FUN DATE TRICK FOLLOWS 1) Locate good grocery store. 2) Choose between 2A) Wine department 2B) Cheese counter 3) Ask (a) or (b) to recommend (a) a good bottle for $10-20 (b) three cheeses that contrast well and are delicious 4) Take your selection to 4A) Cheese counter 4B) Wine department and ask them to provide (a) three complimentary cheeses (b) a good wine to go with your selection. 5) Buy some crackers, some fruit, some dates, some chocolate. 6) Spread blanket on carpet 7) cue up netflix 8) COUCH PICNIC My wife and I have been having couch picnics for more than ten years now. The "decent grocery store" is good for expanding horizons but even Kroger will do in a pinch.
You really don't need more than that. My wife and I sometimes do entire dinners this way. A good bottle of wine, some great cheeses, a fresh loaf of good crusty bread, some nuts, fresh fruit, and dried meat, and maybe some hummus. The chocolate you mentioned is pretty clutch too. A lot of people don't realize how amazingly complimentary some good dark chocolate is on a plate like that. A meal fit for a king afaik. The specialty grocer near me has a sommelier and a great cheese selection, but now I'm spoiled because my sister's girlfriend owns a wine store. Every time I babysit for them she goes down to the basement and hands me something from her private collection. I honestly don't even possess the wine vocabulary to appreciate what I'm drinking.
It's been a while but "couch picnics" were a regular part of our life for many years. I need to reintroduce that. Until my wife went vegetarian we'd have charcuterie in there too and often champagne, then wine. -So much fun.
If you do, I think kleinbl00 and humanodon would internet slap me if I didn't recommend some HUMANODON SAUCE to accompany it.
Yeah, I always use all fresh ingredients except for a can or two of peeled to do some heavy lifting for me. I once made a sauce where the base was all fresh farmers market heirloom tomatoes and it was fucking nuts. But mostly I can't be bothered to go to those lengths. Pasta is a "convenience meal" for me because it's so easy to make by just throwing together a few mostly fresh ingredients (plus wine). Using non-canned tomatoes pushes it just out of reach for me most nights.