A Man’s Guide for Preparing the Romantic Dinner

The first thing you have to know is that hamburgers, hot dogs and canned beans will not be on the menu. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with wieners ‘n beans – they’re just not headliners for a romantic dinner. And no, canned beer will not be included in the list of beverages.

Making a romantic dinner for your special lady isn’t as difficult as you may think, so relax, take a deep breath and get ready to surprise her with a special dining experience – a meal prepared by you!

Barbeques – Home Style Romance

Man’s best friend – the barbeque. You had to breath a big sigh of relief when you seen this one. If there’s one thing man knows how to do, besides taking things apart, it’s cooking up a rustic meal on the BBQ.

What’s on the menu isn’t as important as the dining atmosphere, so whatever you decide to place on that grill is your decision – as long as you remember that burgers and dogs are out. This is your time to shine, so select an appropriate piece of meat to go along with your garnish and side dish. Ready made salads and baked potatoes are usually available at your local deli or meat market. You can even get a skewer of prawns for a reasonable price. A man can’t go romantically wrong with a little surf ‘n turf.

Daylight BBQ’s may be great for friends and family, but not for a romantic dinner. Wait until the sun sets. Light some candles on the cloth covered patio table, and then turn on her favourite choice of soft music. Wine, juice, or soft drinks are served in glasses, not left in their containers.

Fight those natural urges to bring out the paper plates and plastic cutlery. Romantic dinners have to be served on the good dishes with utensils that don’t break when used. This does mean washing dishes afterwards, but doing them with your lady can be romantic in itself.

Frozen Dinners and Candlelight

You’ve all used a microwave, so this one shouldn’t be much of a challenge. Simply read the cooking instructions and go for it. Okay, so TV dinners don’t sound very romantic, but you’ve got to think beyond the box – literally. You don’t serve the meal in its tacky plastic tray … you make these frozen entrées look like you’ve spent the appropriate amount of kitchen time making them just for her.

Once heated, the dinners are put on proper plates and placed on a table adorned with candles and a few of her favourite flowers. If you don’t know what kind of flowers she really likes, any flowers will work – except for the plastic ones.

Frozen dinners may be a bit lean in content, so add a little finesse with some warm buns, or bread rolls. Serve up a bottle of chilled wine, or other flavoured beverage, and maybe a tossed green salad for starters. Give it some thought and even this modest meal can be turned into a romantic dinner.

Ready to Cook – the Easy Way to be Romantic

Kick it up a notch and replace those frozen TV dinners with a ready-to-cook meal. Actually, the meals don’t even have to be cooked, just heated up. They can be purchased from your local supermarket or deli at a modest price and come in a variety of dishes that will include any number of meats, potato and vegetables - everything you need for a full course meal.

Replace the container with your own plates and serve your sweetie some fine dining in a candlelit atmosphere.

Put this one over the top by adding dessert - some strawberries and whipped cream, for instance. If that’s not romantic, nothing is.

It Still Works if You Bring it Home

Now we get to those that can’t barbeque, have an aversion to frozen dinners, and couldn’t find any ready-to-heat meals at the supermarket. Or maybe you just want something with more of a European flair – like Italian. For those, it’s take-out!

Most Italian restaurants provide take out service, so you can go all out with a full course pasta dish for your romantic interlude. Once plated on your own china and served up in the light of soft candles, these can present an exceptionally romantic meal for you and your lady. Final hint on this entrée - select any dinner you like, but not pizza.

To finish off this romantic dinner, treat her to a luxury dessert that can be had from any decent supermarket. Nothing sets the mood like a rich chocolate dessert being spoon fed to each other in a candlelight setting. If you’re calorie conscious, try feeding each other from a small platter of fruit pieces.

And there you have it – that romantic dinner prepared by you, just for her!