Date Night: Love was in the air at Carrie Donaldson's home

By Charmayne Allison

Apr 9, 2020

Tatura's Carrie Donaldson struggles to remember the last time she went on a proper date with husband Luis Casanova.

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Caught up in the whirlwind of work, kids (and life in general), there has been barely any time to breathe.

Let alone enjoy a little romance.

Until coronavirus happened.

Restricted to the four walls of their home, the Tatura couple (along with a little help from The Teller Collective) used the newfound one-on-one time to organise a date night on Wednesday.

Turning isolation into a chance to connect creatively in their very own home.

“Up until this virus, life has been too busy for date nights,” Ms Donaldson said.

“Having this little date night showed us just how important it is to make time for each other.

“That's certainly a major positive to come out of coronavirus.”

Ms Donaldson said the date was part of a "stay at home dinner" organised by the Shepparton Epicurean Club, a local women's food and wine club of which she is a member.

While they can no longer meet in person, members decided to enjoy a "shared" meal in the comfort of their own homes.

The committee organised The Teller Collective to deliver a combination of ‘heat and eat’ and ‘cook and assemble’ packages to each member's house, plus a bottle of wine from Murchison Wines.

“It was all in an aim to keep the spirit of good food and wine alive and ‘share a meal’, even if we were at different venues,” Ms Donaldson said.

“The club was too big for all of us to meet via Zoom, so members were encouraged to share their meals with their families.

“And a couple of us took the opportunity to turn it into a date night.”

The two-course meal that arrived on their doorstep included a Wagyu porterhouse steak to be cooked as desired and truffled potato dauphinoise, plus sautéed kale and garlic and a tossed salad.

Plus, a choice of red or white wine from Murchison Wines to pair, and all finished off with a decadent dessert of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and poached local pears.

While the club members stayed in touch via Zoom and Messenger, Ms Donaldson said the best part of the night was connecting with her husband.

“We used to do date nights all the time when our son was young and we lived in Melbourne, but not so much now,” she said.

“I'm enjoying having him home more now — I'm essentially in isolation now with my best friend and my son.”

In addition to enjoying the mouthwatering meal together, Ms Donaldson took the opportunity to trot out her best dinner set and some candles from Shepparton gift shop Pinch of Salt, turning an at-home dinner into a romantic fine-dining occasion.

“Since I've been home more, I've loved lighting candles each day,” she said.

“I called Carolyn Young from Pinch of Salt and she brought around a whole range of candles, all sanitised, for me to smell.

“I ended up choosing three and we tried a few of them out for the date night.

“It's a tough time for local businesses and it would probably be easier for most of them to just shut up shop.

“But instead, businesses like The Teller Collective and Pinch of Salt are innovating their services so they can keep going.

“It's truly extraordinary and we need to support them the best we can.”

While Ms Donaldson said she and her husband did not dress up for this date night, they certainly would next time.

And there definitely will be a next time.

“We want to keep this going at least once a week, long after the pandemic is over,” she said.