Our Holiday Week Favorites
But first…
Here’s a behind-the-scenes of what photoshoots really look like: me trying to pose with my mischievous little man photobombing. 😜
Sippin’
WINTER APEROL SPRITZ
This winter aperol spritz cocktail is a seasonal spin on the classic aperol spritz! Festive cranberry and classic orange come together with prosecco and club soda to create a super light and refreshing cocktail for the holidays!
Source: How Sweet Eats
INGREDIENTS
3 ounces Aperol
3 ounces sparkling white wine (we recommend OCTOPUS or cava!)
1 ounce cranberry juice
2 ounces club soda I've also used cranberry spindrift for this!
1 orange wedge
1 orange zest twist
1 sprig of rosemary
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the aperol, prosecco and cranberry in a glass with ice. Add in an orange wedge and a twist. Pop in a sprig of rosemary for festiveness. It's so pretty and easy!
Snackin’
FANCY ALMONDS
Impress your guests with fancy almonds! These almonds are great for not only a light and healthy snack but as the centerpiece to your happy hour paired with bubbles.
Remember that Umami flavor we’ve mentioned before (pronounced u·ma·mi)? Umami is a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter). Essentially, umami = savory flavors. And, in our humble opinion, umami is the most important flavor component when pairing food with bubbles. But don’t take our word for it, try it yourself by exploring our series of easy recipes to add umami to everyday, ordinary dishes.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Raw Almonds
4 cups Water
2 tablespoons Salt
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 tablespoons Dried Herbs - We prefer Thyme and Rosemary but any Italian herb works!
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, add four cups of water and one teaspoon salt to each one cup of almonds. Place on the counter and soak overnight approximately 6-8 hours.
After soaking, peel the almonds by popping off the skins with your fingers. While peeling, heat the oven to the lowest setting - about 150-175 degrees. Once the almonds have been peeled, discard the skins and place the raw almonds in a bowl. Toss the almonds with a tablespoon of olive oil and two pinches of salt and evenly spread the almonds on a baking sheet. Place in the oven on low for 4-6 hours, until dry and slightly crunchy.
Mix the baked almonds with 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs - thyme and rosemary being our favorite combination! Place the seasoned almonds in a cast-iron skillet and cook on the stove until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
Season with a pinch of finishing salt, such as Maldon, and garnish with a small sprig of herbs. Enjoy
Smilin’
“This is a game that my parents played with their friends when I was young and now I play with mine. Such a fun game to play over some snacks and glasses of wine!”
EUCHRE CARD GAME RULES
Euchre is a tricking taking game for 2 teams of two. Euchre uses a deck of 24 standard playing cards (using only the 9, 10, J, Q, K, and, A). The objective of Euchre is for your team to win 10 points.
If you are interested in other trick taking games, check out our guides for Spades and Hearts.
If you are looking for cards to play Euchre with, check out a standard pack here or one of our more recent arrivals here.
Set Up
Before game play can begin, a dealer must be selected. Each player draws one card from a shuffled deck. The player with the lowest card becomes the dealer. The dealer shuffles the deck and passes out 5 cards to each player in a clockwise fashion.
Establishing Trump
The top card from the remaining deck is flipped over. The player to the left of the dealer has the option to establish the flipped over card as the trump suit. If they decline to do so, the authority of establishing trump moves to the left. If no one decides to establish the flipped over card as the trump suit, the player to the left of the dealer decides which ever trump suit they would like. If the card initially flipped up is established as trump, the dealer takes the flipped up card and replaces it with any card in their deck. If the flipped up card is passed as trump, no one replaces the card.
Card Rankings
In Euchre, Aces are high and 9's low. The Jack of the trump suit is called the Right Bower and it is the highest ranking card. The Jack of the off suit (suit of the same color) is called the Left Bower and it becomes the Jack of the trump suit.
Teams: Attackers/Defenders
Teammates sit across from each other in the group circle. The team who determined the trump suit is called the attackers or makers while, the other team is called the defenders.
After trump is establish, a player may decide to go alone. If they do so, their teammate must lay their cards down and abstain from the game. Going alone has possible advantages when it comes to scoring.
How to Play
The player to the left of the dealer begins the game play by placing the lead card in the center of the circle. Going clockwise, every player must follow suit if they can. The player with the highest ranking card, factoring in the established trump suit, takes the trick. The winner of the trick takes the lead for the next round.
Scoring
If the attackers take 3 or 4 tricks, they receive 1 point; If they take 5 tricks, they receive 2 points. If the defenders take 3 or 4 tricks, they receive 2 points; If they take 5 tricks, they receive 4 points.
If an attacking player decides to go alone and they take 3 or 4 tricks, they receive 2 points; If they take 5 tricks, they receive 4 points. If a defending player decides to go alone and they take 3 or 4 tricks, they receive 4 points; If they take 5 tricks, they receive 5 points.
Game play keeps going until a team earns 10 points.
Points are kept visually for each team by using two 5’s of a color, one placed over the other. The top card is initially faced down and is used to progressively reveal pips as the team earns points. Each pip shown counts as 1 point. After 5 points, the top card is flipped up and the cycle begins again.
A team is “Euchred” if they fail to get 3 tricks.
A team gets a “March” if they receive all 5 tricks.