My husband, Currey, is a fantastic gift giver. He has always been a thoughtful and intentional gift giver but the longer we’ve been married he just gets better and better about spoiling me. I am continually astounded by his generosity and attention to detail. What makes his gifts even sweeter is his excitement to give them to me. Without fail, I get my gift within 24 hours of him purchasing it because he just can’t contain his excitement. So sweet! This makes him a very tough act to follow. Unfortunately, I am not always great at reciprocating. With the birth of our second baby, returning to work and the overall business of life, Currey has gone above and beyond. He’s picked up my slack as I returned to work early, helped keep our household running and worked without complaining. I wanted to do something extra special to show my appreciation for all he’s been doing so I planned a guy’s night for him and several friends. I wanted it to be a time for him to spend with friends and to give them an evening to enjoy delicious food and drink.
Currey enjoys a good scotch so I planned a scotch tasting for him. I went to a local store where they helped me pick 4 different types of scotch. I then created an appetizer for each drink. I took the kids out for the evening so they guys could have an uninterrupted evening. Currey was so surprised and excited by this gift. I really loved creating a menu of yummy treats to make the night extra special. Here’s how things turned out…
Glenrothes Speyside
Currey loves bacon wrapped dates. Loves them I tell you! We first had them at a tapas place with my parents and he enjoys them every time we go out for tapas. This was the perfect compliment to this particular scotch. I looked at several recipes and they all were basically the same. Simply wrap a piece of bacon (1/3 a slice) around a pitted date and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. The bacon should be crispy. Make sure that the seam is placed down so that the date stays wrapped. Allow the dates to cool for 15 minutes or simply serve at room temperature if your guests don’t devour them all before then.
Ardenmore Highland
For this scotch, I made these AMAZING chocolate chip cookies from My Baking Addiction. I’ve eaten my fair share of cookies and I completely agree that these are some of the best that I’ve ever tasted. I typically only like soft cookies that are under done or right out of the oven. These cookies stayed soft for days and will be added to my short list of go to desserts.
Highland Park Orkney
We looked and looked for recipes for this one and simply settled on crackers and sliced smoked Gouda.
Bowmore Islay
When researching I found out that Islays are typically paired with Gorgonzola cheese. Since the appetizer before this one was cheese and crackers, I wanted to use the cheese differently here. I made a cheese dipping sauce that got rave reviews from all of Currey’s friends. I was so excited because this was a random concoction that I whipped up before walking out the door so I was glad that it turned out ok. I simply combined 8 oz of Gorgonzola crumbles with 1 cup of heavy cream. I then added ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese to help thicken up the sauce. I served this with a loaf of French bread. This would be a great appetizer for any party that you might be hosting.
The guys had a great night and I hope Currey felt loved and appreciated for all his hard work. I’d love to know, how do you show the important people in your life just how much they mean to you?