a professional meal…in your own kitchen?!

a lot of times when dane and i are out to eat, i often think to myself: “this is so good! i bet I could recreate it at home!”

and then i do and while it tastes almost as good, it doesn’t quite go all the way.

you see, the real difference between the fancy things you order in a restaurant and the things you make in your kitchen is presentation. they charge you the extra bucks to sit in their establishment, use their tableware….and oogle their food arranging skills.

the other night, i decided to take a very simple meal and kick it up a notch by arranging it in such a way that looked professional, not homecooked. am i a total weirdo? maybe. but I wanted an experience, not just a meal.
(we’re also participating in no spend november so we’re getting creative with datenights around here!)

I took chicken, asparagus and sweet potatoes (see, a very simple meal!) and created this.

as i was cleaning up the meal, i realized that i enjoyed our meal much more because was an experience–not just food. we took the time to set the table, enjoy the presentation and have legitimate conversation as opposed to quickly throwing food on plates, while simultaneously trying to catch the news & wrangle the dog.

it. was. amazing.

what easy kitchen tricks do you have to kick things up at home?