perfectlypairedhtx

“Your Neighborhood Grocery Store”

Featured by perfectlypairedhtx, posted in Grocery Stores, Hosting

Grocery store: Trader Joe’s

Recommended Meal of Choice: Apps and Snacks

The Perfect Pair: Trader Joe’s Cheddar Gruyere Cheese and a Malbec

TJintro

It is so exciting to roam around Houston looking for the best happy hours full of cheese and charcuterie boards, craft cocktails, appetizers, and bottles of wine to share amongst friends. Boy oh boy, how can you not love that!? Taking in the atmosphere of a new location or even something more familiar can be a sweet escape from the workplace. However, nothing beats hosting some pals (or just yourself) in your cozy home with a carefully curated (by you) drink menu and spread of yummies. Nothing beats this quality time where everything is focused on deepening friendships and there are few distractions other than refilling the crackers. This is why we’ve chosen to include some grocery store trips and tips for y’all here on Perfectly Paired.

: Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions

If I’m in need of a one-stop shop before having friends over, I always run straight to Trader Joe’s. The quality is impeccable and the price on their cured meats, cheeses, and wines is surprising to me every time. Their freezer appetizer section is top notch and has my guests and I throwing elbows to get every last bite. No joke! Okay a stretch, but no one ever leaves the last Pastry Bite with Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions uneaten for long. Trader Joe’s even has amazing prices on flowers. It’s like the whole store is screaming for you to have people over.

I’ve already mentioned the spectacular morsels that are the Pastry Bites, but let me walk through our go to basket of goodies for an oh so perfect happy hour at home.

One day when I was watching “The Kitchen” on Food Network, one of the hosts said when making a charcuterie board that, “Things pair well together that dwell together.” So when making a board, you’ll usually have good luck on meats and cheeses going well together if they’re from the same country or region. This rings true and is such a good tip when you’re not sure what you want or if you just want to narrow down the selection. On the other hand, if I’m buying and doing all the choosing for a crowd, then I want all my favorites no matter what region they are from! Nothing makes me happier than guests raving about the mix and playing with all the possible combinations.

TJcheese A must have is the Cheddar Gruyere cheese. Of all the different kinds of cheeses I’ve put out, this is the one that always has people raving. It is the ultimate crowd-pleaser cheese and it is so easy to pair with any accompaniment. It tastes like a mild but aged Cheddar overall but still has enough Gruyere taste in it that I don’t mind putting it on my French Onion soup. As a sucker for Manchego, the Spanish Tapas cheese trio is a good addition to the board. It comes with three Spanish cheeses- Manchego, Cabra al Vino, and Iberico. They are pre-sliced and delicious. A perfect match for the Spanish Charcuterie mix of three that Trader Joe’s also offers. Although Trader Joe’s has a ton of wonderful cheeses you HAVE to try, I will recommend just one more. The Chevre Goat Cheese log. They have a herbed Goat Cheese and a cranberry one around the holidays and I love those both. However, when putting it on a board with this large of a variety, I suggest to just get the plain.

TJflowers — *Things I usually also grab are dark chocolate peanut butter cups (put them in the fridge or freezer and it’ll change your life) and flowers. *Peonies only available when in season*

Fun combinations are made of more than just meat and cheese! You need other little bits for your guests to nibble on. Some things I recommend adding to the plate are candied pecans, sliced fruit, maybe some roasted veggies, and some sort of spread or dip. Trader Joe’s has the most wonderful candied pecans. They don’t have too much sugar on them, but they’re still sweet and crunchy! I add them to my charcuterie boards all the time as well as add them to salads and snacks. A spread I love is the Pepper Jelly. A little sweet and spicy, just put a spoon in the jar and put it on your board! Yum! You could also do the same for any other type of dip or mustard. You can’t forget the bread or crackers. The pita bite crackers are my go to (also good with hummus and just to snack on!). I love slicing up a baguette as well and sometimes bake it a bit with a drizzle of olive oil for color and crunch.

A bottle of wine (or two) is next on the list. Depending on how many people are coming you might need a couple of bottles. There is no need, I repeat- no need, to spend over $15 on a bottle when you’re hosting like this. When you’re hosting and a yo-pro, no one expects you to spend a fortune, and you don’t need to. I actually prefer to stay under $10 and you can always find tasty wines at Trader Joe’s in this price range. With all the things we’ve added to our board, I think a medium bodied Malbec, like the one in the picture, would be a great pair! Trader Joe’s wine selection is nice too because they describe all the wines right underneath the prices so you know exactly what you’re getting.

For all of the things that we have recommended, it will cost you about $41 and that includes a bottle of wine! This might seem like a lot, but we had this exact board with 4 friends over a game night and it was perfect. We even had leftovers of everything but the goat cheese and some of the meat! Another complete board could most definitely be made. We hope this guide to one of our favorite stores was helpful! We can’t wait to hear about all the perfectly paired boards that you make!

Peace & Pinot,

The Perfectly Paired Pals

“Handmade with love, from scratch, daily”

Featured by perfectlypairedhtx, posted in Happy Hour, Restaurants

Restaurant: North Italia

Recommended Meal of Choice: Happy Hour

The Perfect Pair: Bottle & Board

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset North Italia is a MUST in the Houston food network. With the Galleria in its neighborhood and Whole Foods right next door, you’ll be able to shop, get your groceries, and grab dinner and drinks with friends all in one trip! With a fun Italian flare on their food and the most trendy restaurant vibe, North Italia gives you everything you need for someone who has lots of love for a glass of wine and a cheese board to be happy It is a favorite go-to stop, with a happy hour that lasts all the way from Sunday – Friday, 3 – 6pm, and if that wasn’t enough, they even include half price bottles of wine all day on Sundays. Someone pinch us!

The Perfectly Paired Pals came to North Italia one Wednesday evening for the perfect middle of the work week break. We decided to start off the evening right, splitting a carafe of sangria. There really is nothing better than starting the evening with a cold glass of sangria to cool you off from this Texas heat. Now, I’m pretty critical when it comes to sangria because I don’t like to feel like I’m drinking a glass full of sugar that’s only going to make me feel worse later in the evening. However, North Italia’s sangria is the perfect amount of wine, fruit, and overall sweetness! Nothing is too overpowering, which I really appreciate. And, who doesn’t love a pretty drink that tastes just as good as it looks!

After quickly drinking the entire carafe, we ordered a North Italia Happy Hour specialty: the Bottle & Board. For just $20, you get to choose between a pizza, bruschetta, or the chef’s board, and a bottle of red or white wine to accompany your food choice. Of course, we ordered the chef’s board, full of meats, cheeses, and other goodies with a bottle of red to pair! We loved the fact that this board came with an overwhelming amount of meat, specifically prosciutto. A lot of times we run into having much more cheese than meat, so the board tends to seem unbalanced. However, this was not the case at North Italia! The board also includes a creamy cheese that can be spread on bread, paired with prosciutto, or serve as a dip for the asparagus bites. With a multi-functional cheese, this allows all components of your board to be appreciated to the fullest, and with a little cheese that goes a long way, we were able to enjoy this board for quite awhile without feeling like it was gone in seconds.

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PPP Pro Tip: When you cut your meat, bread, and cheese cubes into smaller pieces, it makes your board easier to share with friends and you all get to enjoy it at a much slower pace!

The red wine that came with the board was a 2016 La Fiera from Montepulciano

d’Abruzzo, Italy averaging about $9 and 3.7 stars (thanks Vivino!). A very smooth, balanced, and medium bodied red, it paired perfectly with our chef’s board for the evening.

One of my favorite things to do is to Vivino wine at the dinner table, because then I can see how much more I paid for the wine at a restaurant instead of the grocery store. It is so shocking to see the price difference sometimes! For this particular Italian red, I was extremely comforted to get the bottle at exactly the recommended price from Vivino. With the chef’s board priced at $10 on it’s own, and the bottle averaging $9, we got a very fair deal for $20. I couldn’t recommend the Bottle & Board more!

After Happy Hour was over, we decided to all split the Prosciutto Pizza with mission fig, goat cheese, and arugula to satisfy our hunger for dinner. It was the perfect way to to experience more of the Italian cooking that North Italia has to offer. It was paired best with a 2016 Malbec. We couldn’t get enough!

If you haven’t already, be sure to put North Italia in the Top 5 of your food bucket list in Houston. With their Italian wines, great Happy Hour deals, and lots of fun to go around, it will always be a staple for the Perfectly Paired Pals.

Peace & Pinot,

The PPP’s

Happy Hour at Down the Street

Featured by perfectlypairedhtx, posted in Happy Hour

Hands down, the best day of the week is Thursday. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel with the excitement of the weekend in sight! Each Thursday night is spent around the table, at the happy hour destination of our choosing, with our “Happy Hour Crew.” Fun fact: This group of people actually became friends by attending weekly happy hours together! Although we were skeptical about how long this tradition would last with the busyness of work and life in general, we have truly been amazed by this crew – a bunch of recent college grads, all from different places, who didn’t know each other well or at all beforehand, has honestly become our little Houston family.

Each week, we explore a new happy hour destination, since Houston has so many great happy hours to find and restaurants to try. However, since we have been at this awhile, we can’t help but consistently repeat a few of our favorite local finds, and this week’s post features one of those special places: Down the Street!

Down the Street is tucked in the heart of Houston, in a neighborhood known as Cottage Grove. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you would miss this hidden gem as it is right in the middle of the neighborhood (hence the name Down the Street!). This spot is the perfect place to sit outside, enjoy the string lights, drink the best sangria, and share a cheese board with good friends. It’s the kind of place that you can spend all day and completely forget the time. Since two of the Perfectly Paired boys used to live in the neighborhood, this was a staple among our friends. The big, outdoor patio is dog friendly and has seating for groups of all sizes. They have a very “come as you are” vibe – perfect for an after work happy hour, lazy brunch, or kicking off a night on the town!

While Down the Street has lots of good food and drink options, a steady favorite is the Autumn Plate perfectly paired with a glass of Sangria. The plate is filled with seasonal cheeses, fruit, and delicious bread. The cheese included is manchego, burrata, and brie. Down the Street also has an option to add charcuterie to any board, which is an opportunity that we never pass up! Looking at the Autumn Plate overall, it has a significant amount of cheese for the small price you pay – just $12! If you have a large group (or are always hungry like we are), we definitely recommend adding the charcuterie. Down the Street has great appetizers in general, so even picking a different appetizer to supplement the board is a great choice. You really can’t go wrong!

While the Autumn Plate is definitely one of a kind, the Down the Street sangria complements the plate perfectly. It is the perfect mix of sweet and refreshing. You can get it by the glass for $5, and even better, in a carafe for only $12! Some of our other favorite treats from Down the Street include the Frozen Ruby Red Bellini, Truffle Parmesan Popcorn, and the Big Toasted Pretzel with Queso. Down the Street also offers a great brunch menu on the weekends complete with Eggs Benedict, Creme Brulee French Toast, and of course, mimosas! You won’t be able to pass it up.

If you’re in the mood to spend an evening outside in this Houston heat, or if you want to opt in for their indoor seating, Down the Street is the place to go. And who knows…you may just run into the Perfectly Paired Pals while you’re there!

Peace and Pinot,

Perfectly Paired Pals

Perfectly Paired

Featured by perfectlypairedhtx, posted in About Us

“Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilized pleasures. – Michael Broadbent, Wine Critic” – Emily, Lauren, & Julia

Hey y’all! We are thrilled to introduce ourselves as the Perfectly Paired Pals, and we are so happy you’re here. Welcome to our Perfectly Paired Page!

We are three girls who simply love wine and cheese. We believe that some of the best conversations come from sharing a bottle of wine (or two) over a cheese and charcuterie board with your best friends. When we look back on our friendship throughout the years, our memories remind us that there is nothing more perfectly paired than good wine, good cheese, and great friends – and we believe everyone should experience such a pleasure.

Based in the greatest state in the United States and one of the top ten ranked culinary cities in the country, Houston, Texas is our home sweet home, and we wouldn’t trade it for the world. As we consider ourselves classic foodies, the three of us have eaten our way through Houston scouting the most delicious food at the most reasonable prices. This journey just reaffirmed what we already knew: wine and cheese, separately or together, makes every meal better. A cheese and charcuterie board with a glass of rose for brunch? OMG! A bowl of queso before eating tacos? Yes please! A glass of sangria under the string lights? Keep ‘em coming!

We have seen time and time again the community that gathers when you’re sitting around the table, and we want to encourage those around us to not take those moments for granted, but to remember the fellowship that comes eating together (and a little wine and cheese never hurt nobody).

Our Story

One Texas summer night last June, we were sitting on the porch at Canyon Lake – wine glass in hand – enjoying the best kind of conversation with the best of friends. The best conversations are always over wine, right? (I’m even drinking a glass right now!) What started as a dreaming sesh has now brought us where we didn’t know we’d be today. We thought about it all – from opening a perfectly paired restaurant to eating our way in cheese throughout the West coast to traveling across the world to Tuscany and riding vespas in wine tours to taste the finest Italian wines. Does it get any better than that?! We couldn’t hold ourselves back. It was too fun to think about! And while dreams like these are always the easiest and definitely the most fun to talk about, we decided to put a temporary bookmark in that chapter of life, and to come back to it when the time was right later down the road. Well… only about 6 months later, we decided that there was no better time than now to do SOMETHING. We just didn’t quite know what.

While many of the ideas that we brainstormed together will happen one day (we hope!), we asked ourselves what we could realistically do right now. The answer was simple. We spend so much of our time together trying different Houston restaurants, scouting the best happy hours, having girls nights together involving unreal amounts of wine and cheese, and so much more, we knew we had an opportunity to share what it looks like to live our everyday. We’re not changing anything we do on a daily basis, but now we’re just going to share it together with you!

Meet the Pals

Followers of Jesus, Texas A&M Grads, and Working Gals!

Emily: Our Cabernet Sauvignon girl in every fashion. Her full bodied personality always keeps us on our toes and her love for prosciutto is unmatchable. Born in Phoenix, AZ, but raised in San Antonio, TX, she considers herself a Texas girl in every way. Recently married to her best friend Mike, she is loving all of the new wine glasses and cheese boards given as gifts from their registry. She’s ready to host our next get together and it’s safe to say, that we’re excited! Emily is happiest when she’s with her friends, having dance parties with her husband, listening to music with the windows down, eating tacos (don’t forget the guacamole), or planning her next party, vacation, or adventure. She is a wife, daughter, sister, dog lover, listener, and a friend to all. Her next mission is to get her hubby to like wine – A tough venture but Emily is up for the challenge!

Julia: A Houston native, Julia is sure to always find the best wine and cheese deals in the entire city! Raised just outside of HTX in Katy, TX, Julia married her high school sweetheart, Trevor (we’re still swooning!) post college. Together, they have been able to already check many things of off their life bucket list! Her passion to travel with her hubby and explore different places and cultures has enabled them to cross the world – and even perfect Julia’s perfectly paired palette. With a heart for serving others and a desire to host as many events as possible, Julia makes sure everyone leaves her home with full tummies and a big smile. In the words of her husband when it comes to throwing parties—“She’s a little extra” and it’s our favorite thing about her! She’s a lover of all wine and especially the “nibblets” to go with it. A sucker for reds, but Malbec is always her go-to because it pairs well with her favorite kind of night – steak on the grill and board games surrounded by the best of friends.

Lauren: Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Lauren has recently made Houston home and is taking the city by storm (not a literal storm because Houston has enough of those) in every way! Although Dallas will always have her heart, we sure are happy that we get to do all of Lauren’s favorite things with her now in Houston – shopping, eating great food, drinking good wine, and being social butterflies! When she is not enjoying happy hour or creating a delicious cheeseboard, Lauren is an accountant for a Big 4 firm. Lauren is perfectly paired with her BRAND NEW fiance, Austin, who influenced the move to Houston in the first place, and boy are we happy about it! Oh, and don’t forget to ask her about her new bling! A few of Lauren’s favorite things include: chocolate chip cookies, Dr. Pepper, quesadillas, and watching Gilmore Girls. When it comes to wine and cheese, you can find her sipping on a classic Pinot Noir paired with Manchego cheese.

Soooooo, come and join us!

We want our fellow wine and cheese heads to come on our journey with us as we continue to explore the different ways wine and cheese pair so perfectly together, and more importantly, enjoy fellowship around the table. We want to share with you what it’s like to be a foodie in as a young professional – a champagne taste on a beer budget… (and yes, we’ll take a glass of prosecco with that please!) and everything in between. We hope you have as much fun as we do along the way. Just know, you already mean the world to us. So sit back and relax, grab yourself a nice glass of wine, and welcome to Perfectly Paired.

Peace and Pinot,

The Perfectly Paired Pals