I’m at the lake house with my mom for a few days and we had the loveliest happy hour on the deck this evening. I just had to tell you about it!

The Spread

Admittedly, we usually do more of a production for happy hour but we were feeling tres French this evening and opted for a fancy cheese, red grapes, and herbed almonds from Kuhlman Cellars.

If you’ve never had Kuhlman’s herbed almonds, you’re in for a treat. They taste like a French vacation! They’re so popular that the winery even started an almond club so fans can get the almonds delivered straight to their door every month. Once you try them, you’ll always have to have them in your pantry. People are forever asking me, What did you do to these almonds?!

The Cheese

We had Murray’s Brugge Comtesse, which I’ve never tried before but wow, did it hit the spot. Shoutout to Kroger for having an amazing cheese department! It’s harder than gruyere but softer and creamier than parmesan. It’s a little nutty with hints of caramel and it was so so good with our rosemary crackers and herbed almonds.

The Flowers

I know people in the north will have a hard time picturing this but minutes before happy hour, I trotted out to the yard and cut a lovely floral bouquet. That’s right, we still have roses and even a few hydrangeas here in Texas in early January. I cut one pink rose, two drift rose sprays, and two little hydrangeas, one of which reminded me of Sleeping Beauty. Is it pink or is it blue?

The Wine

I finally cracked open a bottle of Blanc from San Martiño that’s been chilling, ready to go at a moment’s notice, for over a year. It’s an energetic wine with strong notes of apple. It really put a pep in my step today!

I hope this inspires you to sip, savor, and slow down long enough to enjoy happy hour, even if you only have a few things on hand.