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The Best Gift For Any Couple: The Great Courses Plus

After a few years in a relationship, you slowly start to run out of new date night ideas. You've used all the best ones for birthdays and anniversaries. So, there I was after work, scouring social media and websites desperate for the perfect date night plan.

My partner and I have been getting into wine lately and even have a Wine of the Month subscription. So, what could be a thoughtful idea in regards to wine? Then it hit me, what's better than a home-cooked meal paired with an exquisite bottle of wine? I loved the idea of a date night that we can do together at home.

I knew we needed a little guidance, so I evaluated a few different options before discovering The Great Courses Plus and their amazing selection of courses. It's an online platform with thousands of hours of audio and video lectures on every topic you can imagine.

Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan's Everyday Guide To Wine course seemed like the ideal solution. Professor Simonetti-Bryan is a Certified Specialist of Spirits and has a Master of Wine from the Institute of Master of Wine in London. This is one of the highest credentials in the wine and spirits industry.

Her 24 lessons (12-hour course, each lesson is 30 min) cover everything, from why you should learn about wine to the best bottles for various cuisines. The amount of detail is next-level and takes you on an amazing wine journey around the world.

I signed up my boyfriend for The Great Courses Plus monthly plan and we haven't stopped exploring since. We ran through Everyday Guide to Wine and our wine knowledge has definitely grown, inspiring us to try a variety of blends. While we watched Jennifer's lectures, we completely immersed ourselves in the world of vino by raising a glass of wine -or 3!

At the same time, we took The Everyday Gourmet: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking so we could whip up an amazing meal that would go with a special bottle of Cabernet we'd bought just for the occasion. Taught by Bill Briwa from The Culinary Institute of America, the course helped us get a grasp of the basics of cooking.

Perfect for beginners or people who have some experience in the kitchen, Chef Briwa teaches techniques like knife work, poaching, and frying. Once we hit the kitchen, let me tell you our first homemade Braised Chuck Roast was cooked to perfection.

We settled down to eat while watching Eric Williams's How to View and Appreciate Great Movies course. We can never agree on a film, so this course will help us enjoy movies of all genres as an art form. The informative course covers everything from how they shape storylines and tension on-screen to genre breakdowns and how the cutting room works. What a perfect night in.

Initially, I thought it was just a cute idea, but The Great Courses Plus is truly a gift that keeps on giving. Over time we can explore other topics like travel, literature, music, and history. I'm so happy with my gift decision. This isn't just a gift for my boyfriend, but a gift for the two of us.

Plus, we also get access to exclusive content from renowned organizations such as National Geographic, History®, the Mayo Clinic, and Smithsonian.

My favorite part is that we can take The Great Courses Plusat our own pace since there's no time limit to complete courses. With such a wide range of topics, I worried that it would cost a lot. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have affordable prices and monthly, quarterly, or annual memberships.

The Great Courses Plusadds new courses every month, so we have our dates for the next year covered. We're going to have so much fun learning together, growing together, and being creative on date nights!

Check out all of the amazing courses offered on The Great Courses Plus! Follow this link and choose from a 3, 6, or 12-month subscription!