Between the square container and extra helping of concrete, I hope these will be less likely to tip over!

So since this was our first time hosting a wine tasting event, I just asked people to bring a bottle of something - anything.  I didn't give any parameters and was a little curious about what we'd end up with, but it worked perfectly.  We had a pretty even mix of white and red, some people brought two bottles, some people brought a food to pair with their wine choice, and everything went smoothly!

I really wanted to keep snacks simple so the wines would shine.  I got several cheeses and meats plus fruit, nuts, crackers, and bread.  I covered the dining table with black paper so we could label everything with metallic Sharpies.

As usual, not nearly enough photos were taken - I was quite proud with how everything turned out!  

I provided a spicy Zinfandel....

....an oaky Sauvignon Blanc (recommended to me as someone who loves both Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc)...

...and a very drinkable Rosé.  There wasn't anything I didn't like (of course) - everything was good, from my budget Trader Joe's Rosé to a European white my friend Deidra brought back from a trip last year.

I made up little tasting tally sheets so people could make notes about ones they liked (or didn't like), and we played Postmodern Jukebox - it really was the perfect playlist!  We had friends and parents, and I think attendees of all ages had a great time.

I'm already looking forward to the next one, and I might try to do some kind of theme next time.  However, the "just bring whatever" approach really worked well!

I'm so excited to have completed a project today that I've been mulling over for months now - patio lights!

I posted an inspiration board a couple weeks ago for this space, and finally things are falling into place.  We've used this patio only a handful of times, as its lack of lighting was prohibitive for doing anything but stargazing.  I can't wait to entertain out here this fall!

I went back and forth awhile on how to secure the bases, but finally decided I wanted something ultimately moveable in case we want to set up a banquet table in the yard for an event or play cornhole after dark.

Budget won out when picking out the bases - I got black plastic pots from the garden center of my local home improvement store for cheap.  I covered all the drainage holes with duct tape (while I watched Hocus Pocus, natch).

I used two 50-pound bags of Quikrete for the 6 bases, 1/2" metal conduit as the upright supports for the lights, and plain ol' white PVC pipe to stand in the middle of the concrete base.  The interior diameter of the PVC snugly fit the conduit, so I can insert and remove the conduit uprights and store everything under the deck out of the way when we get tired of looking at it.

I cut the PVC pipe to the same height as the plastic buckets and affixed them temporarily with duct tape to hold them in place.  Then I (with help from hubs) troweled Quikrete in the bases, making sure the PVC stayed upright - this was my biggest fear, that they'd get bumped and end up at a wonky angle.  They stayed pretty straight!

I painted all 6 metal conduit uprights with black hammered Rustoleum and used the whole can on this one project.  I ran out short of finishing, but it's good enough for me.  They don't need to be perfect, I just didn't want super-shiny silver poles sticking out like a sore thumb!

To affix the lights to the poles, I used these neat little conduit hangers for under a buck apiece.  They're perfect - they're adjustable, and the edge opposite the screw is the perfect place to clip the lights on.

Everything technically works, however, I may need to go back and pour a wider concrete base for each pole.  They are fairly sturdy as-is without being too topheavy, but as you can see in the Instagram photo below, a couple of the poles are leaning (which is alright since I have them propped up against a wall).  I only affixed the clips as high as I could reach on my tippytoes, but they're so easy to change the height of.  So definitely if I decide to put the lights higher on the poles, I may want to consider adding a wider base of concrete for more stability.  Plus, I need to play around with the spacing of each base - that might solve my problem, too.  All in all, I'm so pleased with how it came out, and the whole project (lights, quikrete, poles, bases, clips, and paint) was well under $100!

We had a smorgasbord of kitschy American TV dinner favorites...kicked up a notch, of course.

One of my contributions was truffle mac and cheese cups (made with this recipe from The Kitchen Wife), some served in phyllo cups, some formed in mini muffin tins.  My local grocery, despite having an impressive gourmet cheese department, didn't have truffle cheddar.  Since I didn't afford myself enough time to go to a gourmet market, I used some truffle oil in the roux and liberally applied truffle dust to my cheese sauce.  Still not the same, but it gave just a hint of truffle.

I used ditalini pasta so it'd be small enough to cram into a large space.  I baked them and then added fresh grated cheese and broiled it just before we left.  These were MUCH better straight out of the oven...I should've followed hubby's suggestion of baking them at our hosts' house, but I really want to avoid asking to use a hosts' oven if I can help it.  

The other dish I brought was "lunch lady brownies" from Life in the Lofthouse - dense, chocolatey brownies with thick chocolate frosting.  I think I slightly overbaked the brownies, but he frosting redeemed them.

What's your favorite TV dinner dish?  One of my favorite modern choices is the Butternut Squash Ravioli from Lean Cuisine.

What's your favorite sweet/salty breakfast combo?  Two of my faves are from different lowcountry restaurants - the chicken and waffles from Early Bird Diner in Charleston, and the sausage and French toast sandwich from the Fat Hen on John's Island

I ran to Publix and grabbed a bag each of white and wheat dough from their deli section.  I don't know how they do it, but they always have specials on whatever specialty ingredients I'm going there specifically to buy.  Their fresh mozzarella was BOGO, and their gourmet sliced pepperoni and salami was on sale.  #win

I used the wheat crust to make one of my sweet/salty faves - fig/arugula/chevre.  Instead of fresh figs this time though, I used a Stonewall Kitchen Fig and Ginger Jam (affiliate link) we received as a gift as the base "sauce."  Most often I'll use prosciutto on this pie, but I went for hot Italian sausage this time.  It did not disappoint.

For the more traditional pizza, I used the white crust, homemade pizza sauce, large-sliced pepperoni and salami, fresh mozzarella and grated parmesan, and basil from our garden.

We've eaten off these pizzas for three days.

One of the nights we had leftover pizza, I made an antipasti salad inspired by this one I found on From A Chef's Kitchen and it was a thing of beauty.  I had been craving a hearty salad for days and this fit the bill.  

What's your favorite pizza combo?  Any good salad recipes out there you just can't get enough of lately?  This salad dressing from Serious Eats has turned into our house dressing...I could drink it with a straw!