Tired of Winter, Want to have a fun party that brings to mind a warm summer day in the vineyard?  Why not have a Sonoma Style dinner party with friends.  Here are 10 easy tips for success from our recipe specialist Rita Held.

Ten Tips for a Sonoma-Style Dinner Party

1.  Getting It Together

Several weeks ahead, invite the guests; select and print out the recipes (visit the TSG Recipe Box); and order specialty food products. Wine can be ordered online too (if your state allows it). Create to-do lists, and the day of the party follow a timetable so the casserole gets into the oven and the wines get chilled on schedule.

2.  What Can I Bring?

Guests today want to bring something—a great help in these busy and uncertain times. For a more cohesive menu, assign each guest a recipe to prepare and deliver in a serving dish. Simply send them the recipe link  or specify a type of dish.  Ask some guests to bring wine—specify the varietal, wine region, and maximum price. 

3.  Sonoma-Style Dinner

While good wines come from around the world, focusing on one wine region is fun. Sonoma, one of the world’s great wine regions, is a good place to start. The wines are exceptional and prices are often lower than comparable wines from Napa. White varietals include chardonnay, gewürztraminer, sauvignon blanc, and pinot gris; reds include cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot, syrah, and zinfandel. Sonoma also produces excellent sparkling wines.

4.  What Wines to Serve?

Believe it or not, choosing wine is the easiest part of menu planning. Simply serve what you like—and forget outdated wine rules. If you adore chardonnay, drink it with everything. To serve a variety of wines, select light whites or reds for light dishes, and choose full-bodied whites and reds for hearty dishes. Here are some suggested pairings with Two Sisters Gourmet recipes:

• A crisp sauvignon blanc with Asian Steamed Mussels or Lemon Garlic Shrimp
• A semi-sweet gewürztraminer with Spicy & Sweet Chicken Wings. 
• Pinot noir or chardonnay with Over-the-edge Smoked Salmon Appetizer or Chicken Kiev.
• Sparkling wine or pinot noir with Classic Quiche with Gruyere .
• Cabernet sauvignon or merlot with Deliciously Devine Duo , Pot Roast Perfection, or Baby Back Ribs.
• Zinfandel with Italian Pizza or Pepperoni Pizza Loaf.
• A sec or demi-sec sparkling wine with Simply Pear Chardonnay Pudding. 

5.  How Much Wine to Buy

Plan on at least 2 glasses of wine per person for a daytime affair. For a long party, allow up to a bottle per guest. 

6.  Sonoma Wine and Food Pairing

Choose at least half dozen wine varietals to serve. The goal is to find the best wine for each dish on the menu. Taste one dish with all of the wines, and then repeat until each wine has been compared to each dish. Start with the mildest dish and the lightest wine. Here’s what to do: 1) Swirl the wine in the glass and immediately take a sip—think about how the wine tastes and feels.  2) Take a bite of food. 3) Swirl and sip the wine again. Did the food alter the taste of the wine?  If each sip of wine tasted similar—and you liked the flavor after tasting the food—it is a good match. Discuss what combinations you liked best and why; which ones weren’t as good and why. 

7.  Wine Temperatures

For wine to taste best, it must be at the right temperature. Whites should be chilled but not ice-cold. To quick-chill whites, submerge the bottle in ice water for 15 minutes, or refrigerate about 2 hours. Red wine bottles should feel cool to the touch.  If the bottle is warm, refrigerate it about 1/2 hour; if too cold, leave at room temperature 1/2 hour.

8.  Setting the Table for Wine

Put the water glass on the far right, above the knife. Arrange the wine glasses to the left of the water, above the plate. One glass for each wine (or one for red and one for white) is ideal. If a single glass is used, rinse it between wines. Clear, long-stemmed wine glasses that curve in slightly at the top and hold at least 12-ounces are ideal. 

For a centerpiece, keep it simple and decorate for the theme.  Use something like the PartyLite Customizable Tealight Centerpiece for quick elegance and great ambiance.

9.  How Much Wine to Pour?

A wine glass should be filled no more than 1/3 full—that allows space for swirling the wine to release aromas and aerate the wine. It is easier to swirl the glass without spilling if the base of the glass is on the table—hold the glass by the stem and quickly move the glass in a circular motion.

10.  Have Fun and Trust Yourself

It’s fun to talk about wine—what flavors you taste and aromas you smell. But don’t be surprised if everyone disagrees—even the experts do. Just as people have different opinions about food, the wine palate is very personal. Trust your own opinion.

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Be prepared for unexpected holiday guests, have some extra snacks!

Well, it’s official, we are again in the holiday season.  Lights are up and expectations are high to be jolly, happy or oozing with extra good cheer – it’s enough to make you crazy.  As  a  Mom, you feel like the happiness of everyone around you is dependent on what you do!  But give yourself a break – if you are not happy, neither will anyone else be.

There are now three days before we leave to visit my mother for the holidays.  I’m a little stressed.  So I will do what I always do – make lists.  If I can take a big task and break it down into little ones, I feel much more successful and things will get done. I will make Christmas lists, and hit the internet.  I will make shopping lists and store them on my phone.   I will make packing lists, so that I can keep things in one suitcase – and I will put them all on the calendar so that as I get closer to THE DAY, the list will shrink instead of grow and I will feel better not worse.

But more importantly, I need to realize it is not my job to make everyone happy.  True, it’s easier now that the children are grown and I can realize that much of the struggle we had during those teenage years was as much my problem as theirs.  They were trying to show me they were responsible for themselves, and I had to learn to let them be responsible. 

This year my family is beginning to scatter around the U.S. as we become part of other people’s families and celebrations.  They each have a desire and responsibility to contribute to everyone’s happiness – and they want to.  The joy of making others happy is now the gift they have to share -  that and a few recipes from home. Let me know how you and your family share the holidays.

Still there is that central role you have to play – so make it easy for yourself, at least on the food front.

5 Steps to Making Holiday Cooking Easier

1.  Put out a plate of fresh, ready to eat fruit for the day.  Let them help themselves.  In many European countries it’s a tradition that they put out a plate of food for the 12 Days of Christmas – one for each day.  It includes dried fruit (like apricots), cheese, nuts, fresh fruit (like clementines and grapes) and some wrapped candy. 

2.  Prepared food is good food.  –  Make a pot of soup – only twice what you would normally prepare – freeze half for the day so that you’re ready for guests coming at odd hours or those running late. If you don’t have the extra time now, a roast chicken from the grocery store is a great, warm dinner.

3.  Keep It Simple – As much as I love to cook, I am always humbled by the fact that the family seems to love easy comfort food as much if not more than things I slave over.  We had a week full of delicious dishes – but my son, Scott was happiest with the easy mac he made for himself. It was inexpensive and easy, and reminded him of being a kid again.

4.  Let People Help!!  -  I’m always guilty of this one.  I invite people over, they say “what can I bring?” and I say “Just Yourself!”  What was I thinking?   I am learning to say, “Thank you, yes” and everyone feels better.

5.  Keep some “extras” on hand! – The one thing I have trained the family to do, is put something on the grocery list when they use up the last one.  Particularly around the holidays, there should be some no thought food around.  For a late night meal, I take a can of tomato soup, add a can of minced clams and a little milk and I have a wholesome meal.  When people drop by, I have some mini-bagels,  frozen pigs in a blanket, TSG Cheeseballs or a jar of Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly over cream cheese – and everyone is happy!

If you are relaxed and happy, so will be those around you.  Give up control and enjoy the holidays.

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