Today marks a day of sharing new content on entertaining. I am by no means a perfect host, but after multiple dinner parties and house guests, I am slowly learning tips and tricks to make things easier. I want to share these tips with all of you!
You host a few friends for dinner. You make a mean pot of meat sauce, pasta, a green salad, and a fruit crisp. Friends start to trickle in, and your BFF from work brings white wine. Now comes the age-old dilemma...do you serve the white wine, even though it doesn't go with your sauce, or do you keep it for later?
Here's how I handle the situation:
If the wine is perfectly chilled and the friend seems very eager to drink it:
Go ahead and serve it! You can serve your friend's wine AND a wine that better matches your food. Let your guests choose their own adventure. In cases when a champagne comes perfectly chilled or it's a really intense and fancy wine that the guest seems excited about, it's a clear indicator the friend was hoping you'd open it up and share!
If the wine isn't chilled and doesn't work for your meal:
In these situations, I label the wine with the name of the person who brought it. I stole the idea to do this from Ina Garten. Then, the next time I have them over, I can make sure to serve that wine. For example, at my birthday party, two of my friends brought by special bottles--one a nice champagne, the other a bourbon-barrel cider. Now, when I invite these friends over again, I can plan a meal specifically around the wine they brought, and I can serve the wine and enjoy it with them.
Such a brilliant idea, right? I love anything that encourages more dinner parties and time with friends. I can't wait to have Karl, Merissa, and Haynes over again for dinner!
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