This post was made in partnership with Smirnoff. Recipe and ideas are my own.
I consider myself lucky to have a few close friends in my life. Friends who will willingly let me photograph them while we come together to celebrate our Friendsgiving dinner this year. Now, I honor my friendships with these ladies all the time, and we try to get together once a month now that our lives have gotten much busier with families, jobs, commitments, etc… So, in some sense, once a month we already are celebrating a version of Friendsgiving. But now that we’re in November, we can officially call it that I guess!
While we may have come together over a shared bond of going out and having fun, now everyone in the group is at various forms of no-abv, low-abv, and mod-abv (a new term I am coining here). Getting together with a bottle of whiskey is just not going to cut it anymore, and as countless statistics now tell us, more people are embracing entertaining with all these facets of alcohol consumption in mind. So, together with Smirnoff this holiday season, I’ve included their Smirnoff Seltzer Raspberry Rosé and Smirnoff Seltzer Berry Lemonade hard seltzers for low-abv and mod-abv options. These are some of the best tasting hard seltzers I’ve tried so of course I’m including them here for my friends (only the best!). The fruit flavors taste, well, real! With just enough bubbles that they also stand in for a great mixer to pair with something harder too.
At our Friendsgiving you won’t find a turkey, you won’t find a formal sit down dinner, but what you will find is laughter, dancing, pigs in a blanket, and since I’m bartending, delicious drinks. Oh and snacks. LOTS of snacks. I like to set out small stations around the house as no one ever stays in one place. One area I’ve got a DIY Your Seltzer bar with berries, herbs, ice, and citrus. And fun straws!! There’s the main table of food that’s pretty much center to everything, and it’s round, which I love, because it has a good flow of traffic around it. I never keep anything super high on there so guests can reach over from any angle and not have to worry about knocking something over. I have hard mixers set up in another nook with jiggers, mixing spoons, and glasses. And for fun, and because I love the element of take aways from parties, I have some polaroid cameras set up in a basket for my friends to take photos with while they’re enjoying themselves.
Another aspect of entertaining during the holiday season is sometimes people are looking for ways not to overindulge. When one of my friends arrived for the party she announced she was off sugar and carbs this month, usually I would have been scrambling to find something to serve, but lucky for her, the Smirnoff Seltzer Raspberry Rosé and Smirnoff Seltzer Berry Lemonade hard seltzers have zero sugar and just 1 carb per serving. And unlike some drinks you might get claiming no sugar, they aren’t adulterated with a bunch of artificial sweeteners. This announcement was totally unexpected from this friend but I felt super lucky to be able to offer her some tasty drink options (and eat all her dinner rolls! Ha. Sorry F!).
If you’re looking to incorporate some low-abv (and mod-abv) options this year with these Smirnoff hard seltzers, here’s a few ideas…
- To make it super casual, and easy on yourself and everyone, these pretty slim cans fit nicely in a punch bowl filled with ice for a self-serve option.
- If you want to do a little DIY bar like I did, and invite your guests to gussy up their drinks, here’s some flavor options:
- Smirnoff Seltzer Raspberry Rosé with fresh raspberries, mint sprigs, and rose petals.
- Smirnoff Seltzer Berry Lemonade with fresh berries, thyme, and citrus slices.
- Include a few harder options who are looking for a classic party drink:
And PRO TIP folks! Save yourself the trouble of having to deal with weekend holiday traffic. JUST. DON’T. Order in your Smirnoff hard seltzers and other party goods on Drizly. I did! And as usual, it got to the house under an hour.
People change, tastes change, and with that, the offerings at your parties will ultimately change. Stay ahead and honor your friends this holiday season with options that fit into their lifestyle. And make sure they’re delicious! Happy Entertaining!
**Smirnoff Seltzer. Per 12 fl. Oz.: 90 Cals, 1g Carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
Well, for one, we’re right in the middle of Day of the Dead celebrations, which go from October 31st to November 2nd. And secondly, Tequila Cazadores has released a special bottle to commemorate the holiday designed by the Mexican artist Victoria Villasana. She “was inspired by the Cazadores Stag and its meaning in indigenous cultures in Mexico. The stag is a messenger, a powerful animal that represents sensitivity and intuition. Just like Día de los Muertos, it represents a connection with our ancestors and the bridge between life and death.”
This year marks the first year that I am making an altar with ofrendas, or offerings, at home. I was introduced to the holiday through my Mesoamerican Art History studies in college years ago, but this year my oldest has started asking some big questions about life and death lately. I feel like this is the perfect way to not only honor our deceased relatives, but to give an honest answer about the cycle of life in a way that is not scary, but rather joyous and celebratory.
If you are thinking about celebrating Día de los Muertos in your home this year for the first time. Here’s a primer on a few of the symbols that would be found on the altar and in the home.
But why celebrate Bastille Day if you’re not in France, or not French? Because we just have a love of French food and culture. And we still have our 4th of July decorations up from last week (kidding). There’s also a lot of interesting history there as well. Personally, I am huge history buff and my favorite types of books delve into the intricacies of a country’s politics and culture. Bastille Day actual celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a prison, and the beginnings of the French Revolution and democracy in the country.
Interested to know a bit more? While there are numerous books one could read, recently I just finished the book 
But let’s get back to entertaining. First, go ahead and pour yourself a glass of wine. We’re pouring a Beaujolais and Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay from Louis Jadot. Both of the wines work well with desserts and are great party wines if you’re considering a spread of french foods like cheeses, seafoods, and light meats. The Beaujolais is 100% Gamay with juicy flavors of strawberry and black cherry with a little spicy black pepper. While the Chardonnay, made with 100% Chardonnay grapes, is more floral with apple and citrus aromas and slightly mineral notes. They are also both reasonably priced if you are looking for a few bottles or more to serve at your fête.
Now, the macaron tower. My biggest pet peeve about all the macaron towers out there is that the entire thing is not edible. Most are stuck on to a styrofoam tower, held in place with buttercream or a toothpick. While it can be impressive in height, I’d rather have a dessert tower that can be fully enjoyed by my guests. So, I decided to make this more of a “petit†tower, and have as my structure for the macarons to sit on be tiered vanilla cake. I mean, I wouldn’t be disappointed to be served a piece of cake with macarons covering it. This does mean baking a few small cakes (like, 3), but if you have the basic pantry staples around and a few small cake tins or even ramekins, this comes together quite quickly. And the macarons, while you most definitely can make those two, I just happen to have a favorite macaron shop here in Los Angeles I got mine from (and that is just far enough away I don’t visit them everyday… that would be dangerous for me).
If you’d like to make this taller, you can bake a larger base and build up from there. Height is totally up to you, but for me, I found three cake layers sufficient for a small party.
This post is brought to you by Specialty Retailers, Inc. Recipes and ideas are my own.
Today I’m taking part in 
We still have two whole weeks until Christmas and who knows how many parties we’ll be going to or hosting up to then. If you’re in charge of drinks, Stages has all the accessories you need to make prepping and decorating easy! We did a quick shopping trip online to get all our gear for our virtual party including glasses, those cute gold foil holiday napkins, a caddy to hold the napkins and straws, a chalkboard sign to write out the name of our Signature Cocktail, the containers to store the rosemary sugar, a dipping tray for all the ingredients for the Cranberry Sauce Margaritas, as well as some festive decorations like this teeny tiny lights and the nutcracker. Even my holiday sweater came from there! SO MANY GREAT ENTERTAINING OPTIONS.
The recipe for the Cranberry Sauce Margaritas has just a touch of sweetness in it from the cranberry sauce and the Grand Marnier. You can adjust going up or down with either to your liking. I also think adding just a touch of the rosemary sugar into the drink doesn’t hurt either, just remember to shake it really well to combine it all! TIP: use the spent lime wedges from the cocktail recipe to help rim the glasses. Then you won’t need to waste additional lime wedges just for rimming. Also, when rimming your glass, use a shallow bowl or rimmed plate and push the sugar out towards the edges so that the sugar will evenly coat around the glass.
Cranberry Sauce Margaritas
Rosemary Sugar
This post was made in partnership with Loire Valley Wines. Recipes and ideas are my own.
So pop open a bottle of wine with me, a bottle of 
Since Loire Valley Wines are fresh and fun, we’re also going to be going that direction with our after Thanksgiving bites with these three options: Tart Turkey Lettuce Cups, Brie Stuffed Pommes Noisettes, and Bite Size Croque Monsieur Tartines. I’m going on the assumption that you’ll have some of the staple dishes at your meal like turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, a cheese plate, bread, green beans, pecans or walnuts, and various refrigerator condiments. If you’re feeling fancy, I’ve even got a few optional ingredients so you can win the day after Thanksgiving meal as well. But no pressure! Friday should be all about relaxing with family, not stressing over food preparation.
Ok, let’s pour ourselves a glass of wine and get cooking!
Turkey Lettuce Cups
Brie Stuffed Pommes Noisettes
This post was made in partnership with 90+ Cellars. Recipes and ideas are my own.
Today we’ve partnered with 
To start: Apple Jelly with cured ham and Manchego
Palate cleanser: Sweet and Spicy Apple Granita (full recipe below)
With the main meal: Spiced Apple Chutney (full recipe below)
This post was made in partnership with Vinho Verde Wines. Recipe and ideas are my own.
Picnics sure have changed a lot since I was little, obviously. There’s definitely wine now. However, the bugs are still there in droves. But I get to stay out a lot later so…win!
Today I’ve partnered with 
You can’t have a picnic without some great picnic food too. And if we’re drinking Portuguese wine, we are definitely eating Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese egg tarts). These light, slightly sweetened tarts hold up well outdoors. I have a few bakeries here in Los Angeles that I like to buy mine from, although I’m linking to a solid recipe below if you’d like to bake yours. I do like to dress mine up a bit for the picnic with some wine-candied lemon peels which I DO have a recipe for below using the same wine we’ll make spritzes with.
A picnic should not be a stressful affair. Here’s some tips to help make your day go off without a hitch!
Vinho Verde Spritz (makes one Spritz)
Wine Candied Lemon Peels for Pastéis de Nata (Egg Tarts)
But this is a spirits site, why are we talking salads?? Well, because we’ll be using that wine you’ll be serving your guests as an ingredient too! The star of the salad is the pickled stone fruit: nectarines, plums and cherries. These pickled stone fruit take a 3 day dip in a sweet and sour bath laced with wine and come out the other end transformed into some crazy delicious bites. I love it when I can incorporate elements from both the drinks and the food together for dishes.
In addition to this yummy salad, we’re also taking wine today. If we want to keep our get togethers simple and laid back, we also need a laid back wine. Enter Beaujolais; more specifically Régnié.
Régnié (pronounced like rein-yay) is the ultimate outdoor entertaining wine. It’s food friendly and pretty much pairs with all those foods you’d want to eat at your outdoor fête. Charcuterie plate? Yes. Spinach salad? Yes. All the cheeses?!?!? Yes yes yes! That’s why we’re pairing this medium-bodied red Beaujolais (did you know Beaujolais comes in red, white AND rosé?) with our salad; the slightly spicy berry, tart and dry wine compliments the pungent, sweet and sour flavors of the pickled stone fruits as well as the salty goodness of the charcuterie and cheese perfectly.
The idea of this salad came about because, well…I’m not really a cracker person. Shocker, what?! Is that a thing?? I’m usually the odd one just eating cheese and meat slices off a fork; I just don’t want all the filler. My husband however is a water cracker connoisseur and is baffled by this approach to eating a cheese and charcuterie board. I thought that if I want to eat my meat and cheese and all the components of a well-dressed spread in a more substantial manner, I can put them all in a salad. The added bonus is the wine in the pickled stone fruits which punches their taste way up, and the resulting brine is an amazing substitute to plain old vinegar in the dressing for the salad.
Are you guys ready to throw one last summer party now?
Wine-Pickled Stone Fruit and Charcuterie Board Salad