The notion of a romantic evening for a lot of us guys includes preparation in the form of reservations, flower purchasing and some form of evening entertainment, perhaps a movie, concert or dancing. This has been a tried and true method of courtship for ages, and it still works very well. But every once in a long while, it just might be a good idea to really surprise her with an evening at home she is likely to never forget. You have it in you to handle this and still not be seen as a wimp.

Every woman likes to be pampered, and every guy knows that. The problem is, we would rather just buy something like a spa treatment or the nice package of perfumes and oils bundled for our convenience at the store, it is less difficult than dealing with the details ourselves. Fortunately, the commercial world is aware of this little deficiency in the man beast and is very accommodating. Still, surprising her with some true tender loving care and personal pampering can mean a lot to her, and she is worth it.

But since spending the day in the kitchen does not appeal to us, we begin with the trusty poulan chainsaw in the shed. Grab that man tool and head out to a place where you can fell a tree and cut into logs for firewood. It does not diminish the effort if you have to pay someone for the honor of cutting the firewood yourself, tonight is about doing things with your own hands for her. Once you have the logs in the right lengths for your fireplace, split them into pieces and load up the truck.

Load that firewood into the truck and head on back to the house. Unload the wood and stack it for future use, carefully preparing the fireplace for later, you will want to have it all ready for when she arrives. At this point it is important to take care of all those little details like starter kindling and matches; you want this evening to work out smoothly.

Now the tough part, you are going to prepare a meal that both you and she will enjoy, and do it with your own hands. The first step is to get the required elements of this meal, and resist the temptation to purchase a ready-made meal from the supermarket, it is not a bad idea, but tonight you are doing this all yourself. If you do not already have one, it is time to head to the local kitchen store a pick up an electric rice cooker; they are excellent functional devices at a reasonable price. If you already own one, we move on.

Naturally, you are going to need a small bag of Japanese rice (not long grain or wild rice). While you are at the grocery store, pick up a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup, and your choice of broiled chicken, uncooked scallops or shrimp, whatever you and she like. If you have different tastes; she does not like scallops, but you love them; get both, the meal will still work out great. Go to the frozen food section and pick out some vegetables that you can microwave. Pick up a bag of shredded cheese (your choice or the mixture bags.) A pre-made tossed salad large enough for two is not cheating, a loaf of French bread and a bottle of wine and you are ready.

Back home, it is time to take care of you. But first, read the instructions for preparing the rice and set it and turn it on to cook. With the machine, you can not fail. At this point you should be ready for a good shower, and all you have to add is the standard morning ritual, even though it is still the afternoon. Taking the time after you shower to get your hair in some semblance of shape and shaving (unless she digs your beard) can go a long way and requires little effort. This would be a good time to break out that bottle of cologne, or man perfume as we usually call it, which is why it remains on the shelf unused. It is not that she does not care for your smell, it is the idea of something different that we are leveraging here.

Back in the kitchen, the rice should be ready. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Scoop out enough to fill the bottom of an oven ready pan to about an inch and a half deep. Pour the cream of mushroom soup over the rice evenly and then add the chicken, scallops or shrimp, or cover the rice half and half with the toppings of your choice. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the whole pan, cover with aluminum foil and place the pan in the oven about 35 minutes before her arrival, and go start the fire. Once it starts, microwave your vegetables and open the wine.

Start the fire and select some decent tableware. Prepare a table in front of the fireplace and cook the vegetables as instructed on the bag. Slice the bread and place on a plate on the table. You are about 30 minutes away from a very fine romantic meal. Check the rice starting at about 25 minutes of baking, you want the seafood cooked and the cheese melted, bubbling and slightly browned but not black. When its ready, put the rice dish and the vegetables on the table, pour the wine and water, and you are ready for her. It is hard to believe this all started with the trusty homelite chainsaw.