Share Your Summer Date Night Idea

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Share Your Summer Date Night Idea

When you first start dating, it’s exciting and you constantly want to spend time with your potential significant other. Then if things work out and like turns into love you get married, start having kids and inevitably things change. Work needs to be done, laundry is piles up and the kids need your constant attention or so it seems. However, finding time to have a date night and even affording a night out on the town can be difficult.

But marital dating is just as important as balancing your checkbook

What about having a night in?

I have a friend who came to me about finding creative ways to have a date night at home. She has a child on the Autism Spectrum, which means date nights or even time to go to the bathroom presents a challenge. If you’re not familiar with parenting a special needs child, it can be at times overwhelming at best and impossible at its worst. Then trying to find respite care, because it takes a very special person who is knowledgeable in the arcane craft of caring for a child on the spectrum. As parents with children on the spectrum, we understand how hard it is to find suitable sitters you can trust with your child(ren). We have been fortunate enough to find an amazing sitter, she is truly heaven-sent. But, even we don’t take the time to have date nights as often as we should because sometimes we’re just too exhausted.

So to help my friend out with her date night idea, my husband and I came up with a date night idea for Nicole and her husband Jim. They were high school sweethearts and best friends. They have great chemistry and will do anything for each other and their child. Being parents to a child on the Spectrum, they do their best to work together to care for their son.  And so it was our pleasure to do something meaningful and much-needed for them both.

Here’s the idea my husband and I came up with for their date night! And it is a Dessert Date Night to remember.

First, I went to Walmart to pick up a few items: REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups (her favorite) and a few bottles of ice-cold Coke.

I dug around through my stash of table decor items and came up with some valentine plates. Now, I know it’s not Valentine’s Day (but you could use this idea for that too), but these plates have cute sayings on them which fit perfectly with the words on the REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups. Plus, you don’t have to wait until Valentin’s Day to show just how much you love the special person in your life.

When my husband and I work together, he’s in charge of the recipes and preparing them and I’m in charge of making the table look fancy!

The Kiss Me and Love Me heart plates work well in this colorful table setting. I was able to find bottles of Coke with both of their names on them at Walmart. Walmart has the widest and most organized selection of Coca-Cola personalized 20 oz. bottles I’ve ever seen. And this year, the Coke campaign is bigger than ever with 1,000 names printed on bottles! Go look for your personalized Coke Bottle!

And since they are still very much high school sweethearts, getting the REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups with “My Fave” on them turned out to be the perfect sweet touch. {Tip: You can only find these REESE’S Cups with the personalized messages on them at Walmart}

They both have a serious sweet tooth, so we created several different recipes involving REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups and Coke!

Here’s the first one:

REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup S’more Sundae:

• 2 Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
• 2 Graham Crackers
• 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
• 2-3 Marshmallows
• 1-2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 1-2 Tablespoons Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup

You can’t go wrong with S’mores.  So building a REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup S’more Sundae is like a Nobel Prize winning endeavor.  For this easy recipe, I wanted to add a little something extra to the Graham crackers. So, I took out a non-stick skillet and set it over medium heat. I added a tablespoon of butter and let it completely melt. I then took my Graham crackers and broke them along the perforated lines. Then I toasted them, make sure not to let them get too charred. Burnt anything isn’t the flavor you want in a sundae. After they were toasted I flipped them over and toasted the other side as well, afterward I set them aside. Next, I placed on the tip of a wooden spike (the kind used for making kabobs) two marshmallows, and over the eye of the stove-top I browned the marshmallows until perfectly golden, then sat those aside as well. Finally, we get to the good part, take two REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups and slice them into small pieces and set them aside too.

Putting it all together:

In a small sundae glass put two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Next add the toasted Graham crackers and marshmallows, then place the chunks of REESE’S Peanut Butter cups on top. Drizzle with Hersey’s Chocolate Syrup and there you have it. Now you’re ready to dig right in.

Caramelly Chocolatey Coke Float Recipe

2 Parfait Glasses

2 Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream

1 Cup of Coke

Hersey’s Chocolate Syrup

Hersey’s Caramel Syrup

Whip Cream

Putting it all together:

Pour 1 cup of Coke into a Parfait glass. Add 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Next, add whip cream then drizzle Hersey’s Chocolate and Caramel syrup all over the place. Can you say WINNING?

We’re not done yet, we still have one more recipe to go. Do you like peanut butter? Are  you a fan of REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups? And finally, do you like cookies? If you answered yes to all three questions then you just may have made a new friend, because like you I too enjoy all three of these delicious sweets. Now, here’s where we make the magic happen. We take all three ingredients and turn them into Chunky Peanut Butter & REESE’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

Putting it all together:

Chunky Peanut Butter Cups & Reese’s Cookies Recipe

I LOVE chocolate and finishing it off with a Coke, hit the spot. This date night idea is perfect to enjoy right now on your back patio. When you share your summer with someone that you love, it doesn’t matter where you have your date night. Just enjoy each other.

If you want to duplicate these super easy dessert ideas, you can  pick up the REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups with the personalized messages and the personal Coke bottles at Walmart. I found them at my local Walmart located right in the front of the store (right before you get to the first register), side by side in cardboard bins.

You can find more Share A Coke and REESES Peanut Butter Cups inspirations ideas here, as well as the ones listed above to create your own Share Your Summer Date Night Idea !

And once you do, come back and share it with me!

Now, how and who will you share your summer with? Leave me a comment below and let me know!