Wine for Short Ribs

I asked my foxy sommelier neighbor from Hearty Splash what wines would pair best with our weeknight dinner party short ribs.

Her big recommendation?
Petite Syrah.

Two good reasons
1. Petite Syrah can be cheaper than Cabernet Sauvignon.
2. Petite Syrah has good acid and tannins for cutting the fat in the short ribs.

Two Petite Syrah recommendations (the first one is from the foxy neighbor sommelier, the second one from me.)
Fancy Petite Syrah (Quixote $60)
The 2005 Quixote Petite Syrah. Cool, styley label, tasty wine and superstar winemaker. (Check! Check! Check!)

Budget Petite Syrah (Cartlidge & Brown $9-$12)
The 2007 Petite Syrah from Cartlidge & Brown’s label Lot 205 is a great deal for a pricier varietal (and also tasty with slow roasted pork).

Pick up your wine as early as you’d like for one less thing to remember on party day.

Tweets from last week

Don’t push friends out the door as soon as you pull the dessert plates, allow time for a little chitter chatter.
For dinner parties that include wine. Always buy more wine than you think you’ll need. It goes fast.
RT @winesisterhood: There will always be someone more talented, but never someone more called. Live according to your calling, not your talent
@BanksConrad You are a one man anti-whipped potato force. Yes, roasted or Scalloped spuds are also formidable contenders.
Big fat centerpieces can make it hard for guests to talk. Short candles and short vases are what this HJ recommends.
These coconut macaroons will work quite easily into your weekday dinner party. http://bit.ly/hJ3Snj Dead. Easy.
Take time to introduce your dinner party guests to each other, it seems weird and old-fashioned but everyone appreciates it.
Weeknight dinner party assembled desserts: Fancy ice cream. Pound cake and fruit. Fancy chocolates. Cheese and Port.
Have a snack ready for folks who arrive early. Nuts, dried fruit, fancy potato chips, snack mix, Wasabi peas,
RT @ANDREW WK PARTY TIP: Think about how intense it is to be a woman.
Let guests know if you’ll be serving dessert so they’ll know to save some room in their bellies.
Weeknight dinner party? Set the table the night before for one less thing to worry about.
It’s a good Monday afternoon to make a Valentine’s day mix cd for all the kinds of the love in your life.
There are so many cute valentines for inspiration that this crafty girl gets frozen with envy. Construction paper and scissors show them that you care.
Recovering from yesterday’s Super Bowl festivities? My go-to helpers are Tangerine Emergen-C and ibuprofen.

Dinner Party Playlist

Putting the music together for your dinner party can be done during lunch. And it can be done months ahead of time. Easy.

Want to get really into it?
Plan your music around the timing of your party.

You invited Bob and Robbie over for dinner at seven on Thursday. You have thirty minutes to get the food on the table. So plan for the first fifteen minutes to have greeting music.

The next fifteen? Cocktail drinking music.
The next forty-five? Quiet, dinner support music.
The last fifteen, it’s up to you.
Dance party?
Dessert music?

Let’s pretend you’re not a terribly musical person.
Let’s pretend you invited a weekday dinner party guest that’s broke.
Let’s pretend she can’t cook.
Now let’s pretend they asked what they could bring to the party.

Suggestion: Ask them to bring a music mix for the party.
Note: If you care DEEPLY about the music, this is not a good thing to suggest, keep yourself happy and make a mix yourself.

My favorite way to find music for parties is to Google what other people recommend. Real Simple magazine made a great mellow dinner party mix on iTunes.

Another recommendation is the love of my life, Pandora, I love the Dean Martin station, Van Morrison is a crowd pleaser, and Jazzhole makes me seem cleverer than I am.

Great dinner party artists include Carla Bruni, Pink Martini, Cassandra Wilson, Victoria Clark, Kristen Chenowith.

Then again, I’m a child of show tunes and the nineties.

Happy musicking!

Weeknight Dinner Party Week

“I really like Bob and Robbie, why don’t we have them over some time?”

Because you and yours and Bob and Robbie are busy.
Busy, busy, busy.
Your weekends are packed,
you’re exhausted at the end of the day and
it all just seems like such
work.

Ugh.
It’s a wonder we remember to floss.
Or something.

But wait.
Friends, family, hospitality.
That’s it.
That’s what’s important.

So let’s prioritize.
Let’s host a weeknight dinner party.

This week we’re going to finally invite Bob and Robbie over.

We’re going to tuck this party into next Thursday night.
We’re going to prepare a tasty dinner,
offer a comfortable atmosphere,
have those friends over.

Let’s not freak out about it,
spend a bazillion dollars or
harbor a speck of resentment.

Let’s do it!

Here’s the menu we’ll be preparing, a mix of make ahead and assembled items that can be worked into a work week.