3:55 p.m. I clean up and get ready for two events I’ve been invited to tonight.  One is a 5 p.m. cocktail class, so we snack on leftover antipasti.

4:35 p.m. We leave for Rico’s American Grille at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort.

5 p.m. Rico’s has launched a monthly cocktail class (pictured), and I join fellow media for their first one featuring tequila. Led by Chef Rebecca Tillman and mixologist Sara Powers, we learn to how to infuse strawberries and jalapenos and to shake up libations like the Headstrong with elderflower, lime, blueberry and Thai basil as we enjoy fish tacos and cheesecake with basil-strawberry sauce.

6:15 p.m. We’re off to LON’s at the Hermosa for a special dinner with guest chef Justin Beckett and Sonoran Brewing Company beers.

6:30 p.m. We meet the other guests on the patio, chat with Executive Chef Jeremy Pacheco, and nibble on head cheese croquettes with lemon jam as we sip raspberry ale.

7 p.m. We are seated for what would be an amazing dinner, and I’m happy to find my tablemates are PR maven Keeley Ast and her husband Stephen, managing director of The Hermosa Inn.  We start with a salad of smoked McClendon beets, ham, arugula and chocolate vinaigrette paired with White Chocolate Ale before dining on scallops with crispy pork trotter, fennel-carrot puree and pink peppercorn-almond crumble paired with Seven Wives Saison, porchetta with spicy broccolini and goat cheese polenta paired with Burning Bird IPA, and a decadent dessert of peanut butter mousse, marshmallow and chocolate-covered bacon paired with Inebriator Stout. 

10:15 p.m. Back home after a fun-filled culinary day in the Valley of the Sun. I would normally work until the wee hours, but since this is my ideal day, we settle in with a nightcap in front of the TV.  We catch up on “The Blacklist,” “New Girl” and “The Catch,” as my husband savors a brandy and I make myself a Negroni.