The other day I sent the most Alissa-text ever, “I had to break into my emergency impromptu hosting food!” I don’t even know if this is a first-world problem or just an Alissa problem, but it was a real problem in the moment. It is a nightmare to think about someone popping by and not having a full spread available. But seriously, I really work hard to make sure that even if I have been gone for two weeks for work, if you come by and say you want a snack I pull out a designed and curated charcuterie board with cheese from across the world. Spontaneity has never, ever been my strong-suit but I’m working on it.
If you want to see more of my hosting ideas or what these items look like in action, check out the W(h)ine about Life party with all of the below in action!
The Staples
Fruits – I always have pitted dates from Trader Joe’s or mejool dates from Aldis on hand. I prefer the taste of the mejool dates but they have the pits in them so it’s really not ideal to eat in front of people. Red grapes go perfectly with any cheese and I find tend to keep longer in my fridge (that could just be my imagination). Ideally blackberries or some type of berry is always ready to go. I store them in these in my crisper. I also always have dried cherries on hand!
Cured Meats – Aldi has this amazing spicy dried meat that I snack on while preparing this spread. Seasonally they also have some other ones (in winter they had black truffle) and are always worth stocking up on. Your classics like salami, proscuitto and others are always safe bets! I also love how long these last. I always double wrap in this to help help it from drying out.
Crackers – ALL OF THEM. No, really. I pretty much am always buying a box of really nice crackers. The great thing is that they pretty much go with anything. My favorite tend to be sourdough based or have rosemary.
Dips – Sometimes when I am really on top of my game I make homemade taziki sauce and I feel like nothing can bring me down. Other times I rely on the reduced-guilt Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip. No one knows it’s got kale in it and it is so good. Trader Joe’s also has a really good Everything But the Bagel dip as well. I really prefer to do a yogurt based dip for this sort of thing as I think it looks better and tends to bring in some acidity to the spread if you’re a little heavier on the meats.
Veggies – I don’t know where English Cucumbers have been all my life but I am here for it. I love them so much I will eat them with just salt and freshly cracked pepper on them. Carrots always win and if you want to really be healthy celery, but I only save whatever is left if I am using it for a soup.
Olives – This is something that looks great but I feel like is very divisive. Trader Joe’s has a great bag of marinated, assorted olives that are $1.99. They pretty much never expire and add brightness to any platter!
Drinks
I always, always have champagne chilling in the fridge. Veuve Clicquot all the way, nothing less. For other people I like to have a dry rose ready to go and typically have one other type of wine, but that’s typically whatever someone has brought over and we haven’t opened. I like to have a sparkling, dry and a wild card wine on hand. For those that want a cocktail I like to be able to offer a Moscow Mule or a vodka based drink.
My Favorite Plates and Silverware for Easy Clean Up
I also absolutely love this impromptu hosting food because the don’t require a ton of clean up or prep. I discovered these amazing disposable plates when I was wedding planning and well, I ordered about 500 of them. So I’ve slowly been digging my way out of my plate hole by using them for entertaining. When I run out of them I genuinely will reorder them because they always, always get compliments and do not feel cheap! I also use this gold silverware that matches the plates perfectly. They have a great feel and are super affordable!
Make fun of me for my emergency cheese and other stuff, but you are never going to go hungry when you are at my house. I may because of my refusal to use my impromptu hosting food to feed myself but you will never be hungry. Have fun on your next grocery run as you stock up!
