Long Weekend. Short of Cash? Entertain at Home.

Pinch your pennies

If you’re one of the many people saving for a home deposit, or if you've just bought your first home, you should think about spending the long weekend at home. Not in a sad ‘I can’t afford to go on holiday’ kind of a way either.
Entertain at home people with a Staycay. We give you permission not to be frugal as you normally are: we don’t want to hear anyone is serving their guests dust pies, or homemade milk.

Keep an eye out

There’s no doubt the supermarkets will be competing for your spending dollar, so go and check out what is on offer. Your guests won’t know that your corn chips were half price. You can bet hot cross buns will be discounted by Monday morning…they’ll probably have put up Christmas decorations!

Lets get this party started by focussing on your liquid assets...

Frosé (Frozen Rosé)

Ingredients:
Makes 4 to 6 Servings
• 1 750 ml bottle hearty, bold rosé (such as a Pinot Noir or Merlot rosé)
• ½ cup sugar
• 8 ounces strawberries, hulled, quartered
• 2½ ounces fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Pour rosé into a 13x9" pan and freeze until almost solid (it won't completely solidify due to the alcohol), for at least 6 hours.
Meanwhile, bring sugar and ½ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Add strawberries, remove from heat, and let sit 30 minutes to infuse syrup with strawberry flavour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, cover and chill until cold, about 30 minutes. Resist temptation to lick the bowl.
Scrape rosé into a blender. Add lemon juice, 3½ ounces strawberry syrup, and 1 cup crushed ice and purée until smooth. Transfer blender jar to freezer and freeze until frosé is thickened (aim for milkshake consistency), 25–35 minutes.
Blend again until frosé is slushy. Divide among glasses.
REPEAT!