On Sunday, I had a secret date.
Jake decided to surprise me by planning a little something and not telling me what we were doing.
Me. Pre-date. Since I don’t know what’s happening I kept asking questions. “Am I dressed okay? Do we have to be there at a certain time? I thought we were leaving soon?”
Etc., etc., etc.
While Jake prepped, I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen so I just sat around and took a selfie (see above) and listened to music on my phone while I waited. Then we were finally off!
We headed west on 94 and then got on the 15 south.
At this point I deduced we were going to Coronado!
And I was right. On a clear day, Jake says that this particular view from this part of the bridge is his very favorite view in San Diego.
I thought we were going to Ferry Landing but then we went a little bit past it and ended up going to the beach just a ways down.
We didn’t know it, but there’s a parking lot for this part of the beach that we walked through. Here’s Jake setting up. He got the chair ready for me. As he worked, I was “forced” to face the pretty vista before me.
Hello, San Diego!
We only saw a little bit of the sunset since it was quite cloudy but it was gorgeous anyway.
I took photos of the skyline and of other people taking selfies. Hah! We also noticed there were a TON of people out with tripods and fancy cameras. Turns out they were a photography club and they were practicing doing long exposure photography over the bay.
Jake’s appetizers were now ready for us, all plated and lovely! He used some garlic Ritz crackers, some sharp cheddar cheese, peppered salami, roasted walnuts and honey. How sweet is that?
The next course was a “build your own sandwich” course that we planned earlier since I was recently sent coupons for Oroweat® Bread. This was the only part that I got to plan and I created these delicious “Single Decker” Club Sandwiches.
I used Oatnut Oroweat® bread as the base of my sandwich. The oatnut bread uses walnuts and hazelnuts and is made with whole white wheat. You get the benefit of whole grains with yummy nuts in each slice! Sneaking nuts into my bread is 100% okay with me.
Along with my crazy nut bread I had slices of a fresh heirloom tomato. I go through phases where I have a love/hate relationship with tomatoes but in the summer time we’re always friends. That’s the time of year when tomatoes are peaked and delicious and you can get lovely things like heirlooms which taste like REAL tomatoes and not that weird slightly red kinda pink tomatoes they try to pass off as real in the winter time.
I’m not a big believer in “stuffed to the brim” sandwiches so mine has a few slices of roasted Tuscan (aka herbs) turkey and a few slices of honey ham (both made by Boar’s Head to elevate the deliciousness).
For cheese, I choose another Boar’s Head product: a nice hickory smoked Gruyere cheese. It had a light smoky flavor but was not too overpowering (sometimes sharp cheese likes to kick you in the teeth, you know – the Gruyere was a nice, mellow change from my usual choice of sharp cheddar).
The sandwich is then completed with my tomatoes, a little bit of leafy green, and a tiny smear of mayonnaise and mustard. Club sandwiches are usually that whole three-bread-slices thing but I didn’t want to bother.
Besides, I can never fit those sandwiches in my mouth very well, though I do love them so…
Single Decker Club Sandwich Glory. Not a bad backdrop, either.
Also I’m highly in favor of putting potato chips directly into your sandwich. But I do it one chip at a time. Less risk for soggy chips that way.
After one bite I realized I had forgotten a very important ingredient.
THE BACON.
God, how could I have forgotten the bacon?! The bacon is really what elevates a sandwich to the next level. Instead of just being a “boring” turkey and ham sandwich, we have a CLUB sandwich instead.
Don’t be like me. Don’t forget that bacon!
While I don’t think my Single Decker Club Sandwich will be winning any awards, YOU could go and enter Oroweat’s® America’s Better Sandwich contest to possibly win a grand prize of $25,000. $25K? Am I joking? No way, Jose!
There are five different categories in this sandwich contest, including “Creative Classics” (which have a nutritious spin on classic sandwiches), “Fueling Good” (sandwiches that can help boost your energy), “Open Face Artistry” (who needs a second slice of bread?), “Breakfast in Bed” (breakfast is an important meal you know), and “Love, Healthfully” (sandwiches that feature Oroweat’s® latest Healthfull® Breads). One recipe in each category will win $5,000!
If you’re feeling like a sandwich master, entries will be accepted from June 15th – August 23rd and online consumer voting will take place September 21st – October 18th. The winners will be announced on National Sandwich Day November 3, 2015.
Additionally, Oroweat® bread will donate one loaf of bread (up to 100,000 loaves) to Feeding America for each valid entry submission during the entry period and vote received during the online voting phase of the 2015 “America’s Better Sandwich” Contest! How cool is that! Get your thinking cap on and check out the America’s Better Sandwich contest right over here.
And now back to the secret date…
Our sandwiches were greatly enjoyed while watching the sun set and bounce lights off the buildings. My oatty nut bread was left untoasted and turned out to be even more delightful than I thought it would be. Am I a non-toasted bread convert now? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, but this sandwich may make me think twice about toasting in the future.
I forgot to do one of those silly selfies of us sprawled out on the beach, so there’s this instead!
After sandwiches, Jake make me avert my eyes again and created this fun little plate of chocolate goodies, including a chocolate covered graham cracker, chocolate covered Bavarian pretzel, some almond and rice krispies chocolate pieces and acai berries covered in chocolate.
Jake was hoping we could hear a bit of the Summer Pops concert from across the bay (which was playing music for Looney Tunes cartoons) but we could only hear bits here and there. The wind killed a lot of the sound but I didn’t really mind. I had a wonderful time just watching the skyline light up before our eyes and to enjoy some quality time with Jake.
My secret date also involved a PRESENT (chocolate is a present you can eat, if you ask me, but this one was also well received by yours truly). Maya is here modeling with my present which was a Doctor Who TARDIS which doubles as a Yahtzee game!
Maya was not too pleased with this modeling gig but I am very, very pleased with my new present.
Secret dates, man. I’m such a spoiled girl.
Disclaimer: I received coupons and a gift card for the Oroweat® bread featured in this post. The coupons for product redemption, information, and gift card have been provided by Oroweat® Bread so that I could try the product and share my thoughts and information about Oroweat®. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Oroweat® Bread. And yes, Jake really did plan this entire outing.
BEST grumpy cat selfie ever. I have that look at least five times a day when I don’t know what’s going on.
I rarely go to Coronado. Hey (just remembering now) – the last time I went was when you took me on the most romantic date ever! Ironic right! Friends and I were talking about Coronado the other day. I told them how I almost had a panic attack driving over the bridge as it was SO HIGH up and you could FEEL it (if that makes sense). Is there a term for a bridge phobia.
This secret date is inspiring. You guys are too adorbs. Barf 🙂 I like the dripping honey in that one pic – did Jake stage that as the blogger’s boyfriend ? And my goodness that last pic of the city at night is breathtaking.
Cat dog Maya looks miserable but not as miserable as she did in the photo of her soaked from the rain.
Haha, grumpy cat selfie! Nice.
OH YEAH, I remember you and your gephyrophobia (yes, this is the actual term for fear of bridges, no I didn’t know it straightaway – I googled it). I had that when I was little but I don’t have it anymore (hooray).
I’m pretty sure he dripped the honey on accident but it does look dramatic, doesn’t it?
I have plenty of Miserable Maya bath photos, too, where she is totally hating life haha.
This is so cute! I have always seen pictures from that beach but have no idea where in Coronado it is.
And we’re actually making yummy deli sandwiches for dinner tonight! We got some really yummy sprouts from the Little Italy Farmer’s Market and we both love sprouts in sandwiches 🙂
Hi J.S.! If you go to 1st Street and D Ave in Coronado you’ll see a parking lot on the right hand side. This is one block away from Orange Ave going towards the base. You can park in that lot (the people who live in the fancy condos have underground parking) and then you’ll get to the beach above! It was actually pretty quiet there in the evening and there was plenty of parking in that lot (though we didn’t know it was a public lot at the time and parked on 1st Ave).
Little Italy Farmer’s market is so awesome. I wish I remembered to go more often!
aww so awesome! i’ve been so busy with work that dennis and i havn’t really had much time to hang out. at least today i feel nice because i made chicken pot pie (secretly) overnight and now we’ve got lunch for work! not as good as a sunset picnic though! luckily only i keep up with other foodie blogs so he’ll never know what hit him if i do something similar! 😉
Secret chicken pot pie! See, secret things can be awesome sometimes, haha. Jake reads my blog regularly now (but not the comments) so I can’t post surprises on here anymore. But I think I may need to plan something in return 🙂 What that is exactly, I have no idea. But surely I can think of something.
You guys are so cute! I love that he planned a secret outing for you guys, and doubly impressed he added honey to your meat and cheese plate!
Thanks, Leanne 🙂 I was also impressed by the honey!! He was so cute being all secretive about it.
What a fun date night! Jake is so sweet! He gets some major man points. But seriously, awwwwww!
Also, I like that someone other than myself takes freeway photos! Yess!
Jake is definitely a keeper 🙂 Hahah… I do totally take freeway photos, but mostly for myself to remember where exactly we were. In this case I thought it’d be fun to show the progress of the date.