Parties - The Everyday Hostess

Entertaining October 18, 2015

Simple + Classy Dinner Party

This is the perfect, sure-to-impress menu for a date night or your last minute dinner guest.

In an ideal world all of our dinner parties would be on a Saturday or Sunday night with all the time in the world to prepare. However, we all know that with everyone’s busy schedules we don’t always get that much notice or have that much time to prepare. Sometimes you get word of a last minute dinner guest or the only available time to have family or friends over for dinner is on a weeknight after a busy day at the office.

Weeknight dinner parties are abundant at my house, as the only nights that line up for me and my boyfriend are during the workweek. Therefore, I always look for easy recipes that I can prepare the night before or over the weekend, yet are still fresh and beautiful and only require a little bit of day-of cooking. This simple and classy dinner party menu can easily be prepared last minute and is the perfect solution when you are short on time. Plus it is always a crowd pleaser and is sure-to-impress your guests!

I recently served this menu on a Monday night for a dinner party with my boyfriend and his family. Of course I wanted to make the best impression possible and wanted the meal to be perfect. With the easy Sunday night prep and table setup and the limited time on Monday this menu took to pull together, the night was seamless! It was the perfect combination of simple and classy that looked formal enough but not like I tried too hard.

Brunch October 1, 2015

Sunday Morning Brunch Party!

One of my favorite traditions that my friends and I started post college was Sunday night “family dinners.” I started to realize after graduation how hard it was to get everyone together in one place on a regular basis. Between all of our work and travel schedules, it is hard to have a regular Friday night dinner or weekly happy hour, so we started doing Sunday night dinners since it always seems to be a quieter night for people.

Unfortunately, during the summer months, Sunday night dinners have slowed as many of us have been gone for summer vacations and such, so I decided to host a Sunday brunch to get everyone back together. Here’s the delectable menu and spread we had for a party of about 15 people:

Menu and Recipes:

Food: Cheesy Bacon Quiche || Pancake Kabobs || Creme Brulee French Toast || Apple Cinnamon French Toast || Breakfast Potatoes

Drinks: Mimosa Bar || Bloody Mary Bar

The thing about brunch parties is that you either have to wake up super early or do some major prep the night before. I am not the biggest morning person, so I definitely prefer the night before prep. This menu was easy to make beforehand, and, if you do it right, it looks like you have been awake for hours by the time your guests arrive.

Entertaining September 18, 2015

End-of-Summer Soirée

SS #2

Decor:

Flowers: The T Shop || Garland: Martha Stewart || Honeycombs: Amazon || Wooden Crates: Distressed White Wash Boxes || Burlap Table Runner: Amazon || Mason Jars: Ball Canning Jars || Paper Straws: Amazon || Paper Plates: Amazon || Napkins: Amazon ||

Menu and Recipes:

Snacks: Cheese Platter || Caprese Bites || Garlic Hummus || Chicken Salad Sliders || Buffalo Chicken Sliders || Potato Salad ||

Sweets: Cream Cheese Cookie Fruit Cups || Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake || S’mores Cookies

Sips: Strawberry Basil Infused Vodka and Jalapeno Cocktail

There is nothing better than a summer party with good food, good friends, and an outdoor patio to enjoy a wonderful cocktail. Because of the Texas heat in July and August, my roommates and I decided to wait until it cooled down a bit to host an end-of-summer soirée and take advantage of the outdoors a little more.

We went for a classy, casual, summery theme with lots of bright and vivacious colors. Between the flowers, the table runner, paperware and pom pom banners, we were able to incorporate different shades of pinks, purples, yellows and greens. Our amazing flower arrangements came from the T Shop and completely tied all of our decor and colors together perfectly! The shop worked with us in advance to make sure that the flowers and vases coordinated with the purple gingham styled table runner and burlap overlay. It is all about the details, my friends!