June and July are big party months here at Casa del Marcia. Everyone in the house has a summer birthday except yours truly, which leaves me with a bit of party planning on my hands. No worries though, because I love entertaining. Over the years, I’ve learned to make it easier and easier on myself.
- Plan your menu and do/make ahead as much as possible. Toppings, marinades, dips, appetizers, desserts, salads–prep all of it ahead. Even better, get someone to help you!
- Cooking is great but don’t be afraid of serving store-bought options. I love to cook but who am I kidding? Making every single thing leaves me stressed out and grumpy. Nobody needs a grumpy hostess. When the weather’s nice, I love enlisting the Caveman to tend the grill.
- Come up with a fun theme. This year I’m doing a burger bar for Thing 1’s 13th birthday party. Grilling one food item is easier and guests can customize to their hearts’ desire with toppings. There’ll be two “signature” burgers for fun:
The Red, White & Gouda has fresh tomato and onion slices and of course plenty of Gouda cheese.
For those who prefer their burger on the spicy side (Caveman, I’m looking at you), the Southwestern burger features red onion, avocado, salsa and pepper jack cheese.
- Have a vegetarian/vegan option. With burgers, this is easy. Sunshine burgers are organic, vegan, soy- and gluten- and GMO-free. They’re made from wholesome whole foods like brown rice, raw sunflower seeds, veggies and spices. They’re low in sodium and a good, plant-based source of protein and fiber. Best of all, they’re flavor-filled and delicious. Find them in the freezer section of your local grocery store. In these parts I found them at Sunset Foods and Whole Foods, but use this handy store locator to find them where you are. Throw them on the grill frozen and they’re ready in minutes. Simple and delicious, Sunshine Burgers are a must-try. Sign up for for their e-newsletter here.
Need some great appetizer, side dish and dessert ideas to rock your summer party? Look no further:
Clockwise left to right: Barbecue Roasted Veggies, Lemon-Berry Shortcakes with Chia, Balsamic-Shallot Green Beans, Strawberry Yogurt Pie with Coconut Crust, Roasted Red Pepper Dip.
I received Sunshine Burger products to review without compensation. All opinions are my own. I was given the opportunity to review through the Sweat Pink Ambassador community.
I love to just have people over and sit outside with some food and drinks 🙂
I love having cookouts and people brings new things for everyone to try!
We have A LOT of cookouts over the summer. We love to hangout outside with friends.
We have a lot of summer birthdays here! Usually we have one big blowout to celebrate them all together. My family is pretty basic tho, and so we don’t serve anything different. What can I say?
I love having people over for cook outs or girls night! My poor husband has had to get used to always having a ton of girls taking over our house!
My favorite way to entertain is grilling poolside with a bonfire to finish off the night!
Love having a grilled cookout or on the cooler fall nights a bonfire garthering.
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I like to have somewhat of a theme as well – mostly for the food. It helps with planning out the menu and also knowing what to ask someone to bring. I don’t think we should feel guilty about asking good friends to bring a bag of chips or some sort of dip.
I love to entertain with drinks by the pool! I love the name red white and gouda. That would be perfect on a veggie burger!
I love potlucks! Great diversity of food and it’s nice to spread the “work” out over a bunch of folks. =)
You are such a badass mom, Louise! I bet the hit of the neighborhood. I think my kids got Pizza Hut! 🙂 Have a blast at the party and remember, in 10 years Thing 1 will be a real human being again. 😉 Kidding! Kinda.
I love outdoor parties! On the patio, at the community pool. I just love being outside 🙂
I love outdoor parties but we have no private outdoor space so my fave is cocktails and snacks or brunch.
We really only have a party here once a year and we do a giant potluck Christmas party. We provide desserts and booze and everyone else brings a main dish or appetizer. It’s a great stress-free way to have an awesome party.
Love having cookouts.
Great ideas, Marcia! I definitely don’t do any of the cooking in our house, haha.
I gave up throwing parties for my kids once the guests turned up with alcohol that one time and proceeded to get throwing-up drunk. It was so much nicer when they were kids.
LOVE the idea of a themed cookout…SO adorable! :)-Ashley
I love having people over, but we just don’t do it often enough. Thanks for the inspiration to have a summer party!!!
We love to have cookouts on our new Weber grill!! 🙂
July 4th parties and Halloween parties are my favorite for entertaining! It’s fun to go with a theme 🙂
Really what we love to do most is grill and then relax together! We keep it pretty simple.
my favorite way to entertain is having a barbecue pool side
Love entertaining.
I love just having people over in the summer to hang outside by the fire at night with homemade sangria or mojitos. In the winter I like having people over for fancy drinks, snacks, and a movie.
I love to have a few friends over for a low-key meal. In the summer, grilling is one of my favorite things to do with friends.
I love BBQs with friends in the summertime!
We have a monthly get together at my house (unless I’m partied out from going somewhere else). I prefer to do most of the cooking but it’s always some sort of pot luck with people bringing things. The burger theme is a good one. I may have to steal that idea.
Just hanging out in the sunshine and BBQing!
i love to cook! that’s my favorite way of entertaining, is having people over to eat.
I love the idea of a burger bar!! We always have friends for 4th of July – I might go with that idea this year!
pot luck dinners are my favorite way to entertain
I love entertaining small groups of people with a few fun appetizers and some great drinks. I think smaller gatherings are really nice and intimate, but I don’t mind a big party every once in a while! 🙂
Cooking out and just having friends/family over to relax and have a good time.
pot luck.