The life of a drinks writer often requires tasting your way through a lot of bottles. And sometimes, there are more bottles than the writer and his wife can taste through on their own. So we invited some friends over yesterday for an early-afternoon tasting, and while Julian entertained their twins and Mira (mostly) napped, we grown-ups sipped and sampled and shared our observations with Mike on a range of tequilas for an upcoming Serious Eats piece.

Though more booze was dumped than swallowed, I made sure we had plenty of food to fortify us. I laid out chips and my usual homemade salsa and guacamole, as well as David Tanis’ Crudités à la Mexicaine to start, then followed up with heartier fare.

There were little cups of Esquites, basically Mexican street corn off the cob; then quesadillas with zucchini butter and grated cheddar and jack cheeses.

Next came a platter of sweet and smoky chicken wings (and tenders for the kids), which I marinated overnight in buttermilk and spices and a pinch of turbinado sugar, then roasted and tossed with a little melted butter and scallions.

Finally, my riff on this winning Flank Steak sandwich recipe from food52: I seared chili-marinated hanger steak and sliced it thin, serving it on bite-sized slabs of Texas Toast with a smear of cilantro mayo and a pile of pickled red onions on top.

We wound down around 3, as the kiddos were clearly getting tired after their big day of play. We got Julian and Mira down for their afternoon naps after sending our friends on their way with hugs and thanks and promises to get together again soon. It’s been a long time since we entertained at home, and I’ve missed it. I wasn’t sure we could pull it off with two little ones at home, but yesterday’s gathering went so well, I’m eager to try again, soon.