My Housewarming was the JaM!

I’m one of those people who moves & unpacks quickly because I want to feel settled, so I managed to get my place together in exactly one month. Since the semester starts in t-minus I don’t want to think about it, I figured I’d throw a little housewarming and have a few of my good friends over for dinner!

Wine & Cheese

Even though I’d sent out invitations a week before the party, it wasn’t until the day before that I figured out the menu. I knew I wanted to keep things semi-bougie but still casual, so I created a cheese plate using a pack of Spanish cheeses and red grapes. I also made little tomato, basil, mozzarella bites using regular toothpicks, which my brother gobbled up. These two dishes plus two bottles of JaM Cabernet greeted the guests who were not on CP/African time (side eye to the others) as soon they walked in.

I’m not exactly a wine connoisseur, so I was a bit intimidated about having the ideal wine choice to pair with the laid back vibe of my housewarming. In fact, I lowkey wanted to buy cheap champagne – like the kind you drink in college… as soon as you turn 21 – but J reminded me that my 2 bedroom apartment was proof I was an adult. Luckily, JaM Cab is a no-frills, easy to love red that pairs well with all types of dishes, even in the summer. The JaM Cellars brand – which also includes a Butter Chardonnay, JaM Cabernet, and a Toast Sparkling – is a fun and relaxed wine brand out of California, making it a perfect addition to my casual kickback!

The Main Spread

For the main meal, I decided to go with a classic Nigerian dish: rice and stew. I was making this stew meatless so I knew it HAD to be correct, and I’m happy to say folks wouldn’t stop talking about it. Since I’m fake bougie and pretend that I grill on a regular basis, I skewered some shrimp, pepper, and pineapple kebabs with a jerk seasoning and threw them on my stove-top cast-iron grill. Sadly they came out a bit mushy because I overcooked them, but everyone was kind and didn’t say anything. For veggies, I made mini eggplant parmesans in silicone muffin tins, as well as some summer time coleslaw with spiralized apples (every wannabe housewife has a spiralizer, get you one)!

My friend Joy hooked us up with a delicious strawberry shortcake from Whole Foods that I completely forgot to photograph, but trust, it was delicious! Since there were quite a few people who didn’t know each other, we just spent the rest of the night chatting, drinking (responsibly), and listening to African jams on myFMAfrika.com.

Now that I’ve shown my friends and family my apartment, it’s time for me to show you! I’ll be debuting the office on the blog this Friday, and then going through some cool DIYs that I did around the rest of the apartment.

If you’d like to try the JaM Cabernet for yourself, enter your zip code here to find the nearest locations to you. For more ideas on how you can finish out the summer with JaM Cab, as well as a summer entertaining playlist, check out this post!

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