you could do a station for “Italian Music” on pandora.com (which is seriously the coolest thing ever, unless you’re overseas, where it’s not available).
4. Special drinks. We always get grape juice with ice in some glass goblets. We don’t drink alcohol at home, so this is our version of “wine.” I’ve heard grape juice has almost as many antioxidants as wine, but it has no alcohol, so I think that’s pretty cool. And DS can participate.
5. Homemade sauce. I don’t do this, but I’m sure if you had a stellar sauce recipe, that would be extra special, too. By the way, if you do have a stellar sauce recipe, forward that to me ASAP!
What do you do to make a meal special on the weekend? Have you ever had a “meal-in” be better than a “meal-out” could possibly be?
April 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
“I always go for some Portuguese music” - I agree
Latin music is nice
April 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
[…] Make the Mundane Special […]
April 24th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I am a home body, so it sounds like a great evening, but my wife still like to hit the restaurants…
Best Wishes,
D4L
April 25th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
May I ask, Why you don’t drink wine at home?
April 25th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
@DaveD - DH has alcoholism in his family, so we don’t even mess with it. Grape juice is wonderful, so I don’t complain!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Spices are true to kickin’ it up a notch. The excellent “Fra Diavlo” you see on the menu in many Italian restaurant is just “spagetti” sauce with red peppers.
That’s it. There are tons of recipes you can make in 30 minutes at home and taste far better than most fine dining places.
April 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am
[…] Dollar Frugal figured out a way to Make the Mundane Special when it comes to eating at home. Not only is dining out about paying someone to cook for you, or clean up after you, it is also about paying for the atmosphere. It may be just me, but I seem to notice how restaurants with fancy atmosphere charge more for their so-so meals versus restaurants with so-so atmosphere charge less for great meals. You can easily combine both at home with candles, cloth napkins, etc.. […]
April 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I have to admit that anything that is cooked in my apartment is special! I eat so much produce/raw food that warm food makes it special!