Monday, February 14, 2011

Upsides to the Down Economy/ V Day on the Cheap








Saturday night we hosted a Wine Tasting/Valentine's Day Supper Club for four couples (and one single). The last few years the theme has been aphrodisiac foods, which has been fun but there are only so many oysters a girl can eat, so this year I decided to switch it up a bit and had each couple bring a dish with a wine paired to complement it. I started my decorations by making a "love tree". The love tree, a dead tree which I spray painted white and hung Christmas ornaments on in December, was still around (minus the ornaments) in February, so I took out old Valentine's Day cards from past years, punched a hole in them, tied a red ribbon on them and hung them up with Xmas tree hangers. I complemented these decorations with silk red roses stuck into the base and some heart shape ornaments I bought at Michaels. My sister said "I love your love tree" and it was fun to go through old cards and re-read them. I made wine charms for everyone, with their names spelled out on them and pink beads. I bought the materials at Michaels, and they were placed on the wine glasses for the initial tasting, so everyone could keep track of their glass throughout the night. After dinner, when we had tasted all the wines people brought, we filled out a "Which wine did you love?" ballot, with all the wines (Name, year, type) listed. We stuffed our votes into an old fashioned Valentine's Box made out of a shoe box. Surprisingly, an inexpensive red blend (Menage et Trois) purchased at Cotsco, beat out the rare and expensive ice wine (my favorite). Well, it was an appropriate vote for the night. For a final parting gift, I made heart shaped cookies, placed in Valentine cello bags, with the wine charm tied onto the ribbon. We learned something about wines and about each other that night. Viva l'amour et viva la vin and Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all!

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