Holiday Entertaining Tips
This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.
The holidays are quickly approaching and if you are entertaining this year, I hope these tips help you out!
Holiday entertaining is one of my favorite things so I wanted to share some easy tips to make hosting a breeze!
I love a good holiday get together! It always feels so fun and festive. I love entertaining at our house during the holidays and I have been using some tried and true tips for years now!
When entertaining, I want to be involved with our guests as much as possible so I try and prep as much beforehand as I can! I love putting out easy food that I know everyone will like because it makes everyone feel more welcome, I think!
DRINKS FOR ENTERTAINING:
I love a good festive holiday drink, but when I have several guests over, I think it’s more efficient to serve wine and beer. Wine feels very elegant and festive for the holidays. I always love to have a white and red wine option because then there is something for everyone!
I’m using this delicious wine from Rodney Strong Wines! I have a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon which are two of my personal favorites. The Cabernet vineyard was planted in Sonoma County in 1971. It’s an ideal place to grow these grapes. This Cabernet is rich with dark cherry, plum, and baking spices. It has black pepper notes, violet, and cassis making it perfect for a cozy holiday wine! I really enjoy this one!
My favorite white wine is a Chardonnay lately, so this one from Rodney Strong is right up my alley! It has aromas of lemon curd and apple with oak and baking spices. It also has notes of pear and pineapple. It’s light and refreshing which I think is so perfect for appetizers! The fruit is from cooler, coastal regions of CA and when combined with the grapes from Sonoma County, the wine is even better and more complex!
I love to have all different wine glasses on display along with the wine so we can easily serve everyone!
HOLIDAY SNACK BOARD:
When it comes to appetizers, I love putting out a snack board that everyone can kind of pick off of! It makes it easier to grab and go so that guests can enjoy the party.
I love using a big wooden cutting board and putting everything on top of it. I like using festive holiday plates and creating a simple centerpiece that is full of holiday charm!
I put together this fun snack board with a few favorites for the holidays! Any time I can take a little help from the store, I am all for it, especially when the snacks are delicious! I do like to mix in at least 1 homemade appetizer, especially if I can prep it beforehand!
I made this quick, simple, yet delicious twist on bruschetta. This makes your house smell amazing and you can easily make it before the party.
RECIPE FOR BRUSCHETTA:
1 cup of Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cubes of garlic from Dorot Gardens
3 cubes of basil from Dorot Gardens
Heat a pan to medium and add the olive oil
Pop out the 2 cubes of garlic from Dorot Gardens and saute for about a minute
Pop out 3 cubes of basil from Dorot Gardens then add the tomatoes
Saute the whole mixture for about 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes are bursting, but still have some shape
Serve with crackers or bread and ENJOY!
These Dorot Gardens herbs are the ultimate kitchen hack! No more chopping or peeling, you just pop it right into your meal! They are full of flavor and I love that I don’t waste any herbs. They flash freeze the herbs within 90 minutes of harvest so they are very fresh!
One cube of garlic equals 1 clove of garlic. 1 cube of basil equals 1 tsp of basil. These pre-portioned herbs make cooking so convenient and easy, especially when getting ready for a party—easy clean up too!
I love having a variety of snacks on the snack board, so having some crunchy nuts is a must! I don’t want to just use ordinary nuts during the holidays; I like to jazz things up with these Frank’s Red Hot Almonds! They are so flavorful and have the perfect kick to spice things up!
They are made with California Almonds and no artificial colors or flavors. They’re made with Frank’s Original Hot Sauce which is such an iconic flavor. I know our guests will be pleasantly surprised when they try these almonds out!
I like to serve them in a little bowl to keep them all contained and easy to grab.
I think a snack board needs a little something sweet when it has mainly salty/savory things on it to balance it all out. I added these super flavorful and thin Dewey’s Cookies to the board. They add the perfect touch of sweetness and are made with real ingredients, no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, which I love!
These cookie thins are made in Winston-Salem, NC in the Dewey’s hometown bakery which they opened in 1930! The Sugar Moravian Cookies are full of vanilla flavor and the finest ingredients such as whole eggs and finely milled wheat flour. The Ginger Spice Moravian Cookies are my personal favorite, which is a centuries-old recipe brought here from the European kingdom of Moravia made of brown sugar, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. They are perfect for the holidays!
Dewey’s Cookies would be such a good gift this holiday season and you can use code DEWEYS10 for 10% off their site from 11/10/2021-12/10/2021.
INSPIRATION/IDEAS FOR HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING :
When getting ready to host a party, I love looking for inspiration for decor, meals, things to do at the party, etc. I think it’s inspiring to see some new and fresh ideas that I may not have thought of before! It also makes party planning a little easier when I go in with a plan.
If you are a Friends fan, like myself, you will LOVE this Friendsgiving Book! This is a licensed book with tons of meal ideas, entertaining tips, DIY decor, activities, and Friends photos, quotes, and moments from the show. I enjoy looking through it for not only ideas, but to be reminded of the fun episodes and characters that I love so much!
Part one has all of the yummy recipes. Part two has the tips, playlist ideas, decor inspiration, and more. Part 3 has activities such as Unagi Pictionary—so fun! This Friendsgiving Book would make such a fun host gift for the holidays!
I hope these entertaining tips inspire you, if you are having some loved ones over this holiday season. Prep ahead, make a snack board, serve a couple different options of drinks, and get inspired before your event.
Cheers to the upcoming holidays!!! Looking forward to spending time with you this holiday season!!!!
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XO
-LA
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