Quaintrelle Weekender

The best make-ahead plan I have ever seen, what to do when your friend’s a cheapskate, and a crushable, low abv cocktail, and a really important question. Four ways to a better weekend

Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.

This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.

Like this post? Why not love it by clicking that heart above? Go on.❤️

Merry and Bright …

In roughly 8 ½ hours, 10 people will arrive for my first cocktail party of the holiday season (I’ll tell you all about what I am serving and how I’m managing it in Wednesday’s post.)

This is my annual tree trimming, a party that began over a decade ago (at least. I’ve completely lost track) after my ex, who I should have never been with in the first place, moved out. Because I was stuck in an unhappy relationship for so long, and because I love Christmas more than Mrs Clause when she gets to have a night to herself for the first time all year, I immediately began celebrating my solo living with the people I love to be around.

Everything is done: the buffet plates are laid out, the wine is chilling, the dips made, veggies cut, cheeses nestled in their wax paper ready for unveiling, and the welcome cocktail ready to be warmed on the stove.

I love it when a plan comes together.

PS – At the end of this post I have a quick and simple poll (you just click your preference, no tedious entering of details) about what would be most helpful to read about in the new year. Yup, I’m already planning.

Hosting Q of the Week

“Hi Erin, I read last week’s Hosting Q about the guy who wants to get his friend to drink better wine. I have a 2.0 to that. We always serve our friends nice wine – nothing too crazy but about $20-$25 a bottle. One friend always brings the cheapest bottle out there, and when we go to his house, serves us the same plonk. We don’t want to drink that, but how do we tell him?”  – Only Good Wine

First of all, let me tell you how much I love that you signed your query with a nom de plume instead of your own. I feel very advice columnist. This can only lead to an inflated ego and dangerous things. I’m in.

Ah, yes. The cheapskate friend.

I know, I knowwwww. We all really want to be that altruistic host who can breezily rise above it all. But who are we kidding? Sometimes when they go low, we want to get right down there with them.

This has happened to me more times than I can count, but one example really sticks out in my mind.

A dear friend, who also happens to be a fast and hard drinker, comes over for dinner at least once a month, and sometimes as often as once a week. In years past, he would always graciously gift a bottle of wine (that we know is $8.55) and spend the rest of the night pounding our decent bottles. I mean, this guy could easily suck back an entire bottle just to himself – and often more than that. Some dinners cost $50 in wine just for him.

Exasperated by this, we considered our options:

1. Stop inviting him. No, that’s not what we want to do. He still is our friend, and cheapness aside, a good guy.

2. Start serving crap wine. Again, no. Why punish ourselves?

3. Finally, we decided that when he asked what he could bring, instead of saying “nothing!” we made a specific request that wasn’t overly expensive, but something we legitimately needed for the meal, and would also mean that by bringing that item, he was off hook from feeling like he needed to bring a bottle of wine: a specific dessert (please bring enough cheesecake for 12 people); a specific part of the dinner (please bring hamburger buns for eight); and even a basic (yet still specific) ingredient that we would use for this meal and moving forward (could you grab a box of Diamond Kosher salt on your way over?) He wasn’t made to feel bad, and it also made us feel like there was a bit more balance to the give-and-take of a shared meal.

What would you do in a situation like this?

Let me know in the comments!

No Sweat Dinner Prep

Tamar Adler’s Holiday Plan

If you’ve been around here long enough, you know my dedication to a plan. How I swoon over well-organized lists (complete with highlighters for crossing out the done tasks), and I insist on make-ahead everything (except when I don’t) for easy, elegant entertaining.

I thought I was good. I really did. But

Tamar Adler

just told me to hold her beer.

Her incredible layout for no fuss hosting is truly something to behold. This may come at you too late for Thanksgiving, but make sure you save it for your next big holiday dinner.

(NYT) Cooking for Peanuts

NYT Cooking 50% Sale

I really hope this is still going on because NYT Cooking is being teasingly coy about this super sale, only stating, “it won’t last long” on the paywalled website.

Listen, I debated telling you about this sale because I thought if you’re going to toss a few pennies to any publication, it should be someone on Substack (a-hem), but then I reasoned, very few people here (a-hem) have the resources and depth of the NYT.

Canadians, hark, you can take advantage of a full year of NYT cooking for only $15, half off the normal $30 charge. I also chose to upgrade to $1.75 per week for access to the whole shebang (normally $30 a month), mostly for the entire Food section.

Low ABV Party Starter

Vermouth di Torino and Tonic

I’m a fan of vermouth in the first place, but when I was introduced to this sassy little number at an event promoting products from the Mediterranean, well, I crushed TWO.

And I did it without concern because while there’s 15% abv in a bottle, the cocktail itself only requires an ounce or two of vermouth, making for a low alcohol drink.

While you could use a bianco, or potentially even a dry vermouth, Vermouth di Torino, a specialty of the Piedmont region of Turin, is particularly well suited for this drink.

Vermouths are fortified wines that have been infused with various herbs and botanicals to create an aromatic profile. While they all must have a base of wormwood in order to be called vermouth, the herbs and spices added after that are proprietary recipes, individual to each producer. Vermouth di Torino has only Italian wines as a base, and receives a stamp of approval from the government (just like Parmesan will have a stamp on the rind.)

Black Friday Sale for Wine School

$79 Off a Package of Five Wine School Tastings

If you can’t beat em, join em.

I run a small business that just can’t compete with the Big Boys, but still, I want to play too.

While The Wine Sisters can’t afford deep discounts like major retailers (though, are they really deep discounts? This article sheds some light on the sinister nature of so-called holiday sales.) However, we can offer a few perks to make your holiday shopping a bit more enticing.

For this week only we’re offering a bulk package deal on the first five wine tastings of 2025. Get $79 off – the equivalent of one free class – when you buy the package of the five classes running from January 15 to February 12.

I hope to see – or the wine lovers in your life – in the new year!

Before You Go

Quick Q for you.

I’m planning out the January content. (And you just thought I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to this ole’ rag. Tsk, tsk.)

Anyway, because I know, without judgment, that just about everybody will be embarking on a new challenge or lifestyle come Jan 1, I’m trying to create relevant newsletters that will be helpful and useful for your month long detox, or whatever ambition you have.

I can’t help with your love life or money matters, but I can help with entertaining, no matter how retrained and subdued.

I’ve got four ideas and recipes for each the following lined up: hearty and satisfying salads, warming and nourishing soups, elegant and enticing no alcohol cocktails, comforting and healthy mains that people actually want to eat, and brilliant ideas for hosting outside of the customary cocktail hour.

Would you, Dearest Reader, prefer one each of these dolled out over the month, so each Wednesday newsletter has a salad, soup, main, cocktail, and hosting idea. Or would you rather theme-specific posts, so one week has four salads, one week has four mocktails etc.

This newsletter is written by me, Erin Henderson, journalist-turned-sommelier-turned-entrepreneur. I literally drink and throw parties for a living, and every Saturday, I share some of my favourite finds for better weekends.

On Wednesdays, a post with recipes, cocktail inspiration, and wine recommendations goes out to the premium membership. If you would like to upgrade, you can click below.

Regardless of your membership level, I am so grateful you are part of this community. If you enjoyed reading this post, please click that heart, and consider sharing Quaintrelle with all the party hosts, wine lovers and cooks you know.