12 years: Watermelon Mai Tai

On August 6, Thatboy and I celebrated 12 years of marriage.

It's crazy.  I barely feel old enough to have a nearly 7 year old, let alone be married for 12 years. 

Before Thatkid was born, we used to go all out with anniversary celebrations.  But that became a lot harder once we had kids. 

This year we had tickets to a show that just happened to be 2 days before our anniversary and we decided to celebrate early.  We called up the babysitter, made reservations at Juniper and Ivy, and made an evening out of it.


Thatboy had been wanting to try Juniper and Ivy for years, but we just don't get downtown by ourselves often, and it's not a kids restaurant. 

We started off with a couple of fancy drinks while we exchanged presents.

Soon after we were greeted with an amuse bouche from the chef - their version of deviled eggs - a meringue base with whipped egg yolk which literally melted in your mouth.

We decided that rather than order entrees (plates) we would order a bunch of the smaller plates and share, tapas style.  That way we could try more things from the menu. 

First up were chicken curry arancini balls, and Thatboy's favorite menu item, Baja Yellowtail tostada.

Then came the lamb with pine nuts.

One of the restaurant specialties is their buttermilk biscuit.  We got our with a fois gras butter.  This was right up our alley - hot and served in its own baking dish, with the butter melting down into it.

Next came the salads.  Thatboy can't turn down anything with heirloom tomatoes, so the tomato salad with jalapeno caught his eye.  And the watermelon salad with granita and avocado seemed like a wonderful fresh summer salad.  Both had just the right amount of kick to make them both refreshing and spicy.

Neither of us can turn down burrata, so obviously the burrata and nectarine salad made its way to our table.

Round 2 of drinks.

Then came the more main-course bites.  This lasagna layered thinly sliced potato with pork belly.  It was so good, I'm thinking of playing around to try and make my own version for Passover this year. 

The Carne Cruda Asada was topped with quail egg and cotija.  I couldn't get over how cute the little quail eggs were on top. 

Our final dish was the Uni Carbonara.  I'm fairly sure that uni is the reason the word umami was invented.  It captures the flavor perfectly.

We ended the evening with the restaurant's signature dessert - the Yodel.  A twist on a swiss roll, chocolate cake filled with white chocolate balls with hot chocolate poured over top.  And to celebrate our anniversary, the kitchen also sent over sparkling rose and a chocolate ice cream bar.

We enjoyed our dinner so much, we ended up being a little late to our show.  But in keeping with the evening, it was a fantastic show and a wonderful addition to the evening.  It was one of the nicest anniversaries we've spent since the boys were born.

In keeping with the celebratory theme of the evening, I thought a drink recipe might be nice.  Thatboy and I really enjoyed the specialty cocktails at Juniper and Ivy and it made me realize that we mostly have been sticking to beer and wine at home.  So I decided to fancy it up a bit.

We had made a recent trip to IKEA while redoing the boys' rooms this summer and picked up some elderflower syrup.  Which is such a great addition to summer drinks - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.  Which is how it got added to a watermelon mai tai recipe AND a lemonade recipe.  Something for Thatboy and I to enjoy, and something for the boys to enjoy!

Watermelon Mai Tai (Adapted from the Food Network)

1 cup cubed watermelon

6 Tbsp rum

1/4 cup elderflower syrup

juice of 2 limes

2 Tbsp sugar

1. Puree all ingredients.
2. Serve over ice.

Elderflower Lemonade

Juice of 5 lemons

1 cup sugar

3 cups water

1/4 cup elderflower syrup

1. Combine all ingredients.  Stir until sugar dissolves.  
2. Serve over ice.