hey hey hey paaaarty!

Last weekend we celebrated the beginning of summer with dear friends by hosting an easy-going, picnic-food, backyard party. It was a blast!

And let me tell you, being a veggie lover in the summer is simply bliss. It's so dang easy to create wonderful food for your friends since everything is so fresh. If you are thinking about hosting a party for friends - herbivores or omnivores - here's some ideas, all of which I've already talked about here (click on the links for recipes). So let me just pull the details together for you.

The night before our gathering, I created these beauties. Big fun to put together and so pretty:

 

I drizzled with olive oil, covered with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to stay fresh until we were ready to grill. Then, once over the hot coals, I drizzled with the pineapple/olive oil glaze. Fabulously yummy!

Also on the night before, I created a big bowl of citrus orzo pasta salad. It's so refreshing and a great compliment to the smoky, hot stuff from the grill.

And, just before everyone arrived, I chopped up a big bunch of colorful new potatoes, sprinkled with olive oil and fresh rosemary, and started them roasting in the oven. I do like potatoes on the grill, but to make a large amount it takes too dang long to cook and takes up so much space on the grill. Roasting in the oven is so simple and I can pretty much ignore them while I have fun goofing around with my friends until dinner.

My sweetie got cookin' at the grill and sizzled up burgers, veggie and otherwise. (These friends of ours are so great, they even brought their own meat!) We provided buns, cheese, toppings, etc.

I put out some fresh veggies and tzatiki dip plus cute little pretzel balls for everyone to snack on while the grill stuff cooked. Our friends brought over more veggie side dishes, loads of gorgeous fresh fruit, and tasty little desserts to round out our feast. Wonderful.

Beyond the fabulous food, just time together enjoying the evening, watching the kiddos run around in the yard with bubbles, rolling a few bocce balls, and lounging on the patio was wonderful. We ate and laughed and talked until way after the sun had set. Perfect. What summer is all about.