Recipes

[NJgirl 1205]

The party is this weekend. Wish me luck!

[Mtnbikegirl]

Good luck with the party! I love outdoor summer parties. It makes for such nice memories for all involved! My kids would write stories on the first day of school about the summer parties they attended. They drew pictures of the events. It might be a lot of work to throw such parties, but you create special memories that really mean something special (especially to the little ones).

I like to rent a hot dog cart with all the accompaniments (red onions, kraut, relish, etc)

I always make my own salads ( pasta, antipasto, potato, mac, coleslaw).

I like to make a cold cucumber salad, and succotash salad ( Pioneer Woman)

Cold artichoke salad- artichoke hearts, hard boiled eggs, olive oil and oregano- served with cubed Italian bread

I buy the bag of frozen corn on the cob from Costco- perfect little size to go with burgers/dogs etc.

I usually get a big sheet cake and ask people if they would like to bring something (cookies/brownies) finger foods are best.

We have a big yard, so we always have a fire and I get long wooden skewers from the grocery store (long stick works too) and have everything to make smores at the end of the night.

Good music- lots of soft drinks, wine, beer, water. Happy juice- Light cranberry juice, diet 7 up, vodka and limes/ lots of ice!

Happy Summer!

[Mtnbikegirl]

Thank you for the great recipes given. I am making the Grape Salad- coleslaw, tater salad...so man great ideas!!!

[Snicks1]

JerseyGirl, have fun with the party, bet it will be a huge success. I'm finalizing my menu and making my shopping lists now for mine, in about 4 weeks time. I did pick up a couple new recipes to try also from this thread, so thanks for that also. After your party, let us know what were the huge successes, if you don't mind.

[NJgirl 1205]

On 5/12/2015 snicks said:

JerseyGirl, have fun with the party, bet it will be a huge success. I'm finalizing my menu and making my shopping lists now for mine, in about 4 weeks time. I did pick up a couple new recipes to try also from this thread, so thanks for that also. After your party, let us know what were the huge successes, if you don't mind.

Of course I will report back, snicks. Now I am just hoping for good weather as I saw some reports of thunderstorms We will just have to make the best of it. Luckily we have a finished walk out basement but hoping it won't come to that.

Mtnbikegirl, what a great idea on the smores. We put in a firepit last year so I am definitely going to do this. I made and froze last week brownies and lemon bars but who can resist a smore!

Thank you all again for the great ideas and recipes!

[NJgirl 1205]

The party went off without a hitch! The weather stayed beautiful all day, even if a little warm. There are plenty of leftovers but I would rather have too much than not enough. We have having a dozen people over this coming weekend but nothing like yesterday!

[Mothertrucker]

Awesome! thanks for updating us! What was the crowd favorite?

[NJgirl 1205]

On 5/18/2015 mothertrucker said:

Awesome! thanks for updating us! What was the crowd favorite?

From sides - the Texas caviar was a huge hit as was the new potato and green bean salad with a mustard vinaigrette. Favorite main course- the ribs! I also made brownies and lemon bars and both basically gone (I gave the last few to an elderly neighbor who loves sweets). Cold water melon and pineapple slices went over really well also.

[Snicks1]

So glad your bar-b-que went off without a hitch, and nice weather too, awesome! So sweet of you to share with your neighbor, happy all your efforts paid off with great food that everyone enjoyed. Have fun this weekend also. Thanks for the update.

[funtoshop]

May I also suggest, if you don't have them, the mesh food covers from QVC. There is a set from prepology and cooks essentials. Just type in the search bar mesh food covers. Less than $20 for a set of them. We use them all the time for cookouts. Really keeps the bugs and stuff out.