Maybe it’s just the second glass of wine talking, but Friday night is the best night of the week. Bedtime isn’t so urgent. My husband is bathing the recalcitrant four-year-old, whose defiant attitude seems to have washed away with a liberal application of bubble bath and plastic mermaids. We’re going to the farmer’s market in the morning, and our dinner tonight (along with that bottle of wine) was just an assortment of appetizers pulled together from leftovers from the past week: Brie and crackers, smoked trout dip (leftover from Sunday’s bagels), hummus and carrots, a bowl of blackberries, rosemary focaccia from that last bit of dough in the refrigerator, cantaloupe and prosciutto (unused from a recipe gone wrong). Who says you can’t have happy hour for dinner?

You can! Snip some flowers from the garden for the table, raid the refrigerator and serve your spread on the patio. Turn up the music. Mix some Shirley Temples for the kids. Light a few candles, play some cards in the dusk, and watch the fireflies come out.

A few favorite family Happy Hour ideas:

Fresh Herb Focaccia

Smoked Whitefish (or Trout) Dip

Hummus

Fresh Fruit with Honey-Yogurt Dip

Crackers, cheese, cold cuts (fan them out on a platter or fold them up and skewer them on toothpicks)

Garlic, Herb and Parmesan Popcorn

Canned sardines in tomato sauce (I may be the only one who thinks this is a good idea)

What are your favorite Happy Hour munchies?