As a single girl in New York City, Friday nights are typically filled with long club lines, outrageously high heels, hand-crafted “mixology” cocktails, too little men, and not enough real conversation. After countless epic fails, I decided to make this past Friday night… a little more savory.

One cooking class for two please…

My best friend and I uncorked one of my fanciest bottles of red wine (acquired on my birthday last year in Napa Valley) listened to jazz and got ready for our date night together. We slipped into festive holiday dresses, touched up our red lipstick, and marched hand-in-hand into an “Italy in Autumn” cooking class at Sur la Table.

While we were quite literally crashing everyone else’s actual date night, my best friend and I zested, chopped, seared, laughed, and learned all the simple tips needed to create a cozy fall meal at home. To start, we stuffed fresh dates with creamy gorgonzola, then wrapped them in savory prosciutto. We then seared the pork loin (which we had patted dry to then smother in olive oil, salt and pepper) and baked it off to create a juicy and tender main that we dressed with a tart apple-cranberry chutney. Then for the vegetable, we crafted a garlic and lemon zested broccolini (which is interestingly enough, a hybrid between broccoli and kale) that we topped with sharp parmesan cheese.

The combination of the rustic meat with the acidic chutney, hearty greens, and sweet and savory prosciutto wrapped dates left us in a pure gastronomic state of bliss.

So the next time you are rolling your eyes at the thought of another wasted Friday night… take a leap of faith, learn something new, and get into the kitchen.