Thank you Middle Sister for sponsoring this post. Bring your favorite Middle Sister wine along to all of your celebrations this year!

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and I am officially opening up my backyard for business. I adore al fresco entertaining during the summer months and because our house sits across the street from our town’s pool and tennis club, we end up hosting a lot of spontaneous get-togethers when we run into friends at the pool and invite them to come over after a swim.

This Memorial Day weekend, I invited several of my woman friends to stop by while their kids were at the pool for wine and hors d’oeuvres. With all the craziness of the end of the school year, it had been too long since we all had a chance to catch up and I knew my friends were in serious need of some relaxation.

I served a selection of Middle Sister wines — the red varietals lightly chilled and the white varietals well-chilled — and laid out several of my favorite hors d’oeuvres, all of which were super-quick and easy to make. Most of them didn’t even require me to turn on the oven! The whole point was to relax and spent time with friends.

On the menu was a Smoky White Bean Dip – vegan and gluten-free – served with pita chips; French breakfast radishes, fresh from the farmers market, accompanied by butter and flaky sea salt; marinated olives with fennel; Medjool dates stuffed with Marcona almonds and bleu cheese; and a sweet and savory crostini topped with fresh ricotta, roasted grapes and honey.

When my friends arrived, we sipped wine and nibbled hors d’oeuvres on my shady back deck. It was heavenly to pause during a busy long weekend for some much-needed girl time! My friends had lots of questions about the wines and their amusing stick-figure labels.

Through snarky “Drops of Wisdom,” Middle Sister wines keeps fans laughing across their vibrant online communities and at home, with messages printed directly on the label. But it’s not all looks, Nancy Walker is the award-winning winemaker and “wonder woman” behind the scenes, putting her expert touch on every bottle.

Middle Sister wines were created 10 years ago by the founding women of the Wine Sisterhood. Founder Terry Wheatley was fascinated by her best friend’s middle daughter, Erin. From childhood, she was just more outrageous, more free-spirited and simply larger than life. Terry created Middle Sister wines for middle sisters everywhere, so they finally get the attention they deserve. My friend Janice, a middle sister herself, couldn’t resist snapping a picture of the label to send to her other sisters.

This year, Middle Sister wines turns 10 years old. To help celebrate, the brand is hosting a monthly Kate Spade purse sweepstakes. Be sure to enter to win this month’s Middle Sister giveaway and remember to bring your favorite Middle Sister character along to all of your celebrations this year. Wines are available in stores across the U.S. and online.

My friends especially enjoyed the Drama Queen Pinot Grigio with my marinated olives and the Goody Two-Shoes Pinot Noir with its jammy berry and floral notes. The Pinot Noir was especially delicious with the crostini topped with creamy ricotta and roasted grapes. Yes, roasted grapes! For fans of sweeter wines, the Sweet and Sassy Moscato is a favorite. It paired exceptionally well with the peppery radishes.

Because it was such a busy weekend, all of the hors d’oeuvres I served at my backyard soiree were quick and easy to prepare. I barely even had to turn on the oven! The simplest of all the bites had to be the radishes with butter and salt. This is a classic French hors d’oeuvre. All you have to do is wash the radishes well and set them out on a platter with a good-quality European butter, a knife for spreading and some flaky sea salt. Nothing could be easier!

Only slightly more work is Marinated Olives with Fennel. You know those overpriced olive bars at the grocery store? Well, you are done with those. Put down the plastic container and pick up several jars of unfancy olives, preferably ones not already pitted. Combine a pound of mixed olives with some shaved fennel, the zest and juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Toss the olives to coat and allow them to marinate for several hours before serving for the best flavor. Nothing to it!

Another easy but elegant no-cook hors d’oeuvre is stuffed dates. Medjool dates are the best for stuffing because they are the largest and also the softest. I stuffed mine with Marcona almonds and bleu cheese and then tossed them with lime juice and long strips of lime zest. You get sweetness from the dates, saltiness from the cheese and almonds and a hint of tartness from the lime juice all in one bite. They were a huge hit with my friends!

Another surprise hit was the Crostini with Roasted Grapes. Admittedly, I did have to turn on the oven for this one, but it was worth it. I tossed red grapes with some olive oil and salt and roasted them in a 350 oven for thirty minutes until caramelized and jammy. Meanwhile, I spread some fresh hand-dipped ricotta on toasted bread. I topped each crostini with a few of the roasted grapes and drizzled them with honey and fresh cracked black pepper. No one could believe that they had never had roasted grapes before.

My Smoky White Bean Dip is one of my favorite all-time appetizers because it is vegan, gluten-free and packed with protein. Despite being so healthy, this dip is always a crowd-pleaser and kids love it especially. I often make a batch of this dip on Sundays and pack it in Zuzu’s lunch along with some carrot sticks. For my backyard girlfriends gathering, I served this dip with pita chips and the bowl all but disappeared. Check out the recipe below to see how quick and easy it is!

So when you are relaxing this summer with your best girfriends, keep things fun by bringing your favorite Middle Sister wine along to all of your celebrations. And don’t forget to enter the monthly giveaway for a new Kate Spade bag.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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