Expert-Approved Holiday Entertaining Tips

Entertain flawlessly with the best (and quickest) appetizers to the most delicious and appropriate wines

By The LifeMinute Team

December 14, 2016

Dressing Up

When guests arrive, many hosts prefer to offer them an appetizer right away. What easier way to do that than with an easy platter of food complemented with a great dip? "Now I think we can all agree that there is nothing like having a great dip on hand. And what I love is Litehouse's Homestyle Ranch Dressing," says Lifestyle Expert Bahar Takhtehchian, who reports that more than half of consumers end up using dressing as a dip.

"So what I like to do is take the Homestyle Ranch and make my own dressing/dip. What you do here is take a little bit of jalepeno and cheddar and mix it in or you take a little bit of fresh jalepeno or some cilantro and you create these really crowd pleasing dips that go so well with fresh cut veggies, with bread and of course with crackers. Best of all you can find these in the refrigerated produce section of your favorite local supermarket."

Find more information at litehousefoods.com.

Find Your Ideal Wine

Next up: Finding the appropriate beverage. Wine is perfect for dinners, for hostess gifts and of course, parties, according to Takhtehchian. "Wine is perfect for this time of year and year round. Look for something that has a lot of varietals that are easy to drink. This way your wines will go with a bunch of different foods," she advises.

Peter Lehmann does an excellent job of providing some wonderful wines at great price points. Specifically, they make some great wines from the Barossa region, Australia's premiere wine region where they specialize in Shiraz production. "I like Peter Lehmann's Portrait Shiraz. It's dense, it's juicy and it goes so nicely with steak dishes, roast beef and even cheddar cheese. Best of all the price is $19 a bottle. If you're more of a blend kind of a person I really enjoy their Clancy red. It's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. I like this with pasta dishes and lamb. It's just $16 a bottle."

For more information on holiday entertaining tips or on wine in general go to winefix.com.

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