How to Prepare a Gourmet Dinner on a Meat and Potatoes Budget

I love to cook. I suspect this is because it provides another outlet for my creativity. I can do the "meat and potatoes" thing without any difficulty but my real love is gourmet cooking.

I recently decided to use my culinary skills to make what I hoped would be the perfect romantic dinner for myself and my husband as well as my daughter and her husband and his wonderful parents. It turned out exactly as I hoped so I thought I'd share the "how to" with you - - my readers - - on the off chance you want to give it a try.

Begin with the perfectly set table. That extra bit of attention to the occasion will help set a relaxing and romantic mood. You don't have to have fine china or linen tablecloths to make the table sparkle. Instead, use a little imagination.

I purchased sheer fabric from Wal-Mart for $1 a yard to use as a tablecloth. I chose pink since our dinner was for Valentine's Day. I spent less than $5 and had enough fabric left for a centerfold. I used my existing black and red place mats and napkins, mixing and matching them for an elegant look. I could have just as easily done without place mats and used some of those fancy paper napkins that are available today or forgone the tablecloth altogether and just used the place mats. I chose to use both because the tablecloth fabric was sheer.

I roled the napkins like a diploma and then tied them with gold cording that had red jewel-like balls at each end. Those were purchased from the local dollar store for $1 per package of four.

At Sam's Club, I purchased one dozen long stem cream roses with pink tips. These were just under $9 and came complete with baby's breath and greenery. I arranged those in two existing vases and placed the two arrangements at either end of the table. I could have made a single centerpiece; however, I wanted to give the flowers to my daughter and her mother-in-law when the dinner was finished.