Which Wine Should Be Served With Christmas Dinner

May 5th, 2012 by maureen | No Comments | Filed in Wine Dinner
wine dinner

Don’t become tensed and nervous. We are there to help you if you really do not know which wine must be served with which dish during a Christmas Eve.

Christmas is one occasion where all of us are ready to experiment the combination of our favourite old recipes and new types of wines. What are you going to have in the Christmas Eve’s dinner? Is it goose? Is it turkey or ham? Or is it prime rib? Whatever the menu be, if you are looking for some new types of wines to be served along with dinner or after dinner as a compliment for your holiday, then we offer you a large selection of versatile wines both reds as well as whites to add flavour to your Christmas Eve’s dinner.

This will help you to pick those wines which will be most suitable with the food you are offering on the Christmas Eve.

Wines which can be served along with Ham include the following:

Red wines used normally are Pinot Noir, Beajolais Nouveau, Tempranillo as well as Zinfandel.
White wines used normally are Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

Wines which can be served with turkey include the following:

Red wines used normally are Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Shiraz, Syrah as well as Beajolais Nouveau.
White wines used normally are Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Viognier and Gewurztraminer.

Wines which can be served with geese include the following:

Red wines which are used normally are Zinfandel, Tempranillo as well as Red Burgundy.
White wines used normally are Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay

Wines which can be served with Prime Rib are:

Red wines used normally are Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Tempranillo as well as Shiraz.
White wines: Normally the delicate wines do not go with red meat.

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Eat, Drink, Man, Woman: Keys To Holding A Fun Dinner Party

April 30th, 2012 by maureen | No Comments | Filed in Wine Dinner
wine dinner

When Bridget Jones, the heroine of Helen Fielding’s hilarious novel Bridget Jones’s Diary, invited friends home for dinner, she served them blue soup (courtesy blue string that she had used to bind the celery). This was, of course, after she had planned an elaborate three-course dinner involving shepherd’s pie and soufflé and other such delights. And therein lies one of the keys to holding a fun dinner party: don’t bite off more than you can chew!

A dinner party is meant to be an occasion for joy. What good is it when it leaves you an emotional and physical wreck from the strain of too much cooking, not enough breathing, and too much worrying? An easy way to ensure a fun dinner party is to remember some of the best dinner parties that you have attended. What did they have that others didn’t?

Too many people spend too much time worrying about the food and drink (will there be enough?), seating arrangements (who goes next to whom?), and such things as table linen (beige napkins or white?). That is not to say that you can ignore these matters altogether, but just that you should be able to work out some sort of balance that allows your dinner party to become a fun occasion.

A huge step in the right direction is to make a list of everything that you liked about the fun dinner parties that you have attended. That way, you know what you can do to make yours a success. Conversely, you can also list some of the things that you hated about your least favorite dinner parties, just so you know what not to do.

Now here are some more dos and don’ts:

 Do not wear yourself out worrying about the food. You’ll only end up cooking too much and crowding the table. Stick to two or three courses that you know you can handle well, and if you have fastidious guests, make sure you know their likes and dislikes. For instance, if a guest is on a diet, you should know what to serve him/her

 Unless it is a really fancy dinner party, don’t fuss too much about table linen, cutlery, serving dishes, etc. Stick to the basics and focus more on making the conversation around the table witty and pleasant

 Prepare all your food in advance. Nothing is worse than a host scurrying to and fro from kitchen to living room to attend to both the cooking and the guests simultaneously

 Do not invite people that you don’t like

 Ensure your guests know that they have to be there by a specific time

 Pre-plan for potentially embarrassing incidents such as a drunken guest, tension at the dinner table because the guests aren’t getting along, etc.

 If you think someone has had too much to drink, make sure s/he doesn’t have more

 Finally, if you feel you absolutely cannot handle the cooking, order your food, but make no attempts to hide that fact!

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Dinner Party Planning Top Tips

February 7th, 2012 by maureen | No Comments | Filed in Wine Dinner
wine dinner

Not all couples can afford to eat out often, and even for those who do, this probably doesn’t include dining out in high-class restaurants. Yet did you know that you can create a wonderful dinner atmosphere in your own home—and not only that, but create an elegant experience for your closest friends or family members at the same time? With a bit of romantic music, subdued lighting, candles flickering from a centerpiece, and the table set with fine china, you can transport a handful of friends to a “world class restaurant” in New York or the French Riviera. And you can accomplish this delightful feat with just a little imagination and dinner party planning!

Hosting a dinner party need not be much more difficult than hosting a regular party. In fact, in some ways, it’s easier! For one thing, you have fewer guests to invite since your invitees will be seated around your dining room table, not mixing and milling around your entire house from the living room couches to the patio. This focused atmosphere, aided by the elegant setting and romantic candlelight, automatically creates a more intimate atmosphere. And while food is an essential part of any festive gathering, in a dinner party it is even more so—since you are emulating dining in a classy restaurant.

The number of guests you invite is determined by the size of your dining room table, so this will probably mean six to ten people—three to five couples total. As to whom you invite, they need not just be family members or close friends; often a dinner party is a good time to introduce two friends to each other. Since the romantic atmosphere will hopefully prohibit much of the normal workaday chatter that takes place at tables, you’ll want to be sure that your guests have enough common interests to talk about. You’ll also want to consider whether the guests you’re thinking of inviting get along. In addition, if you’re inviting couples, make certain that if you add a single or two that they won’t feel out of place.

While you may wish to include as many couples as possible in the magical night, remember that there will always be other evenings to host a dinner party. You don’t wish to over-invite and make your guests feel crowded around the table. Each participant should have ample room, as the place settings will require more space than usual, and guests will also need a comfortable amount of room to push their chairs out from the table.

By the way, you can greatly add to the experience by setting a dress code: have the men come in suits and the women in evening dresses. Also, you can hire someone’s teenage son or daughter as a waiter for the evening. Having a well-dressed maitre-de serve you the wine and bring out the various food courses can help create a truly memorable
evening.

Speaking of food and wine, you’ll want to plan your menu carefully, do your food shopping a day or two in advance, and cook your tastiest dishes. You will also want to buy a couple bottles of high-quality wine. Remember that the meal will be served in courses. Also, if you own fine china or a porcelain dinner set, now is the time to bring it out. But even if you don’t, or you feel that what you have doesn’t fit the occasion, you can rent such items. You can also rent silverware, cloth napkins and a fancy tablecloth. Just be sure to make such arrangements well in advance to avoid a last-minute scramble.

Normally a dinner party starts off with guests being served a few cocktails and aperitifs shortly after they arrive, so you’ll want the
living room and other rooms ready to accommodate them while they chat. And again, you will need the living room set up to receive them after the meal. You will have just treated them to a delicious full-course meal and they’ll need a comfortable place to sit down and drink some tea or coffee while they digest.

You are the host/hostess, so it will be up to you to keep the conversation from lapsing into awkward silences. Don’t just expect it
to find its own way: it would be worthwhile to deliberately come up with a few romantic or intelligent topics of conversation ahead of
time. You can create a marvelous experience for your guests with a little extra planning and forethought—so make this an evening to remember!

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