Summer Party with Friends!

 Summer Party with Friends!

This weekend my husband and I planned our first party for the Summer season and also needed to have a belated Housewarming Party; so why not throw it all into one?

Summertime is the perfect time for BBQ's, pool parties, weekend get-together's and more.  I think you always need some recipes to keep in your back pocket for these occasions.

When my husband and I were thinking about the menu for our party we decided we wanted more of a tapas feel.  We wanted finger food for our guests and give them the ability to mingle and chat without having the large sit down dinner.

So here is our menu layout:

Appetizer: Tortilla Roll Up's and chips & salsa

Main Course: Monkey Meat, hot dogs and Baked Potato Bites

Dessert: Caramel Milk Chocolate Velata fondue with angel food cake

Signature Drink: Peach & Cherry Sangria

A simple but crowd pleasing menu!

Party planning is a fun thing for me and I love to entertain at our house.  One of my most favorite things to do.  When planning a party, make sure you have fun with it.  If you are having a themed party try and plan your menu around your theme.  Also make sure you allot enough time for your guest to come, mingle and eat.  Whether you are doing the sit down dinner or more of a buffet style, do it up right!  One of my favorite things to do for a party is to have a signature drink that I make.  I then will tease my guests prior to the party with yummy pictures and descriptions of the food/drink so they are very excited to come.  

I of course set up a Facebook event and posted pictures as I was preparing the food to show my guests what they were in store for.  It was fun and exciting!

We started out our food prep the night before because we needed to marinate the meat overnight.  This gets us started with the Monkey Meat.

Yes, I know ... odd name - but trust me, no monkey's were harmed in this delicious meal.  ;)

So here is what we will need:

• 10 boneless pork chops
• garlic (I used one head of garlic)
• 3 lemons
• 1 large bottle of Soy Sauce

Of course if making a bigger batch you can double up on the ingredients, but this fed 12 people.

 

You want to start by cutting your pork chops into strips.  You ideally want 1/2" - 1" strips.  Cut all your pork and then take skewers and start twisting the meat around.  {Good tip: if using wooden skewers you should soak them for at least 2 hours prior to using so they don't burn on the grill}

This is the part where my husband becomes an amazing helper by twisting all the meat on the skewers for me.  He's a keeper.  ;)

Once you have skewered all the pork place into a dish that you can use to marinate.  I used a Glad container with a lid so I could easily place in the fridge.  You can also use large, gallon ZipLock bags.

Now you want to take your lemons and microplane the zest.  There is SOOO much flavor in the citrus zest, so don't waste it!!

Once zested, squeeze the lemon juice over the entire batch of pork.  {Tip: if you use a fork you will get the most juice from your citrus}

Allow me to introduce one of my best friends: fresh garlic.  I peeled about one head of garlic; smashed it and then finely chop. Sprinkle over the entire batch of pork.

Finally we want to add the bottle of Soy Sauce.  Coat completely.

And here is our final prep picture.  I left the lemon wedges in the container just to let them give off any more juice.

My husband showing off the final product before we put the skewers to bed for the night.  You will want to turn these every couple hours just to make sure all the meat soaks up the marinade.  Other than that you can forget about them until it's time to throw them on the grill.

Moving on to the Sangria.  Mmmmmm.  One of my favorite summer drinks and one that has endless possibilities.

With this batch I went with a summer twist and decided on Peach & Cherry Sangria.  

• Three bottles of your favorite wine (you can do this with red or white; I prefer white)
• 10-12 Mint leaves
• 4 Peaches
• 1 jar of Maraschino Cherries (you can use fresh cherries, however I wanted the juice from the jar to sweeten my Sangria)
• Juice (I wanted to keep with the flavor profile so I picked a Mango flavor)
• (not pictured) 3-4 shots of Vodka

You will want to begin slicing your peaches into pretty wedges.

Add your peaches, cherries and mint leaves to your pitcher.  I love the colors already!

Then, add the wine, (I was able to fit 2 1/2 bottles into my pitcher) and then add about 1 cup of your juice, the Vodka and the cherry juice from the jar.

Pretty, pretty perfection!  Right before serving I added a splash or two of 7-Up just to give it a little fizz.  You can make this early on and allow to chill in the fridge until your party.  I don't recommend overnight just because your fruit and mint leaves will get too soft.

Now on to the Tortilla Roll Up's.  Another go-to appetizer for me for parties.  Easy and fun.

You will need:

• Tortillas
• 1 pound of lunch meat, (my choice is smoked turkey)
• Chopped black olives
• Chopped green onions
• Whipped cream cheese

Think of a wrap sandwich.  That's the basic thought here.  :)

Start by chopping your black olives and just chop up until they are nice and small.  I saved a step and bought some already sliced and just chopped from there.

Chop up your green onions so they are nice and small.  Now we can assemble.

Take a spatula and spread the cream cheese over the entire tortilla.  This is your glue so you want a nice layer.  Add 3-4 slices of lunch meat and sprinkle with your green onions and olives.  Now, just roll up and cut into 2" pieces.

My oldest daughter helped me out with these and she is not a black olive person so these are about half and half; with olives and without.  Possibilities are endless with these.  Remember to have fun with your food!!  Add sliced cheese, pimento cheese, bacon ... be creative!

Finally it's on to one of my most popular appetizers.  Baked Potato Bites.  I came up with this recipe as I wanted roasted potatoes but at the same time wanted the feel of tapas.  I needed something bite-sized that you could eat with your hands.  Low and behold my little yellow gold potatoes came to mind and an idea was formed.  History was changed.  A signature appetizer was formed.

As with most good recipes, you start with bacon.  Mmmm.  Bacon.  I take mine and cut into pieces and then throw in my skillet; this way I already have bite size pieces to work with.  Fry until nice and crispy. {Good to Know:Bacon Bits or imitation bacon is not acceptable for these babies!!}

Take your small potatoes and cut in half.  (You could use small red potatoes for this but I love the yellow gold's - they crisp up so nicely when baked)

Now that you have them cut into halves, you want to slice off a sliver on the bottom; this will make it so the Baked Potato Bite won't roll all over the place and will sit on the plate.

Line them up in a Pyrex baking dish and then sprinkle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.  You want them nice and crispy.  When you pull them out do one quick dash of salt over the top - it brings out the flavor of the potato.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Then, you will dollop sour cream, bacon bits and some chopped green onions on top.

And there you go ... mini Baked Potato Bites.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Delicious.

 And then came time for dessert!!  Caramel Milk Chocolate Velata!  Another great line from Scentsy - chocolate and cheese fondue.  One of my friends/guests sells Velata so I had to ask her to pretty please bring some.  I cut up some pieces of angel food cake, small pretzels and graham crackers for dipping.  Who doesn't love some melted chocolate?!  Delicious is all I have to say, and this was just the chocolate; they have cheese too! If I don't start selling Velata I think I'll just have to start ordering from her. {And if you haven't tried it before, I recommend it for your next get together, a fun way to entertain without a mess!  You can contact Katy directly for chocolate and cheese goodness!}

The kids played outside while the men were grilling and the women were milling around chatting.

A perfect evening to have an outdoor get together. I hope that you have fun at your next BBQ and know that you can make it easy and not as time consuming if you do a lot of your prep before the party.  This way you can mingle with your guests and not be stuck in the kitchen making food when you want to be relaxing and having fun.  Enjoy your friends and your party experience!

Oh ... and I have to share the pictures of my blooming roses.  Finally the weather has cooperated and they have come out in full bloom.  The only ones I'm still waiting on are the orange ones.  I can't wait to see how pretty those will be.

~Cheers!  Happy Summertime!!

Jacqui