Visit ALDI for Affordable Holiday Entertaining!

I love to entertain.  Food shared with family and friends is what I live for.  The only complaint I might have about entertaining would be how expensive it can be.  I can easily spend hundreds of dollars for one night of entertaining during the holidays, and quite honestly, that’s no longer in my budget now that I stay home with two little kids.  I was given somewhat of a challenge from the folks at Mom Central last month.  They offered to give me a $50 gift certificate to ALDI to buy wine and snacks to serve at a holiday party.  Let me tell you, this gal LOVES a challenge!

Off I went to the closest ALDI, armed with $50 and a list of items I wanted to get.  Two tips, when you visit ALDI, bring your reusable grocery bags and a quarter to use a cart.  (Before you balk, these minor details are aiding in the serious cash you’re going to save once you see their prices.)  The location I visited was quite small and only had four (wide) aisles.  That being said, I couldn’t believe how much stuff they managed to pack in those aisles without it looking cluttered.  Not to mention, it was absolutely spotless!!

All this for only $50!!

Let’s talk about all the fabulous finds I filled my cart with.  I selected three cheeses: Edenvale Brie, Edenvale Creamy Havarti and Grandessa Signature Mediterranean Olive & Cheese Spread.  All of them were incredibly tasty, but I’d say the olive spread was my fave.  I couldn’t keep my crackers out of it!  Speaking of crackers, I picked the Savoritz Six Cracker Assortment and Savoritz Sea Salt Pita Crackers.  The olive spread on top of those pita crackers were DELISH.

Dessert line-up!

Desserts, and more desserts.  My favorite treat was the Belmont Supreme Sampler Cheesecake.  Four flavors, one big, huge cheesecake!  It was incredibly creamy, with generous slices.  Talk about pure decadence!  The Grandessa Signature Chocolate Covered Cream Puffs were also divine.  Pillows of soft cream-filled pastry, covered in chocolate.  I purchased two bags of chocolates for the price of one brand name bag, and I can honestly say, they were both fantastic.  Choceur Mini Bag of Chocolates and Moser Roth Fine Truffles.  The truffles had a hazelnut flavor to them, which happens to be one of my favorites!  Let’s not forget the cookies, Almond Spekulatius.  I have to be honest, they weren’t my personal favorite, but everyone else gobbled them up.

Chocolate and cookie tray.

Chocolate Covered Cream Puffs

Cheesecake Sampler

One of the biggest surprises was that I was able to purchase three bottles of wine with my $50 budget.  Three bottles.  AND I bought food!!  The wine selection is limited in size, however, it offers a really nice variety of affordable wines.  They were out of a couple of the wines I was looking for so I went with the Landshut Riesling and Sweet Red, along with the Villa Malizia Pinot Grigio.  I guarantee my guests had no clue I paid less for those three bottles than most people pay for one!  The quality was great, and the prices, unbelievable.

Three bottles of wine from Aldi.

ALDI shared a Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce recipe with me, and being the cheese-fanatic that I am, I could not pass it up.  It only requires four ingredients, all of which I purchased right at ALDI.  (I should mention, I did substitute a different brand of wine.)  It ended up being a huge hit with the guests!  The tangy/sweet combo of the white wine, blackberry spread and cranberries, served over creamy, gooey Brie was true perfection.  It was rather funny watching a constant flow of people standing around that brie dish!

Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce

• 1 wheel Edenvale Brie Cheese
• 1/2 c. Southern Grove Dried Cranberries
• 1 c. Burlwood Cellars Chardonnay
• 1/2 c. Berryhill Blackberry Fruit Spread

Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce

Want a bite?

I can tell you now, I’m heading to ALDI not only for ingredients to entertain, but for everyday groceries as well.  You cannot go wrong with their prices, and I found the quality to be comparable to what I get at the local grocery store.  Delicious cheeses for just a couple of dollars, huge boxes of crackers (YUMMY crackers at that!) for under three bucks…chocolate truffles for just over $2?!  There’s no excuse to pay higher prices everywhere else when you can get great products at ALDI for up to a 50% savings.  Grandessa Signature was developed as one of the premium lines for ALDI, and I can say from experience, each of the products I tried were terrific!

In addition to their regular groceries, they offer an excellent selection of seasonal products throughout the year.  (Turkeys at Thanksgiving, Christmas snacks, fresh fruit in the summer..etc.)  If you’ve never shopped at an ALDI, I recommend you to make a special trip to see what they’re all about.  (And what you’ve missed all this time!)  Before you go, make sure to download their free app that allows you to view their weekly ad and specials, plus create a shopping list.  Now that you’ve seen just how much $50 can get you at ALDI, I’m surprised you’re still sitting here reading my review!

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Disclosure:  I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of ALDI and received a gift certificate to facilitate my review.