Plum Market Aventura Is Helping You Master the Art of Holiday Hosting
Holiday hosting looks effortless right up until you’re calculating how many bottles of wine to buy, arranging flowers that refuse to cooperate and wondering whether your charcuterie board looks artfully abundant or simply overcrowded.
This season, Plum Market Aventura is taking some of the guesswork off the guest list with “The Art of Hosting a Dinner Party,” a new four-part series of free, hands-on workshops beginning November 4. Led by experts from the specialty market’s floral, wine, culinary, cheese and deli departments, the series covers the details that can take a holiday gathering from thrown together to thoughtfully hosted.
Photo Credits: Plum Market
Held every other Wednesday through December 16, the one-hour classes tackle a different piece of the entertaining puzzle, including seasonal floral arrangements, wine pairing, holiday appetizers and charcuterie board styling. Each class pairs expert guidance with hands-on practice and practical takeaways designed to make holiday entertaining feel a little more effortless at home.
The series begins on Wednesday, November 4, from 6 to 7 p.m. with Build Your Own Floral Arrangement. Plum Market’s floral team will break down the fundamentals of winter floral design, including proper stem care, proportion and how to arrange focal blooms, fillers and greenery. After the demonstration, guests will create a seasonal arrangement of their own in a Plum Market Mason jar to take home, along with tips for keeping their centerpiece fresh longer.
Photo Credits: Plum Market
On November 18, attention turns from the centerpiece to what’s being poured. The Holiday Wine Pairing Seminar features a guided tasting of four wines paired with four bites while covering the fundamentals of acidity, tannins, sweetness and body. The class also gets into the practical questions every host eventually faces, from ideal serving temperatures to how much wine to buy for a gathering and the proper way to open a bottle. Guests will leave with a printed pairing guide and Plum Market wine key.
Just in time for December entertaining, Holiday Canapé Assembly arrives on December 2. Plum Market’s Director of Culinary will show guests how to turn premium ingredients into polished appetizers using approachable techniques and entertaining shortcuts. Participants will prepare Truffled Herbed Ricotta & Fig Tartlets, Seared Ahi Tuna Cucumber Bites and Prosciutto, Pear & Hot Honey Skewers, while picking up piping, garnishing and plating techniques along the way. Recipe cards and a Plum Market tea towel go home with each attendee.
Photo Credits: Plum Market
The series wraps on December 16 with Charcuterie & Cheese Board Building & Styling. Plum Market’s cheese and deli team will cover how to select and pair meats, cheeses and accompaniments before demonstrating three charcuterie folds and the “anchor-river-fill” styling method for creating a balanced board. Guests will then build their own board to take home, complete with a Plum Market spreader and recipe card.
The workshops are an extension of Plum Market Aventura’s specialty-market approach. The family-owned retailer carries more than 27,000 organic, gourmet and locally crafted products with no private labels, instead putting an emphasis on its curated offerings and the expertise of the teams behind them.
“We want Plum Market to be a place where our guests can come for more than what’s on their shopping list,” said Marc Jonna, Co-founder and President of Plum Market. “These workshops give us a chance to share our team’s expertise with guests in a completely different way.”
Attendance is free, but advance registration is required and available here. Guests can also enjoy complimentary parking in Plum Market Aventura’s on-site lot.