Ritani

This one is for all the guys out there who are looking to romance their special lady, but are somewhat lacking on both funds and ideas.  Don’t worry- I have you guys covered with my fool-proof date.  Take note of the following steps for assured success on the most romantic night of the year:

Step 1:  Wear something nice.

Pick out a nice-looking outfit in advance.  Wear an ironed button shirt (go with a plain white to dress it up a bit), go with a navy blue blazer from your best suit, a pair of neat-looking jeans and some nice shoes (no white sneakers, please).  This is the first step to showing your lady that you want to make the night special: she’ll appreciate this.

Step 2: Clean your house/room

This is a stay-at-home date, so make sure your house/room is clean and smells nice.  Staying at home and cooking (yes, I said cooking- don’t be scared) is a great way to save money and stay clear of those pricey restaurants that just love to overcharge their patrons on holidays.

Step 3: Shopping

Pick up a bottle of wine.  Whether it’s white/red doesn’t really matter; just make sure you get something that you know she’ll enjoy.  And here’s a great tip: a lot of wines from New Zealand/Australia tend to be the best bang for your buck.  Next, go to your local pizzeria and ask them to buy some dough.  Yes- raw, uncooked pizza dough.  You can usually get enough dough to make one large pizza for under $2, so ask for enough to make two.  Next hit the grocery store: buy a can of high-quality tomatoes, some basil, some grated Parmigianino cheese, some fresh mozzarella cheese (fresh mozzarella makes a huge difference here- ask someone at the grocery store to help you know what to buy).  Also, get some ingredients for a salad: pre-mixed, pre-washed lettuce, some veggies, and buy some high-quality dressing.  That’s it.  This should all come to under $40 – good luck finding a restaurant where you can get dinner and drinks on Valentine’s Day for two and get out of there with only a $40 dent in your wallet.

Step 4: Cook

Don’t be scared- this is the easy part.  If you need extra help, try looking up a couple of youtube videos for homemade pizza tutorials.  My advice: crank your oven up to 500 degrees and make sure you give it enough time to heat up thoroughly.  Stretch out the dough as thin as you can by hand, and be sparing with your toppings (no one wants soggy pizza).  Put the pizza on your oven’s bottom rack and use your eyes and nose to know when it’s done – this means that the top should be golden and bubbling and your kitchen should smell like a pizzeria.

Step 5: Last-second preparations

Set your table (you can even eat picnic-style on the floor if you have a nice clean blanket), light some candles, get dressed, put your salad together and put it on the table with your super-impressive fresh baked pizzas.  For effect, when you bring the pizza to the table, tear some leaves of basil with your hands and sprinkle over the top of the pizza – you can even drizzle the top with a small amount of high-quality olive oil for some added showmanship.

That’s my sure-fire guide to a cheap, enjoyable Valentine’s Day date.  If you plan on trying this, let me know how it goes in the comments below. You can thank me later (or on Twitter @ritaniman).