Keep your guests happy with summer entertaining tips

Lifestyle Tuesday 03/July/2018 18:44 PM
By: Times News Service
Keep your guests happy with summer entertaining tips

Hosting friends and family for backyard barbecues, picnics and garden parties during summer carries its own challenges. Here are a few tips guaranteed to keep your guests cool, comfortable and happy when you entertain.

• Create Shade: Entertaining outdoors? Remember, not all guests are going to want direct sunlight for too long. Take into consideration the sun’s position in the sky during the hours you will be hosting, ensuring your seating offers guests the option to sit in the shade. Create DIY shades by hanging curtains or fabric around or above your party location.

• Protect Guests: Protect your guests from getting bitten and burned in your garden or yard. Be sure the space is clear of standing water in advance of the party. Also, create a small station with bug spray and sunscreen (kids’ varieties, too, if you’re hosting families). Keep it away from the areas where the food and drinks are being served. Consider adding citronella candles or tiki posts as an additional strategy for warding off mosquitoes and other insects.

• Be Creative with Cold Drinks: Nothing is more evocative of summer than a cold glass of iced tea. It is a great time to create an iced tea bar that includes several varieties to suit your guests’ different tastes. Serve varieties like sweet tea, no calorie tea, tea mixed with lemonade, and peach tea. Label each clearly with small chalk boards or calligraphy name cards. Offer guests ready to drink teas made with high-quality, fresh, natural ingredients.
A handy trick to keep beverages undiluted and impress your guests as things heat up? Create ice cubes out of tea in advance, then use those to cool down drinks.

• Serve Cool Snacks: You may have the grill going, but you can keep things otherwise cool and light with snacks and sides like crudité, dips, pasta salad, fresh fruit skewers and cold finger foods, like tea sandwiches.

• Play Games: Take full advantage of your yard this outdoor entertaining season with a few simple, fun lawn games like cornhole, horseshoes, and ladder toss. Want to make things more interesting? Create an elimination bracket and tournament for each game.