The Disorganized Party Planner

I love planning parties. I really do. But I just feel like we didn’t have enough time to think about this wine tasting party we’re having on Sunday, and I’m throwing it together without as much thought as I usually put into things. Luckily, it’s going to be very low-fi. There are only 7 adults (including Drew and myself) and 4 kids, so I’m not too worried. I just wanted to come up with a more creative menu, but I’m sure this will be fine:

Vegetable Spring Rolls (from Sam’s Club)
Mini Quiches (from Sam’s Club)
Roast beef on crostini, dab of horseradish
Fruit, cheese, and cracker platter

I just need to think of a couple fun, kid-oriented appetizers. Maybe pigs in a blanket? (At the end of August I remember reading an article in the NY Times that said they were incredibly popular at posh cocktail parties this summer, ha!) I think I might make a small batch of punch and buy a container of sherbet for the kids’ “cocktails.” I think it would be fun to have this little scoop of sherbet melting in their cup.

As for the wines, I think we might do the Hayman & Hill Cabernet Sauvignon as well as their Chardonnay. We are huge fans of both. Typically, I don’t love chardonnay, but theirs… well, I’m sure I could kick a bottle of it pretty easily. Over the weekend we tried the Duo Cabernet-Merlot blend. It was decent, but I wasn’t in love with it. It is also the first wine that I was able to describe as having “a hint of beet.” Seriously! Not in a bad way, but it had this earthy/sweetness thing and Drew and I were throwing around thoughts and suddenly I just looked at him and said, “Beet. It’s beet!” And he was like, “Holy crap, you’re right!” That was kind of funny. Anyway, we won’t be tasting people on that. Again, not bad, but for the price point there are plenty of other Chilean wines I’d rather drink. We need at least one more wine. I think Drew had a couple ideas, but I don’t remember what they were. So I guess in all reality I’m not that ill-prepared. But I feel like I am.