By Leigh O’Connor.
Bec Vrana Dickinson is no snack prophet. She’s not trying to turn water into wine, she just loves the ritual of snacking and sipping in tandem.
Just like you and me, Bec loves dips, chips and drinks. No, we are not at a wine bar with all the etiquette and arancini, we are at home and constricting denim is optional. It is looser, louder and you can lick your fingers with even more abandon.
Welcome to the world of Happy Hour snacking!
Despite being in and around the food industry since 2015, this Sydney-based writer and Chef is still a blatant wearer of white who would rather taste salt levels with fingers than spoons and shred herbs with hands than knives. Usually covered in stains, Bec will either want to know what you want for dinner, or how you take your whisky.
Bec’s debut cookbook – ‘Happy Hour Snacks’ – is a celebration of the unsung heroes of the dinner party table, good snacks.
This go-to guide delivers simple, delicious food to share with 80 moreish recipes for bites created with less utensils, more shortcuts and a drink in hand.
Chapters are split into snack cravings – You’re a Bit Salty, The Spice and Smoke Show, How Good is Acid?, Cheese Sleaze, Afters and Always (sweets). Each recipe gives a level of time commitment – quickie, minor investment, or go the distance – along with a drink recommendation.
Bec has written recipes that use pre-made ingredients (which can be as ‘lush’ or ‘plush’ as you like) and is a champion of sticky fingers and a good cocktail drink.
We have three sure-fire Happy Hour snack hits to share:
Time Commitment – Quickie.
"Chilli chips send me straight back to 6 pm on a school night, watching 'The Simpsons', nestled in a beanbag. Now with no antennae to battle (or commercials), there’s time to add extra chilli, slice makrut lime leaves and stay up past my bedtime,” Bec recalls.
A serious note on seasoning: freshly cracked black pepper will always taste best, but if you’re avoiding too much wrist action, go pre-cracked. Extra salting will depend on how much salt the chips come with – you’ll have to taste them. Torture.
Bec recommends pairing these Happy Hour Snacks with a Pickleback Cocktail.
Time Commitment – Minor Investment.
"Hi, yeah, can I please have a twelve-pack of nuggets, a medium fries and a vanilla thick shake? Oh, and coat the nuggets in a hot hoisin sauce, top with toasted sesame seeds, spring onions and go strong on the sriracha, please.
"If you’re like my sister, you’d swap grating garlic and ginger for the pre-prepped supermarket version. She’s the gold standard of lazy. Or efficient – however you want to read it.”
Drink recommendation: Dark and Stormy Cocktail
Time Commitment – Minor Investment.
Make the prawn work for you. Use pre-cooked if that’s easier, go full entertainer on the barbeque, or just grill in the oven as per the recipe. Feeding less? Just halve the recipe. How breezy.
Drink Recommendation: Gin and Tonic.
Every recipe is written with maximum flavour and accessibility in mind, with Bec encouraging readers to experience the joy of effortless entertaining in her own engaging and carefree style.
‘Happy Hour Snacks’ is an essential cookbook for dinner party enthusiasts and keen snackers everywhere.
