How to Host a Stress Free Weeknight Happy Hour || Entertaining
With weekends typically reserved for exploring, events, or sometimes just disconnecting with no plans at all, I find that weeknight get togethers are happening more frequently around our household. And with busy schedules, sometimes it's the only time I get to see some of my favorite people. Add in work, family, workouts, errands, housework… who has time to plan a fancy spread for a weeknight happy hour? It doesn't have to be as hard as you think. With a few simple pairings, some delicious dips and random boards and linens pulled from around the house, you can pull this off in less than 10 minutes.
I usually start with the star of the show… usually a selection of dips or cheeses. Alouette Cheese sent over 4 flavors of these delicious dips for me to use as my starting point for a simple happy hour. They're all made with a mix of premium soft cheese, fresh vegetables and a touch of greek yogurt. The Le Bon Dip's have less calories than hummus (my usual go-to!) and have no artificial flavors or colors. Win win win win, right? Around our house we try to keep it pretty healthy during the week leaving our splurge days for the weekend. So the fact that this didn't completely throw us off of our plan was awesome. Le Bon Dip comes in 4 yummy flavors (although we definitely scarfed down the Basil, Zucchini and Parmesan first). To (semi) stay on track with the natural and healthy trend we had going with the dip, we paired it with fresh fruit, veggies, nuts, and of course, a little bread. Let's be honest, you can't have happy hour without bread.
I had a quick work meeting to host, so I covered the table with some white linens, pulled out a few marble and wood boards, then filled up the boards with all of the snacks. This filled the coffee table, so I laid out pillows for us to sit on around the table to snack, chat and plan.
All of the Le Bon Dip's were split into small white bowls to scatter on the table so that we could all have a taste of each. I added a small garnish, but you could top each flavor with larger pieces of the herbs and veggies so your guests new what each flavor was!
Finish off your table with some potted fresh herbs instead of flowers (time saver as well as a budget saver!), simple tea lights and you are set!
So let's recap, 2 minutes for linens and board placement, 5 minutes for chopping, 1 minute to add Le Bon Dip to their pretty bowls, 2 minutes to toss snacks onto boards. And enjoy. What are your go-to snacks for easy happy hours?
Post in partnership with Alouette Cheese, see all of the Le Bon Dip flavors here!