It's finally here. The official start to the summer season, delightful Memorial Day Weekend!
This epic 3-day weekend brings the promise of sunny blue sky days, warm breezy nights, sandy toes and outdoor get togethers. If you are thinking of entertaining this weekend, and want to avoid the usual stress, while offering your guests something more than burgers and dogs, may I suggest a few easy ideas?
Food~ Summer Veggie Flatbread
This flatbread pizza, smothered in colorful summer veggies and cheesy-garlicky goodness, is so simple to make and will surely impress your guests.
What you'll need : 1 large clove of glarlic, chopped, 1 tablespoon of sweet cream butter, 1 pizza dough (from the grocer's deli), flour (for stretching the dough), 1/2 orange bell pepper sliced, 1 cup halved grape tomatoes chopped, 3/4 cup artichoke hearts, 2 large handfuls of arugula (I prefer full grown arugula for the peppery flavor, but I used baby arugula here), juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 tbsp truffle infused olive oil, salt, pepper, 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella, 1 cup goat cheese, crumbled, parmesan cheese.
First preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Stretch your dough. Some helpful hints for stretching pizza dough: drop it out of the bag onto a floured surface, coat in flour and poke with your fingertips to get out all the air bubbles. Next, take a floured rolling pin and roll it out (a few strokes in each direction should get it to about 12 inches around). Then, pick up the dough and work around the edges with your fingers, pulling out gently, working your way into a bigger circle. Now you're ready to throw it, always catch with the knuckles of your fists when throwing, to avoid puncturing the dough...if you do happen to make a hole, no worries, just pinch the hole closed!
Now that you have the dough stretched, put it on a greased cookie sheet, and shape to fit the pan. I usually cut off some excess, to keep the crust nice and thin. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle chopped garlic and half of your mozz and goat cheese right on the dough, sprinkle a bit of salt,pepper and parmesan and pop in the oven for about 7 minutes (or until the dough startes to get golden around the edges and cheeses get creamy).
While this is baking, put your arugula into a bowl, and toss in lemon juice and truffle oil with salt and pepper. Once the dough is ready, take it out of the oven and top with tomatoes, peppers, artichoke hearts and remaining cheeses. Pop back into the oven for about 10 more minutes (again, every oven is different, so keep an eye on it and make sure that the dough is nice and crisp without being burnt). Once you remove it from the oven, transfer onto a cutting board and slice as desired, top with arugula when you're ready to serve.
Drink~ Sangria de Cava
This is my all-time favorite summer cocktail. My best friend introduced it to me a few years back, and I have used the recipe time-after-time for little summer fetes!
Light, effervescent, fruity and best of all, potent! I added more fruit to it than the original recipe, because who doesn't love more summer fruit!
What you'll need:
1 375ml bottle of Cava (or any sparkling wine), ¼ ounce Spanish Brandy, ¼ ounce Orange Liqueur, Splash of Sprite, 1 Orange, 1 Lime, 1 Ripe Plum, 1 Ripe Peach (I've also used pineapple), Cherries for garnish, Simple Syrup*
Cut orange and lime in half. Fill large pitcher with ice and combine the wine, brandy, liqueur, sprite, the juice of half of an orange and the juice of half of a lime. Stir. Add simple syrup to obtain desired sweetness. Slice remaining orange and lime into thin slices, slice peach and plum. Garnish glasses with orange, lime and cherry.
* To make simple syrup, combine one part water to one part sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Chill before use.
I usually serve this in a large pitcher with wooden spoon for stirring, and line up garnished glasses on a pretty tray next to the it for guests to serve themselves. Mason jars are my obvious favorite glassware for this, but I also love the idea of using mismatched glasses, like the ones below.
Tablescape~ Bright Colors + Simple Whites
This summer, I am really into color, especially corals, turquoises, and blues. With a bright statement fabric I love to use simple white platters and white decorative props, to create a cohesive fresh look. Here, I used my vintage silk scarf I got at Brimfield a few weeks ago that I am obsessed with. Think creatively for your table topper. You don't always have to use a table cloth. Scarves, mismatched bold place mats, even just a square of fun fabric with stringy edges look adorable!
Make sure that you use different heights for platters, creating a dynamic visual presentation for your buffet. If this were evening, I would also add candles and a string of fun summer tiki lights!
CHEERS TO SUMMER 2012!!
This epic 3-day weekend brings the promise of sunny blue sky days, warm breezy nights, sandy toes and outdoor get togethers. If you are thinking of entertaining this weekend, and want to avoid the usual stress, while offering your guests something more than burgers and dogs, may I suggest a few easy ideas?
Food~ Summer Veggie Flatbread
This flatbread pizza, smothered in colorful summer veggies and cheesy-garlicky goodness, is so simple to make and will surely impress your guests.
 |
| Inspired by my favorite summer pizza in Brazil! |
First preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Stretch your dough. Some helpful hints for stretching pizza dough: drop it out of the bag onto a floured surface, coat in flour and poke with your fingertips to get out all the air bubbles. Next, take a floured rolling pin and roll it out (a few strokes in each direction should get it to about 12 inches around). Then, pick up the dough and work around the edges with your fingers, pulling out gently, working your way into a bigger circle. Now you're ready to throw it, always catch with the knuckles of your fists when throwing, to avoid puncturing the dough...if you do happen to make a hole, no worries, just pinch the hole closed!
Now that you have the dough stretched, put it on a greased cookie sheet, and shape to fit the pan. I usually cut off some excess, to keep the crust nice and thin. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle chopped garlic and half of your mozz and goat cheese right on the dough, sprinkle a bit of salt,pepper and parmesan and pop in the oven for about 7 minutes (or until the dough startes to get golden around the edges and cheeses get creamy).
While this is baking, put your arugula into a bowl, and toss in lemon juice and truffle oil with salt and pepper. Once the dough is ready, take it out of the oven and top with tomatoes, peppers, artichoke hearts and remaining cheeses. Pop back into the oven for about 10 more minutes (again, every oven is different, so keep an eye on it and make sure that the dough is nice and crisp without being burnt). Once you remove it from the oven, transfer onto a cutting board and slice as desired, top with arugula when you're ready to serve.
Drink~ Sangria de Cava
This is my all-time favorite summer cocktail. My best friend introduced it to me a few years back, and I have used the recipe time-after-time for little summer fetes!
Light, effervescent, fruity and best of all, potent! I added more fruit to it than the original recipe, because who doesn't love more summer fruit!
What you'll need:
1 375ml bottle of Cava (or any sparkling wine), ¼ ounce Spanish Brandy, ¼ ounce Orange Liqueur, Splash of Sprite, 1 Orange, 1 Lime, 1 Ripe Plum, 1 Ripe Peach (I've also used pineapple), Cherries for garnish, Simple Syrup*
Cut orange and lime in half. Fill large pitcher with ice and combine the wine, brandy, liqueur, sprite, the juice of half of an orange and the juice of half of a lime. Stir. Add simple syrup to obtain desired sweetness. Slice remaining orange and lime into thin slices, slice peach and plum. Garnish glasses with orange, lime and cherry.
* To make simple syrup, combine one part water to one part sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Chill before use.
I usually serve this in a large pitcher with wooden spoon for stirring, and line up garnished glasses on a pretty tray next to the it for guests to serve themselves. Mason jars are my obvious favorite glassware for this, but I also love the idea of using mismatched glasses, like the ones below.
 |
| Gold+Bee loves some vintage mismatched juice glasses! |
Tablescape~ Bright Colors + Simple Whites
This summer, I am really into color, especially corals, turquoises, and blues. With a bright statement fabric I love to use simple white platters and white decorative props, to create a cohesive fresh look. Here, I used my vintage silk scarf I got at Brimfield a few weeks ago that I am obsessed with. Think creatively for your table topper. You don't always have to use a table cloth. Scarves, mismatched bold place mats, even just a square of fun fabric with stringy edges look adorable!
Make sure that you use different heights for platters, creating a dynamic visual presentation for your buffet. If this were evening, I would also add candles and a string of fun summer tiki lights!
CHEERS TO SUMMER 2012!!
 |
| Even Mae is ready for the summer party season! |
 |
| The flatbread is the star of this party, and looks great served on simple white plates and alongside my favorite Kate Spade flatware! |
No comments:
Post a Comment