Wine and Cheese Party

          This past weekend my family hosted a Wine and Cheese party for our friends from church, and friends from Dad's church in Tucson. We had a night full of wine tasting (there were a lot of delicious wines to choose from), and a TON of cheese. We had everything from Manchego, Asiago, Brie, to Jarlsberg and a Dubliner. The party was a huge success, and it was such an amazing night hanging out with some awesome friends. First off I must tell you that me, my mom, and my sister love parties. I mean we seriously love planning parties, and menu planning. I could honestly say that menu planning could be a hobby of mine.

         We spent weeks coming up with what we considered the perfect menu (although we changed it daily), and spent countless hours preparing for the big day. We have a tendency to go all out, but we try to keep things simple. Somehow we always manage to get a little over our heads, but what can I say we love it. Side note, but I love working with my mom and sisters. We make such a great team, and we work pretty much in unison. Most of the time we don't even have to say anything and yet we know what we need to be doing. It is so much fun! On Friday (the day of the party) we woke up at 5:00 a.m and did a workout together (I love that we all workout together!) took Emory for a walk, and started our long day of preparations. Luckily we are super organized, and like to get as much prepped as we can, so we had almost everything done besides the last minute things which still took all morning. We were in the kitchen for 8 hours on Friday, and it was so much fun! I am sure if we weren't distracted with Emory, we could have got it finished a lot faster, but he had so much fun cooking with us.

      
           All in all it turned out great. I think everyone was happy with their selection of wine, cheese, food and fellowship. I know I had a blast... And despite the fact that we have been snacking on cheese for days now, I can't wait to have some brie and pears later for a snack!

Here's what was on the menu:

• Antipasto Skewers (chicken apple sausage, freshly roasted balsamic pepper, fresh basil)
• Sundried Tomato, basil and feta scones
• Grape skewers
• Leek and Ricotta Tartelettes
• Dried fruit, dates, and nuts
• Three kinds of olives
• Six different types of cheeses
• Fresh apples and pears
• 8 Red wines
• 5 White wines

For Dessert:

• Homemade Chai Almond Biscotti
• Homemade Chocolate Coconut Biscotti
• Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes (I will post this recipe soon)
• Mini Coconut Cupcakes with a Coconut Buttercream
• Chocolate Espresso Brownies
• Salted Toffee
• Full coffee bar