Mystery Basket Cook-Off

Your date

A little kitchen competition

Each partner chooses surprise ingredients and you compete—or collaborate—to turn them into dinner at home.

Set a small budget and have each person secretly choose one or two ingredients the other person must use. Reveal everything at the same time, then decide whether you are competing with separate dishes or collaborating on one meal. Give yourselves a fixed cooking window, such as 60 minutes, and use normal pantry staples freely. Plate the food, score the result on taste, creativity, and presentation, and eat together after the judging. Keep the point of the night on improvising and laughing rather than producing restaurant-quality food.