Summer dinner parties are my favorite. Depending on the weather, you can determine what your theme will be, if the tempatures are still very hot, then you can choose a menu and a theme that airs on the lighter side, and serve your guests at the dining room table with some garden flowers. If the weather is perfect and you feel like you live in San Diego, then you can barbecue some hardier dishes and serve your meal al fresco! Either way, enjoy the days we have left with these helpful dinner party tips.
1. Dare to be different. Make a familiar dish, but serve it differently. For example take a shrimp cocktail and serve it with the cocktail sauce inside a shot glass (a shooter) and hang the shrimp on the edge. Simple yet, fun.
2. Keep it simple. You can serve a salad as an entree at a dinner party, as long as you make it hearty and full of great ingredients. One of my favorite entree salads is a seafood Cobb salad: Grilled shrimp, grilled scallops, and crabmeat with corn, crumbled bleu cheese, crumbled hard boiled egg, crumbled bacon, and diced tomatoes. A salad as an entree is great, because you can make it all ahead of time. If you want to add a twist, set it up as a “make your own Cobb Salad” bar, and lay all the ingredients out for your guests.
3. Create a signature drink, serve that and a non alcoholic beverage. No need to try to please everyone with their favorite libation. By choosing a fun, drink, that compliments your food, noone will even look for their stand by cocktail.
4. Have fun with dessert. Make your own homemade ice cream or lemon ice. Serve ice cream with choice of toppings or make a good vanilla bean ice cream/lemon ice and serve with fresh berries.
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