Fun Summer Get Togethers

Summer is a time for parties, is it not? What kind of summer party do you throw? Bar-be-ques, mother’s day and father’s day bashes, graduations, memorial day, and way at the end of the line, labor day. Who wants to think of that now, though, right? We’re all just enjoying the spring flowers and hint of summer grill smoke in the air.

So what about those impromptu things you just throw together at the last minute? Have you ever had one of those? I haven’t, but I’ve been to several that my parents did. Usually it’s on a weekend and all the sudden, all three of us kids show up with all of our kids and it gets close to a meal and we’re all starving. Well, obviously mom did not plan on feeding us all. Luckily, everyone but us also lives in town, so they can either go back to their house, or just hit the grocery store in less than half an hour and be back with everything you need for a good time. Usually the guys volunteer to go, you know, to heave the manly bags of ice, and then call the women with ‘what should we get?’ as soon as they get there. Ha!

My favorites are the cookouts that involve some good grilled chicken, yes it may be kind of common, but when you usually end up with baked chicken, grilled tastes really good around about this time of year. Grab all the condiments out of the fridge and you’ve got a smorgasbord of opportunity waiting for you. These impromptu parties don’t usually have themes, but ‘cookout’ is good enough, with a checked table cloth, or even butcher paper spread over the tables (which can be easily recycled at the end of the night) and some crayons in some coffee mugs or decorative pails spread around the garden. Adults can write goofy messages to each other that the kids try to decode, and kids can draw animals and practice writing their names. It’s always a good time, makes the kids feel involved, stems off boredom from the adults while the food is cooking, and the kids stay occupied enough not to destroy your house in the meantime! The parents of little kids will definitely want to do this at your house again!

So do you throw impromptu parties? I think the time is ripe for us to try one out. This summer seems like a good time to put our culinary and hosting abilities to the test!

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