Wine not? Have a Happy Hour!

Everyone loves a Happy Hour. It's a time to unwind and relax, socialize and try those

appetizers and drinks you may not have ever ordered. Kal and I are always looking for a good happy hour and it occurred to me that you really don't have to go that far. Why not just have it at home! Invite friends, have them bring something to share and just like that, you have a Happy Hour!

So, what do you need. Obviously, drinks. Your guests will ask what to bring so tell them. Wine, red and white and a sparkling option. Sangria? Beer, some craft as well as popular beers, cocktails like margaritas, mojitos and martinis, and of course some non-alcoholic drinks, like sparkling water, mocktails or soda. This is a great book for cocktails and will give you a lot more ideas. Now for the food. Appetizers, cheese and charcuterie board, dips, mini pizzas, mini sandwiches, anything bite size. And of course, some desserts. Again, think of things that are easy to pick up. You'll also need small plates, napkins and glasses.

Keep this casual and easy. After all, it's supposed to be stress free and happy!

Set up an area for your bar. Make sure you have a good wine opener; I have this one and it is the best one I've ever had. Ice. Glasses for wine and glasses for mixed drinks. Don't forget the napkins. And if you really want to set the mood, check out this fun Happy Hour sign!

What to serve? Here are a couple of suggestions.

I love to serve caprese skewers. I make these all the time when I need to bring an appetizer.

You'll need balsamic vinegar glaze, mini–mozzarella balls, cherry or grapes tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and wooden skewers. I make my own balsamic glaze. It's easy to do. (If you don't want to make your own glaze, this one is great) Take a cup of balsamic vinegar and a cup of sugar and put in a saucepan. Add a couple of pinches of salt and stir to combine. Place the saucepot over medium heat. Once the balsamic vinegar comes to a boil, stir again, and casually watch it. You don't have to babysit the pot but stick around so you don't forget about it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vinegar has reduced to about half a cup (this will take about 15 minutes or so). Allow balsamic reduction to cool before drizzling over your caprese skewers (it will thicken as it cools, also). To prepare the skewers, spear the top of one tomato and slide it up 1” from the top of the skewer. Take a small basil leaf (if your basil leaves are large then cut them in half first, otherwise the flavor will overwhelm the skewer) and fold it in half. Spear the basil leaf and slide it up against the tomato. Repeat with a mozzarella ball, and then repeat with another tomato, basil leaf, and mozzarella ball. Just before serving, drizzle with balsamic reduction.

Charcuterie board.

This is so simple. You're going to need a fairly large board to assemble

this. Get your favorite cheeses and arrange them on a large board. Cut some up in cubes and have a supply of toothpicks handy. If you have a large block of cheese, have a cheese cutter handy. Have some variety in the cheeses, some hard and some soft, like a brie. Add some cured meats like prosciutto or salami. Mixed nuts, olives, small pickles raw veggies, fruits, fresh and dried, crackers and breadsticks and you are done!

Guacamole always is a favorite. And here's how I make it. Take your avocados and halve, remove pit and scoop out into a bowl. Smash a fork. Leave it a little lumpy; don't pulverize

it:) Add a little lime or lemon juice. Salt and ground pepper. That's it! If I'm having a large crowd, I would use 6-8 avocados. So, adjust the number of avocados according to your crowd size. Don't forget the chips. I like to mix blue corn with the traditional ones.

Watermelon Pizza

Ok, this is really not a pizza but more like a watermelon salad pizza style.

Cut the widest round of the watermelon you can. Do about 1-inch slices. Top with feta, red onion, torn basil, black olive and some of that balsamic glaze. Cut in wedges.

Bruschetta Here's a summer version of a classic, courtesy of Delish.

Here's what you'll need.

• 1 baguette, cut into 1" slices

• 1/4 c. plus 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

• 2 c. ricotta

• 2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 tsp.

  Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 c. strawberries, chopped

• 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, thinly sliced

• Balsamic glaze, for serving

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place baguette slices on a medium sheet tray and drizzle or brush with 1/4 cup olive oil. Bake until bread is toasted, about 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta with salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons oil. Spread each toast generously with ricotta mixture then top with strawberries. Garnish with basil and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Mediterranean Pinwheel Sandwiches (Courtesy of Savor the Best)

These are so delicious and so easy. I first made them for a baby shower and now I make

them for lunch! Here's what you will need:

Flour tortillas

Hummus

Arugula

Cucumber, thinly sliced

Feta cheese

Red onion, thinly sliced

Spread the hummus on the tortillas over the entire surface area (all the way to the edges). Scatter arugula over the hummus, then top with the slices of cucumber, red onion and sprinkle on the feta. Roll the tortillas up tightly, keeping the veggies snug inside. Slice the tortilla pinwheels into 1-inch sections with a sharp knife. Arrange them on a platter. Makes about 20 pinwheel sandwiches.

And now for dessert!

Again, think finger foods. Something easy to pick up. I'm going to do some short cuts here because this is supposed to be easy, peasy. They'll still make you look like a champ so not to worry!

Mini Boston Cream Pies (courtesy of Delish)

Ingredients

• 1 (3.4-oz.) package instant vanilla pudding

• 1 c. cold milk

• 1 1/2 c. whipped topping

• 3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips

• 1/3 c. heavy cream

• 1 box Nilla Wafers

  
  

  1. Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together vanilla pudding mix and milk until thick. Fold in whipped topping and transfer mixture to a piping bag. Refrigerate until ready to use. (If you don't have a piping bag, you can make one by taking a zip lock bag and cutting off one of the corners. Or you can use a small spoon to spoon on the wafer)

  2. Make ganache: Add chocolate chips to a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat heavy cream until bubbles form around the edges. Pour heavy cream over chocolate chips and let sit 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly. 

  3. Assemble pies: Cut the end of the piping bag and pipe filling onto the flat side of a Nilla Wafer. Top with another Nilla Wafer to create a sandwich; transfer to a serving dish. Repeat with remaining filling. 

4. Top it off: Spoon ganache on top of each cream pie before serving. 

And in keeping with our Happy Hour Theme:)

Piña Colada Mini Cupcakes (compliments of Delish)

Equipment: mini cup cake pans and liners

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 1/4 c. canned coconut cream

• 1/4 c. canned coconut milk (from can of coconut cream)

• 1 c. granulated sugar

• 1/4 c. vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/3 c. pineapple purée (blend canned or fresh pineapple in a blender or food processor)

• Sweetened shredded coconut, for garnish

• Zest of 1 lime, for garnish

For the Frosting

• 1 c. chopped white chocolate (or chips)

• 1/2 c. pineapple juice

Directions

• Make batter:

• Preheat oven to 350º

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine coconut cream (the thick white cream inside the can), coconut milk (liquid from same can) and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Add vegetable oil and egg to bowl and beat gently until combined. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt until combined, then gently mix in pineapple purée. Spoon into mini muffin cups and fill until three-fourths full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes.

• Make frosting: Place white chocolate in a medium bowl. In a microwave, heat pineapple juice until scalding hot, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour juice over chocolate and place a plate on top to keep warm. Let sit 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Let thicken, 10 minutes. Once frosting has thickened, dip tops of cupcakes into frosting. Garnish with coconut and lime zest.

For the chocolate lovers, an easy, creamy, crispy-cookie-bit-stuffed Nutella filling layered over an Oreo crust and topped with whipped cream and cookie crumbs.

Mini Nutella Crunch Shooters (Courtesy of Sugar Spun Run)

Equipment: 25 2-oz plastic shot glasses.

Ingredients

• 20 Oreo cookies

• 2 Tbsp butter melted

• 12 oz cream cheese softened, (1½ bricks)

• 1 ¾ cups Nutella

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 4 cups thawed Cool Whip topping + additional 4 oz for topping (homemade whipped cream can be substituted for this)

Instructions

• In food processor, pulverize Oreo cookies.

• Measure out one cup and set aside.

• Add your melted butter to the remaining crumbs and stir until well combined.

• Press about 1 tsp of crumb-mixture into the bottom of each shot glass and gently tamp down. Reserve the leftover crumbs for topping.

• In stand-mixer, cream together cream cheese and Nutella.

• Gradually add one cup of powdered sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.

• With mixer on low speed, stir in cool whip, (4 cups) making sure to pause occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. (You can also just fold this in)

• On low speed, stir in your reserved 1 cup of Oreo crumbs.

• Fill a large plastic (Ziploc) baggie with your filling and cut about a 1" wide piece of the corner off.

• Pipe Nutella filling into shot glasses. Spoon remaining Cool Whip evenly atop all dessert shooters.

• Sprinkle with remaining Oreo crumbs.

• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

You're all set. Now you need the most important part of Happy Hour, the crowd! Because the biggest part of being happy is to surround yourself with positive, uplifting people. Not just for the hour but always! Have a great Happy Hour!!

Liz🍷

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