Food & Wine — Parties

Hosting parties can be stressful and worrying about serving wine properly may be the last thing on your mind. Even so, taking a couple simple steps to serve wine properly will greatly enhance any celebration. Selecting a special wine for the occasion and presenting it well will let your party shine as bright as that ball in Times Square. Here are a few easy suggestions to enlighten your guests and your taste buds. Sparkling Wines & Champagne, Rosé and Light Dry White Wines: These wines should be chilled to 40­–-50° F before serving. To achieve this temperature, leave the bottle...

  Holiday feasts and parties are a great excuse to indulge in artisan cheeses! This recipe for Honey Nut Roquefort is one of our favorites. We used Roquefort Papillion, a raw cheese from the AOC region of Roquefort from Milkfarm LA Cheese Shop. You can also find this cheese at the Claremont Cheese Cave. This fantastic import is strong and peppery in flavor with funky notes of earth and barnyard. If Roquefort is too intense for you and your guests, try a milder blue like Gorgonzola or Stilton. Any cheese shop or artisan cheese section will have some delicious options....

Are you looking for the perfect party hors d'oeuvre recipe that is quick and simple yet delicious? This Olive Tapenade recipe is the perfect accompaniment to your holiday party. Served on a toasty crostini, this snack is an excellent pair with a wide variety of wines making it very versatile for a festive holiday party environment with a wide variety of beverages. This recipe is something you can prepare well in advance to save yourself some prep time. Makes 1 Party Batch (Small Bowl) Ingredients: 2 x 6.5oz jars of Pitted Kalamata Olives 6.5oz of Spanish Manzanilla Olives with Pimentos...

With the arrival of a couple new wines this month, we take a look at the Mediterranean for inspiration. Let's be honest, we all want to make a meal of spanakopita. We love the flakey outer crust of those perfect little triangles filled with gooey hot cheese and fresh spinach. You can make this heavenly fantasy a reality with this recipe for spinach pie! With the stunning phyllo top, this pie is very presentational and can be perfect for dinner parties and potlucks as well as family dinner. Try pairing this entree with an Assyriko Athiri blend from Domaine Sigalas...

We got together with Ray and Terri Riojas from Rio de Ojas Gift Shop in Claremont for a special birthday dinner celebration of homemade paella and tapas. Historically, Paella has Spanish origins and was created out of a need to use miscellaneous leftovers. These recipes include many meats and other ingredients which can be swapped or modified as desired. Ray created two paella dishes, meat and seafood, to share with us and now we share these recipes with you. Pair these either of these dishes with a platter of tapas, a great bottle of wine and friendly faces.  Three Meat...