At Home Wine Night
One of my favorite luxuries is wine night. Whether it’s at home or a wine bar, I always prefer to sip my wine al fresco. While many Friday nights I can be found at St. Pete’s Annata, my preferences have started to change ever since buying a house. This social butterfly has been enjoying quiet weekends at home more and more. Since I will never let go of my cherished wine nights, I decided to bring them to the Kennedy Bungalow. Here’s my recipe for a perfect evening for two from over the weekend!
The Set-Up
As the saying goes, “presentation is everything!” If I’m going to be honest, this is my weakness when it comes to creating an at-home charcuterie spread. I have so much to learn and have been shopping for fun additions since the weekend. Since it’s best to just keep things simple, here’s my list to get things rolling…
- Tablecloth: This literally sets the stage and the possibilities are endless! The beauty of finding a great, all occasions tablecloth is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to do it! I spent $15 on this light blue linen pick, which was great since we spilled just the tiniest dash of wine. If the stain doesn’t come out, I can always buy another one!
- Cheese Board: My cousin gifted me this fun, and always appropriate Florida cheese board. While you may not call the Sunshine State home, it still makes for the perfect shape! Meats are on one side and cheese are on the other. We also have a Vermont board, but I can safely say that it doesn’t get used nearly as often.
- Plates: I have an ever-growing Blue Italian by Spode collection. These salad plates, in the beautiful blue and white design, were exactly what we needed for a civilized wine night.
- Cheese Cutters: This cheese knife set was a recent purchase. Since sometimes I want to alternate between soft and hard cheeses, this set runs the whole gambit.
- Wine Glasses: You can’t exactly have a wine night without wine glasses, right? Honestly, I’m not that picky when it comes to white wine versus red wine specific glasses. This hand-blown set looks great and is surprisingly affordable.
The Spread
- Wine: When we first moved into our new home, we received quite a few bottles of wine. They had long been calling my name and we finally decided to uncork one. In my mind, fall is the red wine season, but any bottle will do! We loved our red blend from Poliziano.
- Cheese: On this particular night, I couldn’t decide on just one cheese. We went with an Irish white cheddar from Kerry, a favorite in the Kennedy household, and a spreadable goat cheese. They had two very different flavor profiles that both paired perfectly with our wine.
- Bread: While you can get really fancy with your bread and cracker selection, that wasn’t the case this weekend! Just give me a fresh, French baguette and I’m good to go!
- Honey: It’s definitely the Floridian in me, but I just love orange blossom honey. It’s by far my favorite! I drizzle it on bread whenever cheese is involved. I’ve recently started buying from local beekeepers and it makes such a big difference in flavor.
- Mustard: For something a little more savory, we love adding Creole mustard to our charcuterie boards. It has a little extra dash of spice, but is far from overpowering.
The Scene
What I love the most about an at-home wine night is that the scene can be whatever you want it to be. When I cooked up this scheme, I was envisioning a relaxing dinner outside, but Mother Nature had a different idea. I’m talking about an evening of rain. Instead, we nestled the table for two next to the window in our soon-to-be dining room. We lit a candle and it almost felt like an intimate Italian restaurant… That is if you ignore the boxes that still need to be unpacked.
The Dress Code
This may be going above and beyond what your own wine night may look like. Still, I’ve always loved to play dress-up, even if it’s just for me and me alone. On Saturday’s fête, I had to don this beautiful caftan from J. Crew. I felt like such a hostess, even if it was just for David. If I just wore sweatpants, the perfect wine night is all about the company you keep.
Back in March, I was always itching to get out of the house and onto the town. Now, months later, I relish the nights when we relax at home. It took me a while to understand, but staying at home isn’t a punishment. It’s about comfort and making the best memories with your loved ones.
Love from Florida,
Katie
As always, thanks for stopping by! To keep up with all things about the Sunshine State, be sure to visit my exclusive Florida page, here.
