{Girls' Date Night & DIY}

{A Date Night In with friend Jen Davidowitz, tortellini, wine & cheese, and DIY envelope clutches}

My friend Jen came over the other night and brought over some culinary goodies for a wine & dine and DIY evening! We opened up a bottle of The Big Kahuna Cab from Fresh & Easy...and I have to say it was the best red wine I've ever had, and it was only $2. If you want an alternative to Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck, this is definitely it! The wine was great with gouda cheese and cracked pepper triscuits or baguette slices...yum. We even tried some pesto sauce on top of the triscuits and baguette slices...delish! For the main course, we made a pesto chicken tortellini dish! We ended the night with chocolate truffles and DIY oversized envelope clutches inspired by SwellMayde.

Easy Entertaining with Friends:

Small Bites

-Choose a cracker (I like Ritz) or Triscuits

-Choose a cheese like smoked cheddar, gouda, or brie

-Choose your fave cabernet

-*Optional-Add some honeycrisp apple slices and assorted seedless grapes

Grab a plate and line one side with crackers/triscuits,then line the other side of the plate with baguette slices. If you bought a block of cheese, slices it into bite size pieces, if you bought brie; unwrap and place on the center of the plate. You can also provide various choices in cheese for guests. Top off the plate with apple slices and seedless grapes. Viola! Enjoy a glass of cabernet with your small bites.

Main Course

-Tortellini Pasta (we had chicken, there are other types of meet and/cheese filled tortellini)

-Pesto Sauce

-Whipping Cream

Boil a pot of water. Add a handful of tortellini pasta into the water (a good handful for each serving) and let cook for 7-9 minutes. While waiting for the pasta, grab a small mixing bowl and mix 3 tablespoons of pesto per 1serving of pasta. Add whipping cream as desired, and mix contents in the mixing bowl. Depending on how creamy you want the sauce, you can add more whipping cream, or add more pesto for a more herb-like taste.

When pasta is finished, pour into the strainer, replace back into the pot, and add the pesto sauce and stir. Your Pesto Chicken Tortellini is ready to serve!